University of Florida News

GAINESVILLE —With just a few shopping days left before Christmas, a University of Florida professor urges parents to leave a good book or two for their children under the tree this year.

GAINESVILLE —The availability and aggressive marketing of synthetic growth hormone can lead to short stature in children being treated as a disease or disorder when often there may be no real problem, say professors at the University of Florida.

GAINESVILLE — Although they are too young to drive, first graders at Gainesville’s M. K. Rawlings Elementary School are taking to the highway — the information superhighway. And education scholars from the University of Florida say this highway can lead to greater learning.

GAINESVILLE — Understanding why an ancient oyster became as large as a dinner plate may help answer the evolutionary riddle of how generations of dinosaurs and other animals grew.

GAINESVILLE — The “Goosebumps” series might frighten kids today into sleeping with the lights on, but these tales are tame compared to stories written in the 17th and 18th centuries that told of children baking in ovens, being eaten or transforming into wild animals.

GAINESVILLE — Temperament plays a major role in how children learn, says a University of Florida researcher who has found differences in personality type by race, age and gender.

GAINESVILLE — Now that the computer has replaced the water cooler and the back fence as a source for gossip and debate, a University of Florida professor is analyzing computer chat groups for views and opinions on this year’s presidential and vice-presidential debates. “I wanted to begin to understand how public opinion is formed and distributed in a new medium,” said Marilyn Roberts, a UF advertising professor and expert on political communication.

GAINESVILLE — Prestigious labels on brand-name clothes are so important to children that they jeopardize the success of much-touted school uniform policies, says a University of Florida researcher.

GAINESVILLE —You probably never wondered much about those tiny insects that violently end their lives on the front windshield of the family car.

GAINESVILLE—University of Florida energy specialist Roy Johannesen works with a group of dedicated solar scientists, investigating ways to harvest the sun’s energy.