In the News
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September 8, 2021
“By failing to recognize limits on the ability to impose on other cultures values that have taken many years to attain gradually in its own culture, the United States and its partners will continue the unsound habit of approaching problems by building up the wrong kinds of allies and armies — weakly modeled in America’s image but devoid of the spirit that can only arise from one’s own values and cultures,” wrote Scott Atran, adjunct research professor of public policy and at the Institute for Social Research.
Science -
September 8, 2021
“Clearly, there is some part of the population that just doesn’t like to be told that they need to do something. Personal choice autonomy comes up in a lot of the rhetoric that we hear from people, and it’s not actually about the vaccine or COVID. It’s that they don’t like being, from their perspective, forced to do something,” said Brian Zikmund-Fisher, professor of health behavior and health education.
The Detroit News -
September 8, 2021
“There’s this misguided perception that all of a sudden there are many more spiders than there used to be but, you know, that’s not the case. They’re just more noticeable because the males are moving around” in search of a female, said Anne Danielson-Francois, associate professor of biological sciences at UM-Dearborn. “People shouldn’t panic and call a pest control agency. They’re not interested in setting up shop in the house.”
USA Today -
September 7, 2021
“We know that white supremacists and other types of extremists use social media to talk to each other, to recruit, to try to get their message to go mainstream. The challenge has been that the platforms haven’t really stepped up to fight hate on their platforms,” said Libby Hemphill, associate professor of information and of the Digital Institute and Institute for Social Research, who believes machine learning technology might provide an answer.
MLive -
September 7, 2021
“This is not a good development and is likely to dampen the insurance role that remittances often play in the wake of disasters,” said Dean Yang, professor of economics and public policy and research professor at the Institute for Social Research, on the disruptions in Afghanistan’s money-moving apparatus which are choking off a key source of income for ordinary Afghans.
The Wall Street Journal -
September 7, 2021
“It is quite striking and quite galling that the Supreme Court would allow a state to essentially destroy Roe under cover of night with no decision,” Leah Litman, professor of law. “I think it’s pretty cowardly, I think it’s an affront to the rule of law, and it is quite troubling about what it suggests about the enforcement of our constitutional rights going forward.”
The New York Times -
September 3, 2021
(The Record inadvertently republished an older In the News item in Thursday’s email. This item should have appeared.)
“Engineering must provide deep technical training, yes. But it must also require nontechnical training in fields such as ethics, social science, the humanities, history and matters associated with equity. … Engineering can make the world a better place. But to do that in the broadest way possible, we must think differently about what engineering is and whom it’s for. We can do that by approaching our work through an equity-centered lens,” wrote Alec D. Gallimore, dean of the College of Engineering.
Inside Higher Ed -
September 3, 2021
“If you scan a QR code everywhere you go, you realize you are tracking into a business but in reality we are all carrying a tracking device in our pockets … in the form of our smartphones. This tracking is happening regardless of whether you realize it,” said Florian Schaub, assistant professor of information, and electrical engineering and computer science.
WDET Radio -
September 3, 2021
Clifford Douglas, director of the U-M Tobacco Research Network, said Juul Labs — under fire from the FDA for selling flavored vapes to teens — should not be punished retroactively for past behavior. “We need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” protecting young people while helping adult smokers, he said, noting that 480,000 people in the United States die annually from smoking.
The Washington Post -
September 3, 2021
“Drawing power over the air with a coil is a lot like catching butterflies with a net,” said Alanson Sample, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, describing his research on wireless charging, which can deliver power through the air to any laptop, tablet or phone. The trick is “to have as many butterflies as possible swirling around the room in as many directions as possible.”
Daily Mail (U.K.)
