Were you born to be a Democrat, or do you always cast a ballot for the Republican Party? There might soon be an odd new way to find out--and one that has nothing to do with your perspective on the economy. A quick brain scan seems to reveal a person's political affiliation with impressive accuracy, finds new research. The study, from the University of Exeter and the University of California, San Diego, evaluated the brain activity of 82 subjects engaged in gambling games. Then, researchers compared participants' cerebral activity to their declared political parties. While Republicans and Democrats took similar risks during the games, the brain activity that prompted those risks was extremely different. "A huge amount of research shows that activities to stimulate cognition are very valuable," says John L. Woodard, a professor of psychology and an aging expert at Wayne State University. "It doesn't need to be a second language. Play an instrument, join a choir, try creative writing, travel more often, or visit more museums. All of these will help."

A business plan by Wayne State University College of Engineering students Tom Kim and Joe Zakar is gaining momentum for its focus on providing sustainable lighting solutions and developing greener, brighter and more efficient LEDs. Kim and Zakar's plan took fourth place in the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge at the University of Michigan earlier this month. The competition is part of a national effort encouraging young entrepreneurs to develop greener energy solutions through President Obama's Startup America campaign.

Every year, the Library of Michigan reviews some 300 books - all with a connection to the state or the Great Lakes - published in the previous 12 months. The top 20 are named to the year's Michigan Notable Books list. The following books in the top 20 were published by Wayne State University Press: (2) "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michigan," by J. Alan Holman Stead; (9) "Detroit's Historic Places of Worship," compiled and edited by Marla O. Collum, Barbara E. Krueger, and Dorothy Kostuch; photographs by Dirk Bakker; (15) "Michigan's Historic Railroad Stations," by Michael Hodges; and, (20) "The World of a Few Minutes Ago," by Jack Driscoll.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has cleared the way for a state takeover of the city of Detroit. Snyder declared a financial emergency on Friday, pushing the city closer to becoming the largest in the U.S. to have a state control its finances. Snyder says an Emergency Manager is Detroit's best chance for navigating a fiscal emergency. He has identified a top candidate to assume its management, but would not identify the top candidate to run Detroit or say whether the person was from Michigan. Detroit officials now have 10 days to request a hearing with the governor about his decision.

A team of researchers led by Shawn P. McElmurry, Ph.D., P.E., assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering in Wayne State University's College of Engineering, has confirmed that seasonal fluctuations in blood lead levels found in children in urban areas throughout the United States and elsewhere in the northern hemisphere are the result of resuspended dust contaminated with lead. The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology was based on nine years of data on more than 367,000 children in Detroit. The team of scientists stated the results support the critical need for controls for lead exposure in children. "The study aimed to address a critical gap in understanding why child blood lead levels vary seasonally," said McElmurry. "What we have done is demonstrate that increased blood lead levels in the summer are connected to increased amounts of soil and dust contaminated with lead. This soil is resuspended into the air to a greater extent during the summer than during the winter, hence showing decreased lead levels in children during the winter months."

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. Wednesday announced Michigan Strategic Fund approval of $6 million in funding for entrepreneurship and innovation programs as well as Michigan Business Development and Community Revitalization program incentives to eight companies that are expanding in the state. The eight expansions are expected to generate up to $95.8 million in new capital investments and add 789 new jobs in Michigan. Among MSF approved awards for research commercialization was $100,000 to Wayne State University for a commercialization roadmap review (first tranche) with the possibility of receiving an additional $1,073,000 upon a revised proposal.

Detroit over the past few years has declared war on lead contamination which has long plagued its neighborhoods. And it appears to be winning. The number of Detroit children with lead levels exceeding a newly revised federal guideline has dropped more than 70 percent, from about 10,000 kids to 2,900 since 2004. Experts say a new emphasis on cleanup or demolition of homes, a shrinking population and stricter city landlord laws have spurred the improvement. "Over the past 12 years, there's been a push to get rapid intervention for kids exposed, abatement in contaminated homes and enforcement for landlords," said Lyke Thompson, director of Wayne State University's Center for Urban Studies. Nevertheless, the number of children with elevated lead levels in Detroit and these other cities remains much higher than the national average, and low-income people of color are most at risk.

Local judge removes 5-year-old from grandparents to live with mom and known child abuser An investigative news segment examines a family custody battle that resulted in a local judge handing a child over to her biological mother who she barely knows-- and who is married to a man with a history of child abuse. Wayne State University professor Angelique Day commented on the case. "Placement, even to a biological home can be traumatic if not done in a way that works for the child," says Day, who believes the judge's decision may have come from a lack of understanding of what trauma can do to a child. "I think part of that is because we have a judicial system that is not trauma informed or hasn't been trained in understanding the ramifications of these decisions on a child's development."

