The government may hope that the convictions will bear fruit of another sort too.

ECONOMIST: The airline bombers

According to Lopez, studies also show that hope promotes healthy behaviors, including fruit and vegetable consumption, regular exercise, safe sex practices and quitting smoking.

CNN: How hope can help you heal

Coaches and athletic directors have lost their jobs, schools have lost a bit of their athletic luster, and fans have lost hope that their upcoming season will bear fruit.

FORBES: Cheating In College Athletics And The Prisoner's Dilemma

In the future, the scientists hope to use their new microscope to investigate how organs and tissues form in the fruit fly and other organisms.

MSN: Fruit fly embryo grows into larva in 3-D video