Latest Southern Methodist University Stories

The Prediction Intensity Interval model for Hurricanes (PIIH) algorithm seeks to mitigate damage by the "evil god of winds and destruction" Each year, hurricanes cause tremendous destruction across the globe. It is not a coincidence that the word "hurricane" derives from Huracán, Hunraken or Jurakan, the evil god of winds and destruction in Mayan civilizations of Central America and the Tainos of the Caribbean. But what makes them so menacing and powerful to deserve such mythos? "A...

FRISCO, Texas, Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- For 20-years, Southern Methodist University's Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship has recognized the top 100 fastest growing privately held companies in Dallas. For the second year in a row, Maxsys Solutions has made the list. To make the Dallas 100(TM), the company must be Dallas based, have sales of more than $500,000 but less than $75 million and meet high credit report and character standards. Maxsys will join the other honorees on...

Image is first of its kind ever found in an Etruscan excavation An archaeological excavation at Poggio Colla, the site of a 2,700-year-old Etruscan settlement in Italy's Mugello Valley, has turned up a surprising and unique find: two images of a woman giving birth to a child. Researchers from the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project, which oversees the Poggio Colla excavation site some 20 miles northeast of Florence, discovered the images on a small fragment from a ceramic vessel that...

January 25-26, 2012 Event at SMU in Dallas to Host Video Game and Legal Industries' Leaders DALLAS, Aug. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Registration is now open for the 4(th) Annual Game::Business::Law Summit on January 25 - January 26, 2012. The event will be held at Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law and is hosted by The Guildhall at SMU, SMU's Dedman School of Law and The Center for American and International Law. Registration covers two days of panels and speakers...

Rare find alters origins and distribution of Terminonaris; first home was Texas and North America "” not EuropeBy Margaret Allen, SMUMaking its first appearance in Texas, a prehistoric crocodile thought to have originated in Europe now appears to have been a native of the Lone Star State.The switch in origins for the genus known as Terminonaris is based on the identification of a well-preserved, narrow fossil snout that was discovered along the shoreline of a lake near Dallas.The...

By Margaret Allen, Southern Methodist UniversityBirch mouse is now 9 million years older than previously known and migrated from Asia to North AmericaTiny fossil teeth discovered in Inner Mongolia are a new species of birch mouse, indicating that ancestors of the small rodent are much older than previously reported, according to paleontologist Yuri Kimura, Southern Methodist University in Dallas.Fossils of the new species were discovered in sediments that are 17 million years old, said...

DALLAS, April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Do the benefits of nuclear power outweigh the risks? Today's news that Japan elevated its nuclear disaster at the Fukushima plant to levels not seen since Chernobyl pushes this question to the forefront of national debate. This Thursday, April 14, SMU Lyle School of Engineering students will discuss the ethics of engineering at the Hillcrest Foundation Amphitheatre at Caruth Hall. "The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan have shown how...

DALLAS, April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Methodist University's Hunter & Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity will present its inaugural Visionary Award to Dean Kamen, the humanitarian inventor behind the Segway human transporter and other technological breakthroughs, including devices helping those in the developing world. Kamen will be honored at a dinner on Wednesday, April 13, during Engineering & Humanity Week - a series of participatory events focused...

Could blood group anomaly explain Tudor king's reproductive problems and tyrannical behavior?Blood group incompatibility between Henry VIII and his wives could have driven the Tudor king's reproductive woes, and a genetic condition related to his suspected blood group could also explain Henry's dramatic mid-life transformation into a physically and mentally-impaired tyrant who executed two of his wives.Research conducted by bioarchaeologist Catrina Banks Whitley while she was a graduate...

Unique specimen is first of its kind discovered as far south as Texas, where it flew over a vast ancient seaFossilized bones discovered in Texas from a flying reptile that died 89 million years ago may be the earliest occurrence of the prehistoric creature known as Pteranodon.Previously, Pteranodon bones have been found in Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming in the Niobrara and Pierre geological formations. This likely Pteranodon specimen is the first of its kind found in Texas, according to...