Michigan lawmakers on Thursday asked Wayne State University leaders to testify next week before an oversight committee on a tentative labor contract reached this week with the school's faculty union. The eight-year contract is expected to be formally voted on by the 1,950-member faculty next Wednesday. If members ratify the agreement, which was announced this week, it will avoid the March 28 effective date of Michigan's right to work law, which bans unions from requiring employees to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Rep. Tom McMillin, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, invited WSU officials to testify on Tuesday, the day before union members are set to vote.

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman spoke before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education Tuesday morning to advocate for her school's share of state appropriations. Gov. Rick Snyder suggested a 2 percent funding increase for universities in his fiscal 2013-14 budget proposal and suggested that money be tied to the same formula used last year, which evaluates universities based on graduation rate improvements, critical degrees, the number of Pell Grant recipients enrolled and tuition restraint. Overall, the increase would represent an addition of $30.7 million in base funding to Michigan's $1.4 billion higher education budget. It follows a 3 percent one-time increase in fiscal 2013 and a 15 percent decrease the year before. During her appearance in Lansing, Coleman highlighted the success of U-M, Wayne State University and Michigan State University's tech transfer operations, which over the course of a decade produced 149 startups. These three schools, which compose the University Research corridor, produced more graduates than any other cluster in the U.S.

Wayne State University and its faculty and academic staff union, the American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers (AAUP-AFT) Local 6075, announced Tuesday that they have tentatively agreed to an 8-year contract. This agreement will replace the contract that expired July 31, 2012. The AAUP-AFT represents approximately 1,950 faculty and academic staff. "We conducted negotiations based on the best interests of our students and the future of the University," said Wayne State President Allan Gilmour. "This tentative agreement recognizes the value of our faculty and staff, and also builds in the accountability and flexibility required to adapt to a rapidly changing world of higher education." Added Charles Parrish, president of the WSU AAUP-AFT local: "As always, there is give and take on both sides, but we believe this is a fair contract. Most importantly, tenure and academic freedom have been preserved. This will allow our faculty to continue their excellent work in teaching and research." Members are scheduled to vote on ratification on March 6. The contract will be effective upon ratification.

"Searching for Sugar Man" found an Oscar on Sunday night. The film, which traces the strange, almost unbelievable tale of Detroit folk musician Sixto Diaz Rodriguez from obscurity to international success, largely without his knowing, won the Academy Award for best documentary feature at Sunday's 85th Academy Awards. The Oscar win caps the incredible 13-month journey of the film. "Sugar Man" debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and rode a steady wave of buzz over the course of the year. As the film picked up steam, Rodriguez, who performed his music in the 1960's and '70's, was profiled on "60 Minutes" and "CBS Sunday Morning," and made appearances on David Letterman and Jay Leno's talk shows. The success follows decades of obscurity for Rodriguez, who grew up at 831 Michigan Avenue in downtown Detroit and earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Wayne State University. He did construction work in the city and occasionally dabbled in politics, including runs for Detroit City Council, State Representative, Senator and two bids for mayor of Detroit. Meanwhile, Rodriguez' international profile grew, and he became a cult figure in South Africa.

Ned Staebler, vice president for economic development at Wayne State University, commented in a story about the search for young talent in Detroit. "Less than 25 percent of Michiganders have a college degree," he said. "In Minnesota, it's closer to 35 percent. We have a shortage of talent relative to our peers. And young talent, in particular, is very mobile. " To start to address the problem, Wayne State will open admissions for its second class of Detroit Revitalization Fellows, a two-year program largely supported by the foundation community, designed to attract, train and launch high-quality, leadership-ready talent into the city, with an emphasis on revitalization work. The competitive program (the first class attracted 650 applicants for 29 spots) seeks to settle an array of young professionals in jobs in and around the city. Connecting them in a group will, it is hoped, break down some of the barriers that can grow between organizations working in related fields. Of the first class, Staebler said, about half have ties to the region and about half came from out of town. "We want new blood," he said. "There's no quota on anything, but we wanted diversity in lots of things - skills, race, geography, professional interest, etc. You get better results that way."

John Salley, a 6-foot-11 former power forward and center in the NBA, became a vegetarian in January 1991 after he felt he had to make changes in his lifestyle. During his career, Salley, who retired in 2000, won four championships with the Detroit Pistons, the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. He now follows a vegan diet, which eliminates all dairy foods in addition to animal products. Dr. Joel Kahn, a clinical professor of medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine and medical director of wellness programs, preventive cardiology, and cardiac rehabilitation at Detroit Medical Center, has counseled Salley and other athletes about the benefits of vegan and vegetarian diets. "A plant-based, whole-food diet low on sugar and gluten is very anti-inflammatory and ideal for rapid recovery from workouts," he said.

