For a brief time, Kerry Finn felt like “The Terminator” or “The Six Million Dollar Man.” The 60-year-old retired truck driver from Salt Lake County, Utah, lost his left leg to vascular disease from type 2 diabetes. But last year, he was one of 10 human subjects at the University of Utah to test one […]
Research
Bionic breakthrough
In the wake of mass shootings, a reluctance to talk about gun safety
At a time when discussions about access to firearms and gun safety are paramount, trusted professionals find it difficult to have those conversations. A new study shows that in the months immediately following mass shootings, doctors are less likely to ask routine questions about gun safety in the home. Scientists at University of Utah Health […]
DESI opens its 5,000 eyes to capture the colors of the cosmos
A new instrument mounted atop a telescope in Arizona aimed its robotic array of 5,000 fiber-optic “eyes” at the night sky to capture the first images showing its unique view of galaxy light. It was the first test of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, known as DESI, with its nearly complete complement of components. The […]
Scientists discover link between unique brain cells and OCD and anxiety
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 1 in 3 people experience debilitating anxiety—the kind that prevents someone from going about their normal life. Women are also more at risk to suffer from anxiety. Yet the roots of anxiety and other anxiety-related diseases, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), are still unclear. In a […]
“I am multiracial”
“What are you?” It’s a loaded question, and for people with multiple racial ancestries, it can be a body blow to that person’s sense of identity and inclusion. According to new research from University of Utah psychologists Jasmine Norman and Jacqueline Chen, questions such as “What are you?” and other experiences of discrimination are related […]
Cultivating Joy through Mindfulness: An Antidote to Opioid Misuse, the Disease of Despair
New research shows that a specific mind-body therapy, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), increases the brain’s response to natural, healthy rewards while also decreasing the brain’s response to opioid-related cues. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, examined data from four experiments involving 135 adults who took opioids daily for chronic pain. The study […]
The science of big data
Data science has become one of the hottest and most valuable tools for businesses and scientists, whether it’s to help find a cure for diseases or figuring out what movie to watch next on Netflix. Consequently, the data scientist — someone employed to analyze and interpret complex information for research or business — has become […]
NSF awards $1.6M Quantum Idea Incubator Award to U-led team
The National Science Foundation has awarded $1,635,591 to scientists from the University of Utah and a collaborator from University of California, Los Angeles, to research one of the biggest hurdles to quantum computing—the quantum logic units, or “qubits,” that carry information. The award is one of 19 Quantum Idea Incubator grants totaling $32 million funded […]
Thin to win
The new wave of smartphones to hit the market all come with incredible cameras that produce brilliant photos. There’s only one complaint—the thick camera lenses on the back that jet out like ugly bumps on a sheet of glass. But University of Utah electrical and computer engineering researchers have developed a new kind of optical […]
Early humans evolved in ecosystems unlike any found today
To understand the environmental pressures that shaped human evolution, scientists must first piece together the details of the ancient plant and animal communities that our fossil ancestors lived in over the past 7 million years. Because putting together the puzzle of millions-of-years-old ecosystems is a difficult task, many studies have reconstructed the environments by drawing […]