A tiny Australian songbird may hold the answer to discovering the biological source of stuttering. A team of MSU scientists will investigate the brain and behavior of the zebra finch in the first in-depth study of whether stuttering stems from a lack of rhythm.

Many who live in poverty in Bangladesh resort to extreme measures in order to survive: selling their organs. In the first in-depth study of its kind, MSU’s Monir Moniruzzaman details his time spent infiltrating the black market for human organs to expose the often horrific experiences of victims and the consequences of organ trafficking.

India’s education system is making gains in increasing literacy and providing primary education to its population, but many—especially the poor—still get left behind. To better meet the needs of all students, a team of faculty from MSU has been tapped by a foundation in Bangalore to help prepare the Indian state’s educators.

Turns out, that old “practice makes perfect” adage may be overblown. New research by MSU's Zach Hambrick finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why people differ in level of skill in two widely studied activities, chess and music.

Several faculty and staff at MSU have been nominated for Emmy awards by the Michigan Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Additionally, many students were nominated for student production awards.

The U.S. Army has put an MSU physician in charge of its efforts to keep soldiers and civilians healthy.

One of the keys to better nutrition and health for the people of Rwanda fits in the palm of a hand: legumes. But despite their nutritional punch, legumes—including common beans, cowpeas, and lima beans—are highly susceptible to drought and disease. That’s what brought MSU scientists to Rwanda, which has the world’s highest bean consumption per capita, to work on breeding heartier varieties that can sustain the people and economy of the country.

The announcement by actress Angelina Jolie that she had a double mastectomy has put a spotlight on the genetics behind breast cancer, and could even have implications for a pending Supreme Court case. MSU experts are available to sort out the science behind Jolie’s decision, what it has to do with coming high court ruling and what women need to know about their genes and breast cancer.

In the community of Bedani, India, villagers often would travel a mile or more to the nearest river for water. Their plight inspired Priyanka Pandey, a medical student in MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, to create a plan to install five water pumps throughout the village so every family home is within 20 feet of a source for clean, fresh water.

“She was fine yesterday,” the mother repeats in a state of shock and disbelief.