Inducing labor in healthy women at 39 weeks into their pregnancy reduces the need for cesarean section and is at least as safe for mother and baby as waiting for spontaneous labor. Choosing to induce could also reduce the risk that mothers will develop preeclampsia and that newborns will need respiratory support after delivery, according […]

New research offers clues as to why some diseases are highly variable between individuals. The phenomenon is apparent in people with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that causes the light-sensing cells in the eye to degenerate. While some only develop night blindness, others completely lose their sight, even when their condition is caused by the same […]

The University of Utah received National Science Foundation funding to create a Federal Statistical Research Data Center that will provide qualified researchers throughout the Intermountain West with access to a wide range of extensive restricted-use data collected by federal and state agencies. The vast store of newly accessible data in the Wasatch Front Research Data […]

Fossils of a new genus and species of an ankylosaurid dinosaur—Akainacephalus johnsoni—have been unearthed in the Kaiparowits Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), and are revealing new details about the diversity and evolution of this group of armored dinosaurs.  Expected to look like other North American Late Cretaceous ankylosaurid dinosaurs with smooth bony armor […]

Take a look at the clouds, if there are any in your sky right now. If not, here are a few examples. Watch the billows, the white lofty tufts set against the blue sky. Or, depending on your weather, watch the soft grey edges smear together into blended tones that drag down through the air […]

In a new study, a University of Utah-led team has discovered that different versions of a single gene, called NDP (Norrie Disease Protein), have unexpected links between color patterns in pigeons, and vision defects in humans. These gene variations were likely bred into pigeons by humans from a different pigeon species and are now evolutionarily advantageous […]

For some people, certain sounds like a trumpet blowing a particular tone can make them dizzy, and it’s not because they’re giddy from a Wynton Marsalis melody. It has been estimated that 1 in 100 people around the world have a congenital inner ear condition known as semicircular canal dehiscence, a thinning of the bone […]

How do insects survive harsh northern winters? Unlike mammals, they don’t have thick coats of fur to keep warm. But they do have antifreeze. Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) prevent ice from forming and spreading inside their bodies. The existence of these AFPs has been known for decades, but the mechanisms governing this unique survival technique have […]

The struggle to keep drinks cold during the summer is a lesson in classical phase transitions. To study phase transitions, apply heat to a substance and watch how its properties change. Add heat to water and at the so-called “critical point,” watch as it transforms into a gas (steam). Remove heat from water and watch […]

A new study using data from NASA’s NuSTAR space telescope suggests that Eta Carinae, the most luminous and massive stellar system within 10,000 light-years, is accelerating particles to high energies — some of which may reach Earth as cosmic rays. “We know the blast waves of exploded stars can accelerate cosmic ray particles to speeds […]