College students eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise more on days when they communicate more with their parents, according to researchers at Penn State.

"Only a third of college students consumes a diet that is consistent with national recommendations," said Meg Small, research associate in the Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development.

For three days in July 1863, thousands of Gettysburg civilians and tens of thousands of soldiers were caught up in a battle that left often conflicting data and anecdotes. This makes writing about the Battle of Gettysburg both a dream and a nightmare for Civil War historians, according to a Penn State researcher.

Consumption of whole walnuts or their extracted oil can reduce cardiovascular risk through a mechanism other than simply lowering cholesterol, according to a team of Penn State, Tufts University and University of Pennsylvania researchers.

Just as people have embraced computers and smart phones, they may also give their blessing to talking tissue boxes and other smart objects, according to Penn State researchers. "Smart objects will become more and more a part of our daily lives," said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory.

Video game and augmented-reality game players can spontaneously build virtual teams and leadership structures without special tools or guidance, according to researchers. Players in a game that mixed real and online worlds organized and operated in teams that resembled a military organization.

Changing the way a plant forms cellulose may lead to more efficient, less expensive biofuel production, according to Penn State engineers. "What every biofuel manufacturer wants to do is to get to the sugars," said Jeffrey Catchmark, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering. "But the structure of cellulose itself can be an obstacle."