(LSAnews)
COLL E G E
Super Stars Have Humble Beginnings The first close-up picture of a nascent supermassive star and its surroundings has shown that the highest-mass stars in the universe form just like their smaller counterparts. They are born from swirling disks of gas and dust, rather than from violent stellar collisions.
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“How these high-mass stars form has been a debate for 20 years,” said Stefan Kraus, a research fellow in LSA’s Department of Astronomy. “We’ve provided the first clear observational evidence of a compact, solar system-sized, dusty disk around a massive young star.”
The Monkey-Ape Lineage Split
Fulbright Grants Assist More U-M Students Than Ever The U.S. Department of State Fulbright Program awarded grant offers to 43 U-M students, 38 of which are LSA students. The grant allows students to participate in research, study, or an English teaching assistantship abroad. Operating in 155 countries, the Fulbright Program was designed to increase mutual understanding between countries. This year’s number of grant offers is the highest in U-M’s history.
Scientists agree that Old World monkeys and apes share a common ancestry, but at some point two lineages diverged. A primate skull unearthed outside of Mecca in Saudi Arabia is the closest common ancestor to apes and Old World monkeys, LSA paleontology researchers say, and helps date the split. Sediment records indicate that the fossil is 25 to 29 million years old, making 24 to 29 million years ago the window in which the monkeyape split may have occurred. The ape and human lineages split later. The research appears in the journal Nature.
IS THE ORGANIC LABEL TRICKING DIETERS? LSA psychology researchers say that there’s a strong tendency for Americans to associate the concept of “organic” with healthiness. Organic foods are not necessarily lower calorie foods, says psychology graduate student Jonathon P. Schuldt. He explains that if Americans perceive organic foods to have fewer calories, they may eat more than they otherwise would.
SMART WOMEN DON’T NEED SUGAR DADDIES A new study suggests that intelligent women are less impressed by rich men. LSA psychology researcher Christine Stanik (M.S. ’07, Ph.D. ’09) found that the higher a woman’s verbal IQ, the less likely she is to seek out a male breadwinner. Instead, smarter women with careers look for men who don’t mind changing diapers and washing dishes. fall 2010 LSA n 9