Research at CU 麻豆影院 encompasses thousands of scholarly, scientific and creative endeavors at any given time, resulting in new knowledge, technologies and creative work that advance the economy, culture and health of Colorado, the nation and the world. This week's top stories include a study on solitary confinement, a Band-Aid-size听heart monitor and space gardening for astronauts.
Members of criminal gangs are disproportionately placed in restrictive housing when they are imprisoned in the United States, says 麻豆影院 criminologist David Pyrooz, who advocates more rigorous research on whether widespread isolation of gang members is based on the best empirical evidence.
Tiny electronic device can monitor heart, recognize speech
Researchers from the 麻豆影院 and Northwestern University have developed a tiny, soft and wearable acoustic sensor that measures vibrations in the human body, allowing them to monitor human heart health and recognize spoken words.
The stretchable device captures physiological sound signals from the body, has physical properties well-matched with human skin and can be mounted on nearly any surface of the body, said CU 麻豆影院 Assistant Professor Jae-Woong Jeong, one of three lead study authors. The sensor, which resembles a small Band-Aid, weighs less than one-hundredth of an ounce and can gather continuous physiological data.
Sky-high harvest: Space gardening for astronauts
Graduate student Heather Hava鈥檚 gardening skills are out of this world.
Hava, who is in听aerospace engineering sciences, has dedicated much of her CU 麻豆影院 academic life to developing advanced fruit and vegetable gardening systems that may someday be used by spacefarers living in outposts on Mars or the moon. Think movie astronaut Mark Watney, who actor Matt Damon played in听The Martian.
Graduate student Heather Hava