As soon as photographer and aspiring filmmaker Karen Sanders heard that Julie Dash would be teaching a special filmmaking class at Wayne State University this semester, Sanders knew for sure she'd made the right decision to move back home to Detroit from Edinburg, Texas. "I'm a huge fan of Julie's work," says Sanders, an adjunct professor at Marygrove College and one of Dash's students at Wayne. "I love her visual sensibility and her ability to tell a moving story." "To have a filmmaker, an artist of her stature who is committed and focused on a very clear vision of what representation of African-American women is all about is really important for our community as well as our students," says Juanita Anderson, Wayne State's director of film and digital media initiatives. "I often refer to Julie as somebody who has changed the landscape of American cinema. … The fact that she can draw upon African cultures from around the world to create a cinematic language, I think, is indeed special."

Wayne State University Department of Communication film and media arts faculty member Dr. Karen McDevitt previewed the 85th annual Academy Awards. McDevitt described how winning some of the year's previous awards, such as the Golden Globe and SAG awards, along with leading in the marketing budget race, often are strong indicators of which nominees should be considered front runners to take home the Oscar. McDevitt also commented about a local connection to this year's Academy Awards, the documentary 'Searching for Sugar Man,' the subject of which is Detroit resident [and 1981 Wayne State alumnus] Sixto Rodriguez. "It's got great music but it's got an even greater true story," McDevitt said. "It's got grit, it's got heart, it starts out in Detroit in the 1960s, it's poetic - how can you go wrong?"

Scientists have started applying lessons from how ants operate to the corporate world: The result--fewer meetings, more time working, and tasks completed much more quickly. Scientists are serious about recruiting ants to improve human collaboration. Wayne State University scientists drafted ant-inspired algorithms to find the optimal balance between the time spent on planning and execution when moving a product from concept to market. Kai Yang, a professor of industrial and systems engineering at Wayne State, used mathematical models of ant's behavior--"non-discrete ant colony optimization" in the scientific lingo--to model creation of a mobile phone product on time with the highest levels of quality. "You need to find the sweet spot of 'right amount of communication, at right time,' and 'good quality' to make the whole work together seamlessly," says Yang by email. Yang and his team applied how information is transferred among ants using long-term pheromone trails (chemical messages) to disparate project teams. The goal: to minimize the hypothetical product development cycle time at the lowest possible cost. "Finding the right balance between 'doing the work' and 'communicating with each other' will achieve wonderful results in job completion time and quality," says Yang.

The discovery of DNA has encouraged many of us to search for our roots through science. African Americans may find it challenging to trace their ancestry back to a particular tribe or ethnic group because there are so many variations in African genes. Sarah Tishkoff, one of the world's premiere scientists in this area, explains how this knowledge will help develop the medicines of the future. Tischkoff will be the featured speaker during the Eugene Perrin Memorial Lecture in Health Sciences and Peace, presented by Wayne State's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. The lecture, titled "African Genomic Variation: Implications for Human Evolution and Disease, is scheduled at 2 p.m., Friday, Feb. 22, in Scott Hall's Green Lecture Hall.

Motown's KEM , who often speaks candidly about his struggles with addiction and homelessness, is being honored as Citizen of the Year by the Wayne State University School of Social Work's alumni association, for his work on behalf of Detroit's homeless population. The singer runs Mack and Third, a nonprofit that collects food and raises money for Metro Detroit homeless shelters and food banks. Since 2009, he's held free outdoor concerts in Cass Park, where he not only entertains for free, but has volunteers collecting canned food and distributing toiletry kits. The singer will be honored at a March 29 luncheon at Wayne State's McGregor Memorial Conference Center, along with a veteran social worker, Risarg "Reggie" Huff , director of homeless services for the Neighborhood Service Organization, who's being bestowed with the Alumnus of the Year award.

Wen Li, assistant professor of chemistry in Wayne State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was one of 126 researchers selected to receive a $50,000 Sloan Research Fellowship for 2013. The fellowships, awarded annually since 1955, are given to early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars - the next generation of scientific leaders. Li's research focuses on the most exquisite details of chemical reactions. "Many things in everyday life come down to chemical reactions," Li said. "In my lab, we study the motion of nuclei and electrons during such reactions. While people have been studying the nuclear motion of chemical reactions for a while, we are focusing on electrons, which for a long time people considered too fast to study. To date, no technique has been developed to track down their motions in real time, and this is what my research program aims to do in the next few years. This ultimately could help control chemical reactions." Added Hilary Ratner, vice president for research at Wayne State: "The Sloan Research Fellows are among the best of the best of young scientists. Dr. Li is most deserving of this award along with the many other accolades he has received in his young career."