Adam Drewnowski, director of the Human Nutrition Program at the University's School of Public Health, recently presented his findings to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
About 25 percent of the 400 women in Drewnowski's study fell into the "super-taster" category, and another 25 percent were "non-tasters," or lacked the ability to taste bitterness. The rest were regular tasters.
Drewnowski said that, in general, women who are sensitive to bitter tastes may limit their consumption of sharp-tasting foods that contain diverse flavonoids, which are thought to be effective in cancer prevention.
Further research is planned to study the impact of genetic taste markers on dietary choices to determine if a healthy diet might lower disease risk, Drewnowski said.
Superheroes tend to settle their problems by fighting. When children play out their superhero fantasies, their play could escalate to fights, Lin said.
Suggestions for curbing potentially harmful effects on children have been offered by Lin, and range from supervising child's play to helping children understand how they can overcome obstacles without using violence.
With careful adult guidance, said Lin, children can understand the difference between superhero fantasy battles and real-life problem solving methods.
Between 9 and 10 p.m. on February nights, Sirius can be located almost directly south of Michigan, just above the horizon, Teske recently found.
The star, which is twice the size of the sun and more than 20 times as bright, is 8.6 light years away from Earth, Teske found.
Among astronomers, Sirius' greatest claim to fame is its strange companion, the cinder of a burned-out star. The two are locked in a mutual gravitational embrace that causes them to circle each other perpetually, completing one orbit every fifty years.
"As the corpses of stars that were born and died in the early history of the universe, the cinders represent a kind of fossil record of the first stars ever born," Teske said in a statement.
The program will explore the relationships between organisms and the environments where they exist, with a strong emphasis on those life-supporting environments that exist near extreme climates.
For additional information, contact Dave Plawchan at 764-7237, or e-mail davedrda@umich.edu.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter David Rossman.