In the News

  1. November 16, 2021

    “It’s true that children are generally at a lower risk of severe COVID disease, hospitalization and death compared to adults. However, their risk is certainly not zero,’’ said Elizabeth Lloyd, assistant professor of pediatrics. “We also know the pandemic has affected kids in many other ways so the vaccine may benefit kids from having less disruptions from exposures in their daily activities which we know are very important for normal childhood development.’’ 

    The Oakland Press
  2. November 16, 2021
    • Headshot of Scott W. Campbell

    The aftermath of the Astroworld Festival incident is raising concerns about how footage and misinformation related to the event is being circulated on social media. “Extremity carries capital. It’s what gets clicks, shares, comments,” said Scott W. Campbell, professor of communication and media. “We’re getting a deeper taste into what kind of trauma can be captured and shared, and this incident is an example of that and how psychologically shattering it can be for some people.” 

    The Wall Street Journal
  3. November 15, 2021
    • Rick Neitzel

    Unlike air pollution, it’s easy to overlook the potential harm caused by the sonic landscape of urban environments, says Rick Neitzel, professor of environmental health sciences: “Let your elected officials know that noise is a problem that needs to be dealt with. With enough public demand, programs can be developed to systematically lower noise levels in our country and reduce the need for each of us to take individual action.” 

    Discover
  4. November 15, 2021
    • Elizabeth King

    The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Russia and Eastern Europe is “startling,” says Elizabeth King, associate professor of health behavior and health education and faculty associate at the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies. “Misinformation is spreading as fast as the virus,” she said. “The spread of misinformation around vaccines was a concern even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

    The Washington Post
  5. November 15, 2021
    • Photo of Richard Curtin

    “We’ve never recorded as many people talking about high home prices or high appliance prices or high TV prices,” said Richard Curtin, director of the Surveys of Consumers at the U-M Institute for Social Research. “We get a large share of people talking about the reduction of their living standards due to inflation,” made worse because “consumers see no effective economic policies that would restrain inflation.” 

    Bloomberg
  6. November 12, 2021
    • Photo of Greg Tarle

    Research by Gregory Tarlé, professor of physics, and colleagues suggests that as the universe expands at an accelerating rate, black holes grow larger, too. Supermassive black holes have masses huge enough and lifetimes long enough to be affected by this expansion, the astrophysicists say. And it’s not that everything is simply getting bigger — huge masses like galaxies are getting farther away from us as the space in between expands. 

    Gizmodo
  7. November 12, 2021
    • Photo of Ivette Perfecto

    The move away from agroforestry — the integration of trees and shrubs to create a more ecologically diverse system that provides an abundance of crops and environmental benefits for farmers — has heralded a true crisis for coffee and the livelihoods of those who produce it, says Ivette Perfecto, professor of environment and sustainability: “The kind of system that is intensive coffee plantations, or very large-scale coffee monocultures, I see that as the crisis.” 

    Vox
  8. November 12, 2021
    • Photo of Jerry Davis

    Even as large industrial companies shrink by spinning off divisions or forming separate entities, information technology giants have amassed a collection of businesses. “The technology has so many applications that a giant company with lots of cash might be able to operate in a lot of different industries more effectively,” said Jerry Davis, professor of management and organizations. “We might be at a stage of evolution where conglomerates may still make sense for IT in a way that they would not for, say, manufacturing.”

    The Wall Street Journal
  9. November 11, 2021
    • Headshot of Arnold Monto

    “With the change in transmission patterns, as the variants have emerged — I call it a parade of variants — we now see much more extensive transmission and much more uniform spread globally. This makes declaring the end of the pandemic more difficult,” said Arnold Monto, professor of epidemiology. 

    CNN
  10. November 11, 2021
    • Photo of Barbara mcQuade

    “If it’s a campaign war room, that’s one thing. But the question is: To what extent are they looking at blocking the certification of the election? The Eastman memo is a real smoking gun. It really appears to be a concerted effort here,” said Barbara McQuade, professor from practice of law, on the U.S. House investigation of the Capitol riot and a memo from lawyer John Eastman that laid out how Donald Trump could try to invalidate the election results.

    The New York Times