James Kumon '05 and dozens of teammates are building a 700-square-foot solar-powered house that can handle the basic power needs of a small home as well as a small car.

Basilosaurus isis.  The new skeleton is 18 meters (50 feet) long and was found in Wadi Hitan in the Western Sahara of Egypt. The first Basilosaurus fossil was found in 1905 but no full skeleton has been discovered until now.

Rachel Revere unknowingly trusted a British spy with a letter she hoped would help husband Paul on his historic ride. The U-M's Clements Library got the letter from the estate of a British general.

As a way of exploring particle physics, Patricia Olynyk used Durer's image of Eve as the basis for an interactive sculpture of the 'other first woman,' Lilith. The work is part of Professor Olynyk's exploration of how scientific imagery  both enhances and obscures knowledge.

'Screenwriters have long explored the road picture because, first off, the idea of the road as a dramatic setting is innately cinematic,' says our film columnist Prof. Frank Beaver, who lists some favorites.

Listen to 'Orange Bang' (mp3) (requires audio plugin)
Listen to 'The Ginseng Hunter' (mp3) (requires audio plugin)

'Orange Bang' and 'The Ginseng Hunter Thinks About Oranges in October' are from Deanne Lundin's first volume of poetry The Ginseng Hunter's Notebook.

The Longone Center for American Culinary Research at the University of Michigan's Clements Library will serve up a large slice of Americana May 13-15 with a three-day symposium. Presenters include Darra Goldstein, founding editor of Gastronomica,  and Andy Smith, editor-in-chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia on Food and Drink in America.

The Life Sciences Institute has hired six 'highly talented scientists from multiple disciplines' whose coming 'showcases Michigan's approach to advancing science,' says LSI Director Alan R. Saltiel.

Revered in Native American traditions, immortalized in the plays of Shakespeare and carved on Bavarian clocks, the diverse family of birds known as cuckoos is the subject of a 644-page book

Listen to 'Amazing Grace' (mp3) (requires audio plugin)

Diana Gannett, professor of double bass, has released her CD Lady Bass through Lemur Records ($15), at http://www.lemur-music.com or 800.246-BASS.

People who identify themselves as Roman Catholics increasingly express values and attitudes at variance with the doctrines of the church hierarchy, according to a study by U-M's Institute for Social Research (ISR).