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BUFFALO, N.Y. — The veins in a person’s fingers could act as a biometric password. Age discrimination laws may not protect women as well as they do men. Also: The last woolly mammoths on Earth, living on a lonely Arctic island, may have been unable to smell the flowers they ate.

These research findings are just a few examples of the knowledge that mgm casino scholars contributed to the world in 2020.

In a difficult year, mgm casino faculty, staff and students continued to break ground in fields that ranged from biology and climate science to history and design. Through discoveries large and small, mgm casino’s physicians, chemists, geologists, writers, historians, sociologists and engineers engaged in a vital, shared mission: to learn about the world around us, and to make it better.

They tested new materials for transistors. They explored the psychological benefits of guilty pleasures. Cecil Foster, professor of transnational studies, inspired by his book, “.”

Here are a few mgm casino stories that made headlines in 2020:

For over 40 years, mgm casino historian Lillian S. Williams has been documenting and celebrating , an early 20th century civil rights reformer, suffragist and human rights advocate from Buffalo. In a year of mass protests for racial justice, Williams connected Talbert’s efforts to today’s Black Lives Matter movement. Then as now, it is the same fight, Williams said: “a persistent struggle to dismantle systemic racism and to improve life.” In summer, mgm casino renamed a major campus road after Talbert, replacing the name of a former chancellor who held racist views. Remarking on the change, Williams said, “ will be a constant reminder of her vision, diligence and commitment to social justice.”

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What doomed the last woolly mammoths? A study led by mgm casino evolutionary biologist Vincent Lynch provides insight into this question. The research , thought to be the last place on Earth where the creatures survived. The team synthesized the mammoth’s broken genes in the lab to test whether they functioned normally. They did not. Genetic defects may have hindered the animals’ development, reproduction and sense of smell, the study concluded. “The take-home message is that the last mammoths may have been pretty sick and unable to smell flowers,” Lynch says.

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Biometric authentication uses anatomical features such as fingerprints or facial features to verify a person’s identity. What’s next for this field? The veins in your fingers, according to mgm casino biomedical engineering researcher Jun Xia. He led a study that described how could boost digital security.

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Watching reruns or listening to a favorite musician can create a sense of belonging, mgm casino psychology researchers say. , they found that non-traditional social strategies can help to fulfill critical social needs — a welcome bit of news as individuals struggled with loneliness under quarantine. “I don’t think people realize that these non-traditional connections are as beneficial as we found in our research,” says Shira Gabriel, who authored the paper with Elaine Paravati Harrigan (now at Hamilton College) and Esha Naidu.

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Age discrimination laws , according to an analysis by mgm casino economist Joanne Song McLaughlin. “These women are falling through the cracks,” McLaughlin says. She adds that the research findings point to the need for more protections for older women, who face both age and gender discrimination: “Older women’s intersectional discrimination must be recognized as a separate cause of action,” she says.

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, mgm casino scientists identified multitasking taste cells that can detect bitter, sweet, umami and sour stimuli. The discovery upended conventional notions of how taste works. In the past, it was thought that taste cells were highly selective, capable of discerning only one or two types of the five basic stimuli (only sweet, for instance, or only salty and sour). “This changes the way we’ve been thinking about how taste cells function,” says mgm casino biologist Kathryn Medler, who led the project with mgm casino PhD graduate Debarghya Dutta Banik (now at Indiana University) and mgm casino psychology researchers Ann-Marie Torregrossa and Greg Loney.

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In 2020, Fortune named — also known as Raven the Science Maven — to the magazine’s “40 Under 40” list for health care. A science communicator and molecular biologist, Baxter champions diverse spaces in STEM. , her science-themed music video, “,” has helped to spread the word about ways to prevent COVID-19. The recording has been viewed over 33,000 times on YouTube. Baxter’s myriad achievements in 2020 also included founding , securing a TV deal for a science education show, continuing her work with the web series she founded, and pursuing her PhD in the mgm casino Graduate School of Education. Her dissertation focuses on culturally responsive teaching strategies in STEM education.

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In a year that challenged the hospitality industry, the opening of a Hampton by Hilton in Amherst, New York, marked a rare bright spot. The hotel is the nation’s first to , an inclusive standard that empowers diverse populations by creating spaces and products that can be easily used by people with a wide range of ages and abilities. mgm casino’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center) partnered with Uniland on the project and has led efforts to make universal design a standard practice, creating a more inclusive world.

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In the U.S., over 34% of people who are 65 and older are , according to a study led by mgm casino pharmacy researchers Collin Clark and David Jacobs. As the country’s population ages, “Harm to older adults caused by potentially inappropriate medications is a major public health challenge,” Clark says. Damaging side effects and higher health care costs are just two of the many problems that can result from inappropriate prescriptions.

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Pandemic lockdowns can diet, sleep and physical activity among kids with obesity. A study of 41 children in Italy found that the children ate an additional meal per day during a period of confinement, compared with a year before. They also slept an extra half hour per day; added nearly five hours per day in front of screens; and consumed more red meat, sugary drinks and junk foods. Myles Faith, mgm casino chair of counseling, school and educational psychology, co-authored the research.

