The best time for seniors and their adult children to talk about the future is before a health or financial crisis, when effective plans can be set in place, and difficult questions resolved with patience. Here’s a helpful guide.

A 9-cubic millimeter solar-powered sensor system developed at U-M—1,000 times smaller than comparable commercial counterparts—is the smallest that can harvest energy from its surroundings to operate nearly perpetually.

A study from U-M’s School of Social Work finds that while African American boys find help with depression from family members, they may feel apprehensive or distrustful of seeking additional help from a mental health professional.

Increasing rates of obese and overweight children in the United States may be contributing to a later onset of puberty in boys, a U-M study suggests. The late puberty of overweight boys contrasts with findings that for girls, being heavier may bring on puberty earlier.

Gently rocking embryos while they grow during in vitro fertilization (IVF) improves pregnancy rates in mice by 22 percent, new University of Michigan research shows. The procedure could one day lead to significantly higher IVF success rates in humans.

New U-M research shows that meals eaten after each exercise session have an important impact on controlling blood sugar. The study suggests that eating meals with a relatively low carbohydrate content after exercise (but not low in calories) improved the control of blood sugar into the next day.

Plus: Childhood obesity may lead to early onset of puberty in boys

Over the course of evolution, bats and whales acquired echolocation abilities independently, for use in very different environments, so you’d expect the means by which each accomplishes the feat to differ. But a new U-M study suggests that at the microscopic level, the molecular structures for both species are very similar. It’s a striking discovery that overturns conventional thinking in evolution.

Banks with strong political connections were more likely to receive bailout money from the government—and more of it—in the past year than those with weaker ties, say researchers with the U-M Ross School of Business.

In a study that helps to explain the origins of water on Earth, U-M astronomers have found that water vapor can form spontaneously in habitable zones of solar systems.