The first signs of life emerged on Earth in the form of microbes about four billion years ago. While scientists are still determining exactly when and how these microbes appeared, it’s clear that the emergence of life is intricately intertwined with the chemical and physical characteristics of early Earth.

“It is reasonable to suspect that life could have started differently—or not at all—if the early chemical characteristics of our planet were different,” says Dustin Trail, an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences.

As described in a paper published in Science, Trail and Thomas McCollom, a research associate at the University of Colorado Boulder, used experiments and zircon chemistry to build more accurate computer models of fluids that act as pathways from inner Earth to Earth’s surface.

The models allow researchers to simulate which metals may have been transported to Earth’s surface when life first emerged. “Our research shows that metals like manganese may function as important links between the ‘solid’ Earth and emerging biological systems at Earth’s surface,” Trail says.

The research has important implications not only for discovering the origins of life but also in the search for life on other planets. Learn more.

Given the importance of race, class, and immigration status in shaping American politics, two political scientists—Gerald Gamm at the University of Rochester and Thad Kousser at the University of California San Diego—wondered how demographic characteristics might affect state spending. Has state spending across constituencies reflected the same biases that have been shown to shape voting patterns, representation, and policymaking?

Gamm—an expert on Congress, state legislatures, urban politics, and modern party politics—and Kousser—a specialist on term limits, voting reforms, and state politics—took the long view, diving into historical archives and collecting data from six states for 1921, 1941, and 1961. The researchers picked this time frame to incorporate the sweeping changes in American society and government brought first by the New Deal and then the Second World War. Their results are published in Legislative Studies Quarterly.

The duo found “clear evidence of bias” and discovered that race, class, and immigration status played important roles in how and where state legislatures spent money.

They found that certain demographic factors had a direct effect on how much a state spent on its constituents. Districts with more immigrants or larger numbers of nonwhite residents got significantly less money, while districts dominated by US-born, white Anglo constituents received more state dollars. Learn more.

“There are alternative ways to rule out conditions without a CT scan,” says Derek Wakeman, an associate professor in the departments of surgery and pediatrics.

Every time a child gets a computed tomography (CT) scan from a hospital they are exposed to radiation that—according to research—creates a 1-in-1,000 risk of developing a fatal tumor later in life.

These CT scans, which use several x-ray images and computer processing to create cross-sectional images, are important to get a precise diagnosis in specific situations. However, the scans carry extra risks and additional costs that are best avoided if other methods are possible.

To prevent these risks, clinicians at the Pediatric Trauma Center at Golisano Children’s Hospital initiated one of the first large-scale hospital efforts that significantly reduced the number of unnecessary CT scans conducted on injured children, limiting exposure to harmful radiation and reducing health care costs with no negative effect on outcomes.

“There are alternative ways to rule out conditions without a CT scan,” says Derek Wakeman, an associate professor in the departments of surgery and pediatrics. “If a child is awake and alert, we don’t necessarily need a CT scan to determine concussion risk. If blood work looks normal and the child does not have significant abdominal pain, we can often omit an abdominal CT. For possible cervical spine injuries, x-rays can help pick up significant injuries.”

The results of the initiative were reported in a recent study in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery. The team adapted existing CT scan guidelines and developed new ones around four areas of the body: head, neck, chest, and abdomen/pelvis.

“Guidelines have always been available for these areas, but the methods in which our department rigorously applied them, tracked the results, and looked to continuously improve are unique,” says Wakeman. Learn more.

The unique challenges faced by Black faculty in academia are mainly due to systemic failures, and this leads to an ever-shrinking pipeline. Finding a suitable mentor may aid in circumventing some of these challenges, says Nikesha Gilmore, a Wilmot Cancer Institute faculty member.

Gilmore and two national colleagues, Shakira Grant at the University of North Carolina, and Charity Oyedeji at Duke University, discuss this topic in a guest editorial for The Hematologist, a publication of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Mentorship is a powerful part of the solution, Gilmore believes.

“It can keep people from saying, ‘I’m done. I’m not doing this anymore,’” Gilmore says. “You need a mentor to say, ‘I have faith in you. You can do this.’”

Not only are fewer Black individuals entering medical school and graduate school as researchers, but the percentage of people who make it up the ladder to associate professor is also miniscule. Only about 1 percent of Black faculty hold leadership positions at cancer centers, she says.

She also emphasized the distinct time crunch faced by some Black leaders in academia. Underrepresented faculty are often drafted to serve on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) committees at universities, which is a worthy opportunity, she says—but it often results in no credit and takes extra time on top of clinical, research, teaching, and other professional responsibilities. Learn more.

The National Institutes of Health is offering two grants to groups of NIH-supported investigators to purchase or upgrade a single item of specialized, commercially available instruments or integrated systems.

• Shared Instrumentation Grant: $50,000–$600,000
• High-End Instrumentation Grant: $600,001–$2,000,000

Contact Daisy (Bird) Geer (URMC) or Libby Reitz (all other schools) to learn more and apply.