Maple Syrup’s Yum Factor

Don’t add sweeteners to your diet, but if you already use them, consider this: Two College of Pharmacy researchers won a $470,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue to study maple’s anti-inflammatory power. They’re also looking at maple water, the latest trend to follow in coconut water’s footsteps.

Why Corn Syrup is Like Magma

It’s not easy to simulate the flow of molten rock, but much-reviled corn syrup is helping researchers model the earth’s geological evolution. A professor and a graduate student are studying how it moves around models of tectonic plates based on mid-ocean ridges—complex structures computer models struggle to represent.

No Roadside Mow

Roadside mowing is expensive and burns fossil fuels, but communities hesitate to stop because of fears that invasive species will proliferate. Not so, says a URI study; mowed and untended roadside ecosystems were similar in terms of native vs. invasive species.