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The BioMatters team at the University of Michigan has developed a fully biodegradable, reusable and recyclable material to replace the wasteful concrete formwork traditionally used across the construction industry. The base of this material is upcycled sawdust-millions of tons of sawdust waste are created each year from the 15 billion cut trees and often burned or dumped in landfills left to contribute to environmental pollution.

Study: Monitoring the Future Panel Study Annual Report: National data on substance use among adults ages 19 to 60, 1976-2022 Adults aged 35 to 50 continued a long-term upward trajectory in past-year use of marijuana and hallucinogens to reach all-time highs in 2022, according to the Monitoring the Future panel study, an annual survey of substance use behaviors and attitudes of adults 19-to-60 years old.

Study: Human POT1 protects the telomeric ds-ss DNA junction by capping the 5′-end of the chromosome Researchers have determined a new feature of how the natural ends of our chromosomes are protected from harmful outcomes. In a new study, University of Michigan researchers looked at how the DNA damage recognition process seems to know the difference between harmful DNA breaks that need repair versus the natural ends of chromosomes, called telomeres, that need to be left alone.

Properly implemented firearm access policies are effective at reducing injury, study finds Study: Effectiveness of Firearm Restriction, Background Checks, and Licensing Laws in Reducing Gun Violence When evidence-based firearm injury prevention policies such as extreme risk protection orders are implemented properly, they can play a significant role in preventing gun-related injuries and death, according to a new scientific policy review led by the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention.

A subatomic particle called the muon, a particle similar to an electron but about 200 times heavier, could unlock how the physicists' model that describes how the universe works at a fundamental level is incomplete. Now, scientists have a brand-new measurement of a property of the muon called the anomalous magnetic moment that improves the precision of their previous result by a factor of 2.

Study: When do annotator demographics matter? Measuring the influence of annotator demographics with the POPQUORN dataset Social media companies are increasingly using complex algorithms and artificial intelligence to detect offensive behavior online. These algorithms and AI systems all rely on data to learn what is offensive.

Cracks in predominant lithium-ion electrodes shorten battery lifespans, but a neuroscience-inspired technique shows that they have an upside Study: Direct measurements of size-independent lithium diffusion and reaction times in individual polycrystalline battery particles (DOI: 10.1039/D3EE00953J) Rather than being solely detrimental, cracks in the positive electrode of lithium-ion batteries reduce battery charge time, research done at the University of Michigan shows.

Study: Charting the longitudinal trajectories and interplay of critical consciousness among youth activists Youth involved in community-based activism over time become better critical thinkers and more politically active, according to a new University of Michigan study. The study , recently published in Child Development, highlights the importance of community engagement in supporting and developing critical consciousness and social action among adolescents.

Study: N6-Adenosine methylation regulates the translation of insulin mRNA (available upon request and when embargo lifts) The discovery of insulin has saved the lives of millions of people with diabetes worldwide, but little is known about the first step of insulin synthesis. Researchers at the University of Michigan have uncovered part of this mystery.

Study: Deforestation, certification, and transnational palm oil supply chains: Linking Guatemala to global consumer markets Cheap, versatile and easy to grow, palm oil is the world's most consumed vegetable oil and is found in roughly half of all packaged supermarket products, from bread and margarine to shampoo and toothpaste.

Increasingly divisive messages about science have led some people to see scientists as a group that is "for” or "against” their political or religious social groups, according to new research. This skepticism is happening despite scientists having diverse backgrounds, expertise and identities, said study co-author Ariel Hasell , assistant professor of communication and media at the University of Michigan.

Interactions between structures at the nanoscale sync up with the way the whole cell contracts and expands during this vital process Study: Opening long-time investigation window of living matter by nonbleaching phase intensity nanoscope A new way to see details smaller than half the wavelength of light has revealed how nanoscale scaffolding inside cells bridges to the macroscale during cell division.

EXPERT Q&A Years-long debate on a possible link between cancer and aspartame-sweetener of Diet Coke and thousands of other foods-was not settled with the World Health Organization's decision to classify the artificial sweetener as possibly carcinogenic while also maintaining the current recommendation of safe daily intake.

Study: Searching for or reviewing evidence improves crowdworkers' misinformation judgments and reduces partisan bias People make better and less biased judgments about misinformation after searching the internet for corroborating evidence, according to a new University of Michigan study. If members of a large panel of people, described as lay raters or crowdworkers, each make independent judgments after conducting online searches, the research indicates they would make better judgments than a small panel of journalists.

Study: "Cocaine or methamphetamine use during young adulthood following stimulant use for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during adolescence” (available upon request and when embargo lifts at DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen. Many parents whose kids take prescription stimulants like Ritalin to treat ADHD worry that it could lead to illicit drug use later.

Study: Shared parental responsiveness among fathers and mothers with low income and early child outcomes Fathers and mothers in low-income homes can ensure that their preschoolers thrive with social behaviors and language skills by engaging in shared expressions of parental love or warmth, according to a newly published study.

Current study: Modeling airborne pollen concentrations at an urban scale with pollen release from individual trees Prior papers based on the tree-by-tree pollen measurement research: Urban-scale variation in pollen concentrations: a single station is insufficient to characterize daily exposure Pollen production for 13 urban North American tree species: allometric equations for tree trunk diameter and crown area Improved classification of urban tr

Studies: Early planet formation in embedded disks (eDisk). I. Overview of the program and first results Early planet formation in embedded disks (eDisk). II. Limited dust settling and prominent snow surfaces in the edge-on Class I Disk IRAS 04302+2247 Early planet formation in embedded disks (eDisk).

Study: The association between witnessing firearm violence and firearm carriage: Results from a national study of teens Teenagers who witness different types of violence are more likely to carry a firearm, according to a new study led by the University of Michigan. The study, conducted by researchers at U-M's Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention in collaboration with the Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens Consortium , shows that exposure to violence-regardless of whether that violence involves a gun-has a significant association with firearm carriage among youth ages 14-18.

Sixteen percent of Detroit residents in the labor force were unemployed as of March 2023, according to the latest survey from the University of Michigan's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study. The latest unemployment estimate essentially holds steady from the previous DMACS estimate in August 2022. Detroit's unemployment peaked at 43% at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and remains higher than the estimated pre-pandemic unemployment rate of 8%.