The University of Minnesota says nearly half of overweight adolescents already play organized sports. Researchers behind the study say junk food is the culprit.

Einstein's theory of special relativity says nothing can move faster than the speed of light, but early research suggests that some subatomic particles actually do. Now scientists are trying to confirm that, and one of the few places on Earth where they can conduct such research is in a high-energy physics lab half a mile underground in the Soudan mine up north.

More than 120 recently deployed military families are part of a groundbreaking U of M study called ADAPT. It aims to make the transition back home after military deployment easier. Researchers observe parents and their children to try and understand deployment stress. At the same time, researchers test parenting techniques on the families.

Researchers developed the screening tools 10 years ago, and results published recently suggest they're far more accurate than traditional heart screenings. The bad news: The Minnesota Daily says more than a third of the 2,000 people screened so far have been told they're at high risk for heart attacks when they thought they were healthy. The test uses ultrasound to visualize the heart and check for hardening in arteries.

Popular Science pays tribute to ten young researchers whose innovations will change the world. One is University of Minnesota chemist Christy Haynes, who studies platelets. The tiny particles circulate in the bloodstream and regulate clotting. Haynes' team is the first to isolate them for study.

Reports of the demise of rural Minnesota seem to be greatly exaggerated. While it's true that college-aged residents are leaving rural counties, research by a U of M sociologist finds people in their 30s and 40s and migrating into rural areas. And bringing educational degrees and earning power with them.

Incoming VP and Provost Karen Hanson brings a background in the humanities at a time when the liberal arts are under attack. University President Eric Kaler says her education will help balance his own as an engineer. Hanson has said that making the case for the humanities "will have to be made again and again."