In the News
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April 14, 2026
“Typically you get (an) energy response quickly, then it starts filtering into shipping costs … into consumer goods and then it shows up downstream in services. The pass-through into services is obviously weaker than … in energy prices, but it could still be quite meaningful,” said economist Daniil Manaenkov of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics, who notes it takes six to 12 months for rising energy prices to filter into everything else consumers pay for.
NerdWallet -
April 14, 2026
“We’ve known for a long time that chimpanzees will attack and kill their neighbors. It turns out they will do this even when those neighbors are former friends and allies,” said John Mitani, professor emeritus of anthropology, whose research chronicled a rare and deadly “civil war” between two factions of chimps in Africa that had lived together peacefully for 20 years.
The Wall Street Journal -
April 13, 2026
“Every local government has governing boards and volunteer commissions where important community business must be tackled, but in many communities, the small pool of residents to recruit from means they’re often relying on the same people over and over again, or seats just go unfilled,” said Debra Horner, senior program manager for the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy. CLOSUP director Stephanie Leiser said, “Addressing these issues is going to take both practical discussions about incentives, barriers and constraints residents face, as well as broader discussions about how communities value public service.”
MLive -
April 13, 2026
“It turns out that there’s well over a hundred hobbies that Nobel laureates have had. They do puzzles. They ride a bike. Some play chess. One was a well-known yodeler. They sing in barbershop quartets,” said Thomas Annesley, professor emeritus of chemical pathology, whose recent book offers interesting and surprising insights of the everyday lives of Nobel Prize winners.
The Scientist -
April 13, 2026
“The impact of (admissions) test-optional policies on student success is still a pretty open question. There seem to be a really wide range of outcomes depending on the institution. At Michigan, we didn’t see big differences in success between submitters and non-submitters, but that’s not always the story. Institutions really need to be studying this on a case-by-case basis,” said Michael Bastedo, associate dean and professor of education.
Inside Higher Ed -
April 10, 2026
While real GDP in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow 4.5% this year, more than 90% of its exports remain unprocessed raw materials, said Howard Stein, professor of Afroamerican and African studies: “The continent … has found itself as the exporter of raw materials at the bottom of the international value chain,” which creates structural dependence on external capital and limits policy autonomy. “The key characteristic of the global financial architecture is the hierarchy of currencies.”
AJP News Agency (South Korea) -
April 10, 2026
Research shows that pollen seasons are starting earlier and lasting longer. “And then additional studies have shown that due to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, we’re seeing that plants are producing more pollen and stronger pollen that’s causing more allergy symptoms,” said Mariel Benjamin, clinical assistant professor of allergy and immunology.
WJBK Detroit -
April 10, 2026
Startups that offer generative AI tools for attorneys like Harvey Legal AI use large language models to perform tasks such as research, analysis and drafting. Law School Dean Neel Sukhatme, whose students have free access to Harvey, said hands-on experience exposes students to both the benefits and pitfalls of AI. With practice, “you intuitively know what they’re good at and what they’re not good at.”
Reuters -
April 9, 2026
With “vehicle-to-grid” technology, electric vehicles could turn into a vast network of backup power. But Ziyou Song, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, warns that for V2G to fully compensate for all those batteries plugging in, the technology needs an assist, in the form of infrastructural improvements like new transformers and transmission lines. “We have to upgrade our power system as soon as possible because V2G is not a silver bullet,” he said.
Grist -
April 9, 2026
If over-the-counter abortion medication seems like a radical idea, that “may have to do with the fact that reproductive health is highly stigmatized in our society,” said Julie Maslowsky, associate professor of nursing and of public health, who asserts such medications would meet the safety and efficacy criteria for the FDA to make them available over the counter.
Michigan Public
