Results of a recent study to better understand modifiable factors such as physical activity that may affect a woman’s ability to conceive a child suggest that walking may help women to improve their chances of becoming pregnant.

A new musical composition expressing the movement of gases through the galaxy as musical notes, “Milky Way Blues” by astronomer Mark Heyer, a research professor at UMass Amherst, will be featured for the next 30 days on the website, Astronomy Sound of the Month.

In a recent new finding, doctoral candidates Weicang Wang and Jianan Zhang, with their advisor Guodong Zhang in the department of food science at UMass Amherst, report that they have identified a new molecular mechanism to explain the link between obesity and increased risk of colon inflammation, which is a major risk factor in colorectal cancer.