Evolution, the process of change that Darwin called 'descent with modification,' is the subject of a theme semester in the College of LSA. The semester features special courses, distinguished speakers, a film series, a museum show and workshops for students and teachers. (Illus: walking whale discovered by Prof. Philip Gingerich.)

Playing violent video games changes brain function and desensitizes chronic players to violence, a new study shows.

Khaled Mattawa, assistant professor of English, heads the poetry section of U-M's MFA Program in Creative Writing. 'Genealogy of Fire' and 'For Years I've Been Prohibited From Mentioning the Moon' are in Zodiac of Echoes, his second volume of poetry.

Geri Allen joined the U-M School of Music faculty in 2005. 'Lush Life' is from her 2004 CD The Life of a Song. 'Piano Boogie' is from the Altman film Kansas City, in which she appeared as Mary Lou Williams.

U-M researchers have created a class of lightweight rigid polymers they predict will be useful for storing hydrogen fuel.

This quartet of exhibitions explores how an artist’s personal vision of landscape can become part of a cultural identity, for both insiders and outsiders, across time and national boundaries. The artists are Japanese and Chinese. Pictured: Kambara, Night Snow by Andô Hiroshige (1797-1858), color woodblock print.

A new dental procedure has patients going home with permanent implanted dentures in one hour. Compared with removable dentures, patients report greater ease in eating and speaking.

Block M Records is U-M's new recording label that makes performances available to anyone worldwide, primarily through Internet streaming or fee-for-download.

Many lovers of Shakespearean drama came to Ann Arbor to see the RSC during its first two appearances. Out-of-towners may wish to make arrangements soon to see Patrick Stewart as Antony and Prospero.

U-M's technology transfer efforts rose 18% in fiscal 2005, with 287 invention disclosures. And University licensing revenues hit $16.7 million versus $11.7 million last year.