Ever thought of a sure fire way to pass that Geometry test with out losing one wink of sleeping studying all night? Call a friend! If you guys talk long enough, you just might ace that test with out reading one single chapter. Oscar Ybarra, psychologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, states that talking to someone for a minimum of 10 minutes a day can actually boost memory and intellectual performance.

Researchers from the University of Michigan have developed a new type of composite plastic. This new material constructed from clay nano-sheets and a water soluble polymer has been found to be as strong as steel but is lighter and transparent. While no official name has been given to this invention, it has been unofficially dubbed "plastic steel" by Nicholas Kotov, one of the scientists on the project.

The material was developed in the team's efforts to solve a problem that has befuddled both engineers and scientists. Former studies on nanotubes, nanosheets, and nanorods found that each one is stable in smaller configurations. However, when used to build larger devices, the final product came out to be structurally weaker than the base material. Kotov explained the problem in detail:

When you tried to build something you can hold in your arms, scientists had difficulties transferring the strength of individual nanosheets or nanotubes to the entire material. We've demonstrated that one can achieve almost ideal transfer of stress between nanosheets and a polymer matrix.

The current process to create the composite looks to be very tedious since it involves layering both the glue-like polymer called polyvinyl alcohol and nanosheets. Each layer must dry off before the next one can be added. Creation of larger objects would be a very difficult task indeed considering it would take 300 layers of both substances to make a piece of Plastic Steel as thin as a piece of plastic wrap.

The scientists behind this project are convinced that research on this plastic could lead to further advancements in both military and police armor, microelectromechanical devices, various vehicles like unmanned aircraft, microfludics, and even biomedical sensors. If the composite is as strong as they say it is, then their assessment would be correct.

Previously, we reported on a study done by a research team from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Michigan State University. In that study, it was determined that violent games were more popular among kids. Now, here's an update to that: it's now said that violent games could actually be healthy for kids!

Published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, it's been said that violent games don't necessarily lead to violence among children and that they (the kids) could actually benefit from playing video games.

Massachusetts General Hospital's Cheryl Olson SC.D. commented that "this idea that 'M' rated games cause shootings or major violence just doesn't hold water."

One portion of the study focused on the actual benefits, with anger management being one possible factor on why it's healthy. Olson continues, "We don't know whether playing to get anger out is a good thing or a bad thing for any individual child, but we suspect that it might be healthy for a lot of kids."

Another benefit: social interaction. The study found that the kids are more likely to be playing with a couple of friends in tow, whether in the same room or over the net. In their study, none of the kids fell into the "solitary violent gamer up in his room" stereotype.

Do note that these findings are based on a focus group of 1,200 seventh and eight graders. And from what we know about focus groups (no matter how large), they still tend to be too limited to make a general theory out of - there's still some room for allowance here. So, the researchers still suggest constant vigilance among the parents, and that they should be aware of the types of games their kids play, nonetheless.

The conclusion, though, from Olson rests:

It's not going to ruin them, they're not going to go out and pick up a gun. Violent video game play is typical and normal for kids nowadays. That doesn't mean that parents have to like it, but they shouldn't panic about it

Now how's that for a safe, clean answer? We're not trying to recommend violent games to kids here. We're just saying that, hey!, it's normal.

Hope Cummings and Dr. Elizabeth Vandewater for the medical journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine from the University of Michigan have made a new study on gamers and their habits. Using survey data collected for a year (in fact, a school year), from 1,491 gamers and non-gamers alike, the study has come to some interesting conclusions, and some other tidbits that could confirm what gamers have known since the birth of gaming.

The study has determined that gamers (aged 10-19) don't prioritize games over their family. Gamers and non-gamers actually spend about the same time with their family. See? Gamers aren't slaves to their consoles.

The study also concludes though that while their social interactions don't suffer, schoolwork does. But then again, the mind does tend to wander even without the help of video games. It'd be great if they conducted a research on "studying through video games" or maybe that's just us.

The study also found that more boys play video games than girls. Really. It's true. The results also suggest that playing video games have different social implications for both genders. But then, so does sex.

Aside from using manure as a fertilizer, can you think of more creative uses for them? And of course, that doesn't hurling it in the general direction of that neighborhood bully.

Anyway, researchers from Michigan State University and the US Department of Agriculture are finding new - and a bit wacky - ways of recycling wastes from ranches and farms. First solution? Turn them into floorboards. Fiberboard to be exact. Sawdust is used as an ingredient in fiberboard, which in turn is used for making furniture, flooring and storage shelves. They are suggesting that the sawdust be replaced with the fiber after-product of processed manure.

