World population is expected to pass seven billion this year. Can the earth handle it? U-M economist David Lam looks at the successes of the last 50 years and the trends for the future—and comes away optimistic.

Wise folks say that wisdom can only be earned by experience, but new research indicates that there might be a way to develop your capacity to make wise decisions.

Physicists and astronomers have long believed that the universe has mirror symmetry, like a basketball. But recent findings from the University of Michigan suggest that the shape of the Big Bang might be more complicated than previously thought, and that the early universe spun on an axis.

U-M faculty and alums take on Lady Gaga, Major League Soccer, antibacterial soap, sorority ghosts and more.

U-M researchers have found a way to mass-produce antennas so small that they approach the fundamental minimum size limit for their bandwidth, or data rate, of operation. It could lead to new generations of wireless consumer electronics and mobile devices.

The U-M College of Engineering asked students how they have changed since their arrival on campus. The answers are surprising, poignant and inspiring, and they might just get you thinking about your own time in Ann Arbor.

When alumnus Bill Sparrow decided to kayak the entire length of the Mississippi River, he and his wife Laura expected adventure. But they didn’t expect a whole new understanding of their country, its grandeur and its people.

Already under stress by invasive species and pollution, the Great Lakes are now seeing the reappearance of a problem once believed solved: dead zones, where no life survives. Worse yet, climate projections indicate that the problem is likely to grow.

Related: Researchers predict record Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” due to Mississippi River flooding

Extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring is expected to result in the largest Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” on record, according to a University of Michigan aquatic ecologist and his colleagues.