On June 4, a U-M Survival Flight airplane on an organ-transplant mission crashed into Lake Michigan, killing all six men aboard. The flight was a return journey from Wisconsin to Willow Run Airport near Ann Arbor, carrying organs for transplant to a patient at the U-M Medical Center. Aboard the flight were two pilots and four members of the UMMC medical staff. President Mary Sue Coleman called the team members "selfless heroes" and said, "our hearts are broken by this devastating and irreplaceable loss...." (read full statement).

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With Michigan's economy in trouble, U-M, Michigan State University and Wayne State University have joined forces to create the University Research Corridor. The aim is to drive the innovation and education the state needs to become a bigger player in the "knowledge economy." A new study finds that these schools rank with the top research triads in the country, including North Carolina's research triangle and Massachusetts' Harvard/MIT/Tufts cluster.

The brain is an astounding place, but new brain-imaging technology is nearly as amazing. New generation MRI machines provide three-dimensional pictures that capture the travel of thought itself. "Instead of imaging the brain, we're essentially able to image the mind," says U-M's Suresh Mukherji, MD. The images make brain surgery safer and more effective for diseases like epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
Video: 3D brain scan

This might be the first generation of children who do not outlive their parents, says U-M's Amy Bohn, M.D. The reason? Health problems related to childhood overweight and obesity. But summer is a great time to make some healthy lifestyle changes that will benefit kids and the entire family. Bohn gives a few practical, healthy tips here.

When Bob Willis thought about retiring, he knew just how he wanted to do it. Slowly. Or maybe never. His job, not coincidentally, was to study work and retirement at U-M. One of his studies found that two-thirds of workers agreed with him: they'd prefer to partially retire if firms allowed them to scale back their hours at the same rate of pay. Are you one of them?

Contrary to popular belief, girls do just as well as boys on math and science tests. Yet those fields are dominated by men. It's as if women are saying, "I can, but I don't want to," says U-M's Pamela Davis-Kean. Kean's recent study found that parents, particularly fathers, play a crucial role in the development of girls' math and science interests. Particularly important: whether fathers hold stereotypes that math and science are more important for boys than girls.

The kapok tree thrives both in South America and Africa, and it's long been assumed that the species had spread across both continents long before they were even continents—when they were still part of the same ancient land mass. But a study by U-M's Christopher Dick upends this assumption. The evidence indicates that, despite incredibly long odds, seeds from kapoks in South America crossed the ocean to Africa.

Information technology is the latest thing going green at U-M. The university has committed to making sure that its thousands of computers meet strict energy efficiency standards, as part of its participation in the new Climate Savers program announced by Google. The program boosts U-M's current commitment to energy efficiency, which saves money and reduces pollution, and fits into a larger plan to slash energy use across campus.