Manure processing or treatment, called anaerobic digesting, is currently one of the solutions to the manure problem, as there is about 1.5 to two TRILLION pounds of it annually in the US alone. The manure is sterilized and processed to get the methane (for biogas) plus the end product smells fine. But the process is expensive, along with other disposal methods that cost around US$ 200 per cow annually. Though it's not surprising that the idea has its set of detractors. Steve Fowler, an economist with the Composite Panel Association said, "Is this something you’re going to bring into the house?"

Anyway, there already are ways to dispose of the by-product of the process including potting soil and animal bedding. It maybe just a matter of time before deodorized manure - just the fiber, of course - finds its way into household use.

Two decades ago, Americans were much inclined to believe in alien abductions, horoscopes and Bigfoot. Now, they still dream wistfully of being sucked in by a flying saucer or having a quick conversation with the Sasquatch himself, but not too much - really.

Researchers say that this progress in the American way of scientific thinking could be largely credited to the requirement that all college students attend at least a few science classes. Jon D. Miller, a Michigan State University Professor said that in 1988, only about 10 percent of people in the US knew enough about science to understand reports in major newspapers. In 2005, the figure grew to 28 percent. He presented these findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, but we weren't told if somebody actually questioned the professor himself about his belief on whether or not we are alone in the universe...

Carol Susan Losh, an associate professor at Florida State University, however, thinks that the decline in belief on horoscopes and lucky numbers is actually bad. She believes that astrology could explain the meaning of life in a way that science could not. For most women, Losh said, having a good life depends on whom they marry, and astrology speaks to love relationships.

This was probably one of the reasons why Professor Miller named "female" as a leading negative factor in science literacy. Women tended to believe in horoscopes a lot. They also tended  to take fewer college courses.

The second negative factor to science literacy, according to Miller, was religious fundamentalism and aging. This finding speaks of the fact that there has been a drop of people who believe on evolutionism and an increase of people who believe that mankind was created 10,000 years ago.

Miller said that the best way to become scientifically educated is to take science courses in college, inform yourself through the media, and have kids at home. Is it because kids are more scientifically educated, or that they never really grew up on Bigfoot news and Star Trek?

We've often heard of the cliche, "Ignorance is bliss". But when it involves another person's life on the line, ignorance is nothing short of being criminal.

In Pontiac, Michigan, Daniel Beloungea is a 48-year old single man who generally lives a normal life, if not for the once-a-week attacks of his epilepsy. While walking through his neighborhood one day in April, he suddenly had a seizure. An onlooker in a neighbor's house saw him, and thought he was masturbating in public.

Having that thought, she went on to call the cops, who in turn also misinterpreted his actions for criminal behavior. It came to a point that they had to draw their weapons, and even shocked him with a high-voltage taser gun, because he was acting disoriented and not responding to questions. Apart from that, he was also hit with a baton and wrestled to the ground.

According to Undersheriff Michael McCabe of the Oakland Country Police Department, they had to turn aggressive on him because Beloungea allegedly lunged at one of the cops. When he was finally restrained, he was then brought to jail, and was charged with assault of a police officer and resisting arrest.

However, according to the Epilepsy Foundation of America, those were all typical behavior of an epileptic restrained while having the seizure. The wild motions and inability to communicate were not acts of defiance or resistance, but rather, were classic symptoms of epilepsy.

Says Eric Hargis, the Foundation's CEO, Police should have been better trained to recognize the seizure and not to use force on an epileptic. Furthermore, the best thing to do when anyone sees somebody undergoing a seizure is to not to restrain the person. Instead, the seizure should just be made to pass, and make sure the person is not in harm's way. Now, if the seizure lasts for more than five to seven minutes, then they should call 911.

The good news is that Beloungea was relieved of the charges with guilty by reason of insanity. The bad news is that, well, he wasn't insane. He was just having an epileptic seizure. And because of this, he had to spend 20 days in a criminal mental facility. That's warped justice.

Meanwhile, he is still waiting for an apology from the Oakland Sheriff's Office.  He says, "In a situation like mine, look for a medical bracelet. Pay attention to what you're doing, know your job. Don't just grab a taser gun...50,000 volts in a situation like mine could kill a person."

All throughout the time of his seizure, Beloungea was wearing a medical alert bracelet, which identified him as an epileptic. The bracelet also confirmed information such as his name and the contact numbers of people who can be reached in case of an emergency.

Throughout the United States, there are roughly about three million Americans living with epilepsy. And we bet Daniel Beloungea wasn't the only one sent to jail for a seizure.