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Study: Detecting bias in traffic searches: Examining false searches of innocent drivers Black drivers are more frequently searched during traffic stops without finding contraband than white drivers, according to a University of Michigan study. Institute for Social Research scientists Maggie Meyer and Richard Gonzalez analyzed data from 98 million traffic stops, and showed that innocent Black drivers were likely to be searched about 3.4 to 4.5 percent of the time while innocent white drivers were likely to be searched about 1.9 to 2.7 percent of the time.

Scientists use 1.8 billion letters of genetic code to build groundbreaking tree of life Study: Phylogenomics and the rise of the Angiosperms (DOI: 10.1038/s41586'024 -07324-0) The most up-to-date understanding of the flowering plant tree of life is presented in a new study published today in the journal Nature by an international team of 279 scientists, including three University of Michigan biologists.

Study: Single-chain fluorescent integrators for mapping G-protein-coupled receptor agonists (DOI: 10.1073/pnas. University of Michigan researchers have developed a new tool to better understand how chemicals like dopamine and epinephrine interact with neurons. These chemicals are among a wide variety of signals that get processed in the brain through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), proteins that sit on the surface of neurons to receive messages-in the forms of proteins, sugars, fats, even light-that inform cellular behavior.

Study: A future food boom rescues the negative effects of early-life adversity on adult lifespan in a small mammal (DOI: 10.1098/rspb. If a person has a high-quality, late-life environment, it can mitigate the negative impact caused by early-life stressors, a new study shows. Researchers determined this human outcome after analyzing data from more than 1,000 wild red squirrels in Canada.

A University of Michigan study has shown that traumatic experiences during childhood may get "under the skin- later in life, impairing the muscle function of people as they age. The study examined the function of skeletal muscle of older adults paired with surveys of adverse events they had experienced in childhood.

Study: The acceptance of evolution: A developmental view of Generation X in the United States (DOI: 10. As the centennial of the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 approaches, a new study illustrates that the attitudes of Americans in Generation X toward evolution shifted as they aged.

Mixing unconventional ingredients in just the right order can make complex materials with fewer impurities. The robotic lab that tested the idea could be widely adopted. Study: Navigating phase diagram complexity to guide robotic inorganic materials synthesis (DOI: 10.1038/s44160'024 -00502-y) New chemistries for batteries, semiconductors and more could be easier to manufacture, thanks to a new approach to making chemically complex materials that researchers at the University of Michigan and Samsung's Advanced Materials Lab have demonstrated.

Study: C. elegans chromosome end protection proteins TEBP-1 and TEBP-2 adapt the Myb module to dimerize and bind telomeric DNA (DOI: 10.1073/pnas. University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a worm commonly used in the study of biology uses a set of proteins unlike those seen in other studied organisms to protect the ends of its DNA.

Study: Implications of Cumulative Life Event Stress for Daily Stress Exposure and Cardiovascular Reactivity Among Black and White Americans (DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbad054) Daily and lifetime exposure to stress may cause wear and tear on the stress responses of Black Americans, blunting their biological stress response, a new University of Michigan study shows.

Study: What happens at home stays at home: The Vegas rule for work depends on working memory Are family challenges distracting you at work, making your job feel demanding and stressful? You're not alone. But for people who use their working memory, which helps them manage distractions, they can reduce the impact of family problems at work, according to a new study.

Planets form in disks of dust and gas called protoplanetary disks that whirl around a central protostar during its final assembly. Although several dozens of such disks have been imaged, just two planets have been caught in the act of forming so far. Now, astronomers are aiming the powerful instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope at protoplanetary disks to try to find early clues about the ways in which planets form, and how these planets influence their natal disk.

Study: Acceptability of Screening for Gender Identity in a National Sample of Parents with Young Children (DOI: 10.1089/trgh. Most parents of young children are willing to discuss their child's gender identity with their pediatrician, according to a new University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania study.

Study: Large-Scale Modular and Uniformly Thick Origami-Inspired Adaptable and Load-Carrying Structures (DOI: 10.1038/s41467'024 -46667-0) For the first time, load-bearing structures like bridges and shelters can be made with origami modules-versatile components that can fold compactly and adapt into different shapes-University of Michigan engineers have demonstrated.

Study: Crowding at the ballot box: Germ aversion and voting methods in the 2020 U.S. general election (DOI: 10.1111/pops. Voters opted to pick candidates in 2020 by mail-in ballots, avoiding poll sites due to COVID-19 concerns rather than because of political party efforts to promote specific voting methods, according to a new University of Michigan study.

Study: Rainfall variability increased with warming in northern Queensland, Australia over the past 280 years (DOI: 10.1038/s43247'024 -01262-5) (available when embargo lifts) When climate scientists look to the future to determine what the effects of climate change may be, they use computer models to simulate potential outcomes such as how precipitation will change in a warming world.

Easily interpretable technique can reduce the cost and increase the scale of protein optimization for applications in medicine, biofuels and more Study: Machine learning to predict continuous protein properties from binary cell sorting data and map unseen sequence space (DOI: 10.1073/pnas. A protein engineering method using simple, cost-effective experiments and machine learning models can predict which proteins will be effective for a given purpose, according to a new study by University of Michigan researchers.

It looks like the same mechanism that breaks up airplane contrails might be at play in forming the clumps of hydrogen gas that ring the remnant of supernova 1987A Study: Hydrodynamic mechanism for clumping along the equatorial rings of SN1987A and other stars (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett. Physicists often turn to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability to explain why fluid structures form in plasmas, but that may not be the full story when it comes to the ring of hydrogen clumps around supernova 1987A, research from the University of Michigan suggests.

Study: Unraveling the interplay of circadian rhythm and sleep deprivation on mood: A Real-World Study on first-year physicians It's always darkest before the dawn for many people, and now, a University of Michigan and Dartmouth Health study has looked into the science of waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

Use of the psychoactive cannabis product is higher in states without existing delta-8 regulations or cannabis legalization, study finds Study: Adolescent Delta-8-THC and Marijuana Use in the United States (DOI: 10.1001/jama. The first ever national estimates of teen delta-8 use indicate that 11% of 12th grade students across the United States used it in the past year.

Study: The kainite receptor GluK2 mediates cold sensing in mice (DOI: 10.1038/s41593'024 -01585-8 ) University of Michigan researchers have identified the protein that enables mammals to sense cold, filling a long-standing knowledge gap in the field of sensory biology. The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, could help unravel how we sense and suffer from cold temperature in the winter, and why some patients experience cold differently under particular disease conditions.