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Volvo winners find genetic link to back injury
A paper just published by Drs. Tapio Videman and Michele Battié‚ shows "disk degeneration may be, in large part, genetically influenced" rather than caused primarily by strain or exertion. Back problems are regarded as the biggest concern "in terms of work-related injury for the general population," says Cook.

Research ethics 101
With government funding of medical research falling seriously behind our competitors in the United States, the call of private money is a powerful one. Who can blame a university researcher for actively courting industry these days, especially when a company appears to have not only deep pockets but also a genuine interest in forging a working partnership?

Cree dictionary 25 years in the making
Only a few decades ago, Cree was in danger of extinction after many residential schools forbid its use. Today, however, young people in Canada's Cree community are trying to rediscover their linguistic heritage. About 25,000 people across the country now speak Cree in varying degrees of fluency.

Spotlight on U of A apparel designs
Look out London. Move over Milan. Intricate, creative apparel designs by the U of A's Linda Capjack and Pam Bailey, Department of Human Ecology, received two thumbs up recently at a juried competition in Dallas, Texas.

Helping the elderly stay active
For Dr. Sandra O'Brien Cousins, one question drives her research more than any other: Why do so many elderly people have such a profound aversion to physical activity? What would prompt a woman in all seriousness to confess, as one did to Cousins last year, "I hope I don't have a stroke because then I'd have to exercise"?

Agriculture in his blood
The scene is familiar to every western Canadian - endless pastures full of cattle, wheat fields disappearing into the horizon under the biggest sky anywhere on earth. But something on the Alberta prairie has changed radically in the last 30 years, owing in no small measure to Dr. Roy Berg's pioneering research in animal genetics.

Water, water everywhere..
David Chanasyk cannot remember a time when water did not play an important role in his life. He has crystal-clear memories of a fascination with water while growing up on his family farm north of Vermilion. The attraction started during the spring melt and flowed throughout the summer and fall until the snow arrived, he said. With a hoe or shovel in tow, the young boy would create paths and gullies and watch the water drain and flow through the Alberta plain.

Grand Canyon Serenade
Imagine you're on a white-water rafting expedition in the Grand Canyon. You've been hiking and fighting rapids all day, and as you sit back to relax after dinner at your campsite you hear the brilliant sounds of concert strings bouncing off the canyon walls. If you were lucky enough to be in Arizona's jewel last June, you might have basked in such a golden moment.