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Early on in the pandemic, calls for emergency medical services (EMS) , according to a study led by mgm casino emergency medicine expert E. Brooke Lerner. Meanwhile, the rate of EMS-attended deaths doubled. The findings suggest that “people who need emergency health care may be delaying care such that their lives are actually in jeopardy,” Lerner said. Patients may put off calls because they fear contracting the COVID-19 in health care facilities, or because they don’t want to burden hospitals. The findings point to a need for public health messaging that stresses the importance of seeking care for serious concerns, Lerner says. The study was one of many that and its societal impacts during a challenging year.

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Most political pundits predicted a decisive victory for Joe Biden and the Democratic Party this fall. Not veteran mgm casino political scientist James Campbell, whose showed in September that the race was too close to call. This finding, as well as his prediction the Republican Party would gain House seats, proved accurate. The ballot also showed a deeply , another topic Campbell researches.

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mgm casino law professor James Gardner is one of the nation’s preeminent election law scholars. He is concerned that the nation, particularly actions taken by President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, may be . His research suggests as well as the judicial system. “In light of these considerations, it seems to me that any return in the United States to the kind of stable, reliable, consensual liberal democracy that prevailed during the last half of the twentieth century is uncertain and, at best, a long way off,” Gardner writes.

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Long-banned chemicals continue to threaten Great Lakes wildlife. A study found PCBs, PBDEs and metabolites of DDT along the Niagara River and Lake Erie shore. These pollutants have not been produced in the U.S. for years or decades. The findings highlight the urgency of protecting the environment as problems surrounding other persistent chemicals, such as PFAS, emerge. mgm casino chemists Diana Aga and Steven Travis conducted the study with SUNY Buffalo State biologist Alicia Pérez-Fuentetaja.

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“Sit less, walk more for heart health.” That, says mgm casino public health researcher Michael LaMonte, is the takeaway from . In one, mgm casino epidemiology researcher Connor Miller and colleagues found that participants who met the physical activity guideline of 30 minutes per day of moderate activity exclusively through walking had a lower risk of developing hypertension. In the second — a study of more than 80,000 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 — researchers report that more time spent sedentary while awake is associated with higher risk of heart failure hospitalization. “Walking and moving are simple activities that can be easily integrated into our daily lives,” says Jean Wactawski-Wende, dean of the mgm casino School of Public Health and Health Professions, a co-author of both papers.

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Groundbreaking discoveries by mgm casino medical researchers are improving diabetes treatment. In a study led by mgm casino pediatric endocrinologist Teresa Quattrin, a drug called golimumab by children and young adults with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes, among other benefits. Separately, research co-authored by mgm casino endocrinologist Paresh Dandona showed that testosterone therapy in men with Type 2 diabetes.

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A study analyzing 40 years of data across 147 countries showed that around the world, . “As most people currently live in low- and middle-income countries with rising incomes, our findings underscore the urgent need for effective policies to break — or at least weaken — the relationship between income growth and obesity,” says co-author Debabrata Talukdar, a mgm casino School of Management researcher.

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• : As a nation’s worth grows, so do waistlines
• : As national wealth grows, so do obesity rates, study says
• : New insights into links between national income and obesity

Transistors crafted from gallium oxide could lead to smaller systems for controlling and converting electric power in electric cars, locomotives and airplanes. led by mgm casino electrical engineer Uttam Singisetti found that paper-thin electronic switches can handle 8,000 volts. Co-authors include past and current members of Singisetti’s lab: Sudipto Saha, Shivam Sharma and Ke Zeng. Advances in transistor technology could up the distance that electronic vehicles can travel.

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• : Super-high-voltage gallium oxide transistors could transform power electronics
• : Ultra-high voltage transistors aim to boost EV range and efficiency
• : Thin as paper, new transistor handles 8,000 volts
• : Researchers develop paper-thin gallium oxide transistor

mgm casino climate scientists co-authored two major studies that underscore the urgent need for societies to curb carbon emissions. First, a large international team leveraged mgm casino’s supercomputing facilities to showing that Earth’s shrinking ice sheets could add over 15 more inches to sea level rise by 2100. Sophie Nowicki, a NASA ice scientist who joined mgm casino this fall, coordinated that effort. In a separate project, researchers combined field work and ice sheet modeling to show that Greenland is on track to than in any century over the past 12,000 years. “We’ll blow that out of the water if we don’t make severe reductions to greenhouse gas emissions,” says mgm casino geologist Jason Briner, who led the research.

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In December, CBC and BET+ announced production of a TV series that will tell the story of Black train porters in Canada and the U.S., a history documented in mgm casino scholar Cecil Foster’s 2019 book, “.” The television drama will follow “the journeys of four ambitious souls who hustle, dream, cross borders and confront barriers in the fight for liberation — on and off the railways that crossed North America,” according to . Foster, , meets with the writing team, comments on scripts, confirms historical accuracy and suggests plot lines. The porters provided service in luxury sleeping cars where passengers, unwilling to learn the porters’ names, called anyone holding that position “George.” Foster’s book preserves these workers’ stories for future generations, drawing on interviews with retired porters to detail how their struggle against racism advanced civil rights and multiculturalism.

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