Category: Research

News about Research


An Insomnia Label More Harmful Than Poor Sleep

From the January 2018 Desktop News | People who worry about poor sleep have more emotional and physical problems during the day than those who do not worry, regardless of how well either sleep, according to research conducted at The University of Alabama. In a review of more than a dozen sleep studies going back more than 20 years, Dr. Kenneth Lichstein, UA professor of psychology, defines something he calls insomnia identity, a person’s conviction of having poor sleep. This belief […]

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UA Scientist Helps Show How Earth Stops Tiny Particles in Their Tracks

From the January 2018 Desktop News | An international group of researchers, including several from The University of Alabama, measured the interaction between tiny particles, called neutrinos, that travel the cosmos and Earth. The findings, which carry implications for our understanding of physics and Earth’s core, were published in the journal Nature. Neutrinos are abundant subatomic particles famous for passing through anything and everything, rarely interacting with matter. About 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body every second. Now, scientists have demonstrated […]

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UA Political Science Professors Publish Paper on Gender Bias in Supreme Court

From the November 2017 Desktop News | Drs. Dana Patton and Joseph Smith, both associate professors with The University of Alabama’s Department of Political Science, recently published their paper “Lawyer, Interrupted: Gender Bias in Oral Arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court” in the Journal of Law and Courts. The paper discusses the disparities in how male and female lawyers are treated while arguing in front of the Supreme Court. Patton originally noticed the difference while playing a transcript of oral arguments […]

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Anthropology Graduate Student Finds Rare Research Experience on Creighton Island

Cayla Colclasure uses new equipment on Creighton Island.

From the November 2017 Desktop News | If there’s anything anthropology graduate student Cayla Colclasure has discovered in her research, it’s that studying those who have gone before us is an important part of moving forward. Alongside her mentor, Dr. Elliot Blair, Colclasure is doing just that in a revolutionary way on Creighton Island, a privately-owned island in McIntosh County, Georgia. The pair is utilizing an upgraded piece of equipment to gather information from Creighton about indigenous communities from the Mississippian […]

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Comb Jellies Possibly First Lineage to Branch Off Evolutionary Tree

Kevin Kocot

From the November 2017 Desktop News | A researcher at The University of Alabama was part of a new study that provides further evidence in support of a controversial hypothesis that a group of marine animals commonly called comb jellies were the first to break away from all other animals, making it the oldest surviving animal lineage. Dr. Kevin M. Kocot, UA assistant professor in biological sciences and curator of invertebrate zoology in the Alabama Museum of Natural History, is a co-author […]

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A&S in the News: November 5-11, 2017

Visiting Writers Series Author T Cooper to speak to students: Crimson White – Nov. 5 Who: T Cooper is the author of six novels and has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, CNN.com, OPRAH magazine and many more. What: A free event where T Cooper will be speaking about his novels and time as an author … Anyone interested in writing or reading is encouraged to go to this free event hosted by the College of Arts and […]

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To Aid Utilities, Researchers Seek Ancient Floods Near Tennessee River

From the October 2017 Desktop News | With funding from energy utilities, a team of researchers at The University of Alabama are collaborating with peers across the Southeast to understand the frequency and possible size of floods along the Tennessee River that pre-date reliable weather and streamflow records. With a better understanding of floods from the past 10,000 years, utilities can better prepare for historic natural disasters that could threaten dams and nuclear plants in and around the Tennessee River, said […]

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A&S in the News: September 10-16, 2017

Cloud Lecture Series Fall brings a full slate of arts offerings at W&M: Williamsburg and Yorktown Daily – Sept. 10 A mural project completed with visiting artist Steve Prince over the summer to kick off the yearlong commemoration of the 50th anniversary of W&M’s first African-American residential students will be unveiled this week and on permanent display in Swem Library … The Cloud Lecture series will host Trudier Harris, American literary historian and professor of English at The University of Alabama, […]

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Two Professors Earn Fulbrights for International Research

From the September 2017 Desktop News | Two University of Alabama professors will pursue work and research through the U.S. Fulbright Scholars Program in 2017 and 2018. Dr. Samantha Hansen, associate professor of geological sciences, will be in Greece for the fall semester, working at the National Observatory of Athens. She will combine seismic data from a countrywide seismograph network with her tomographic imaging technique—producing images through a ground-penetrating wave—to develop models for the Hellenic Subduction Zone. The Hellenic Subduction Zone is […]

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Historian Receives Grant for Digital Slavery Project

From the September 2017 Desktop News | Can you imagine opening a newspaper and seeing an advertisement for a runaway slave? In today’s world, it’s hard to fathom what it must have been like to live in a time when slavery was accepted. Dr. Joshua Rothman, a professor of history and chair of the Department of History, is on a mission to make understanding that world—and the many things we can learn from it—a lot easier. Rothman is a part of a […]

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