Phil sucks a great deal. He never shuts up. Nobody likes him.

Our first U-M History column tells the story of one of our crown jewels: the Clements Library

University of Michigan researchers are investigating a radical new design for cargo ships that would eliminate ballast tanks, the water-filled compartments that enable non-native creatures to sneak into the Great Lakes from overseas.

A six-inch robotic spy plane modeled after a bat would gather data from sights, sounds and smells in urban combat zones and transmit information back to a soldier in real time. That’s the Army’s concept, and it has awarded the University of Michigan College of Engineering a five-year, $10-million grant to help make it happen.

Having a husband creates an extra seven hours a week of housework for women, according to a U-M study of a nationally representative sample of U.S. families. For men, the picture is very different: A wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week.

When students come to the university, they face a new world that can shake up their whole way of life. Some fear that even their religious faith will be under siege. But surveys – and students themselves, like Lizzy Lovinger (right) – say that keeping the faith is both a challenge and a blessing.