
Uncertainty in a date dampens interest in a mate
A new study by psychologists in Rochester and Israel shows those who feel greater certainty that a prospective romantic partner shares their interest will put more effort into seeing that person again.

Alien apocalypse: Can any civilization make it through climate change?
Does the universe contain planets with truly sustainable civilizations? Or does every civilization that may have arisen in the cosmos last only a few centuries before it falls to the climate change it triggers? Rochester astrophysicist Adam Frank and his collaborators have developed a mathematical model to illustrate how a technologically advanced population and its planet might develop together, putting climate change in a cosmic context.

Using data science to tell which of these people is lying
University researchers are using data science to analyze more than 1 million facial expressions to more accurately detect deception based on a smile.

‘Groundbreaking and transformative’ work at Undergraduate Research Expo
“It’s students crossing boundaries between disciplines, asking questions, and coming up with innovative and exciting answers to the challenges that face us in the contemporary world.”

US democratic performance declines on most measures
Both the general public and political science experts rate the performance of US democratic institutions significantly lower than half a year ago, according to the fifth and latest survey from Bright Line Watch.

New method eliminates guesswork when lenses go freeform
Lenses and mirrors with freeform rather than symmetric can lead to optical devices that are more effective than ever before. A new design method would eliminate the expensive trail-and-error needed to work with freeform optics.

Tracing the slave stories of colonial Mexico
Painstakingly searching through three colonial archives in Puebla, Mexico, assistant professor of history Pablo Miguel Sierra Silva reaches beyond traditional master-slave narratives in his latest study of afro-indigenous interactions in Mexico’s urban centers.

Tiny microenvironments hold clues to ocean nitrogen cycle
A new Rochester study shows that nitrogen-feeding organisms exist all over the deep ocean, and not just in large oxygen-depleted “dead zones,” changing the way we think about the delicate nitrogen cycle.

Scientists discover gene controlling genetic recombination rates
Some species have evolved to display far more genetic crossover than others—and scientists have discovered a gene in fruit flies that is responsible for the evolution of these recombination rates.

Scholars call for more research into gun violence
More than a dozen researchers—from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and other major institutions around the country—presented at the two-day symposium, aimed at addressing dearth of research data on gun violence.