In the News
-
June 2, 2021
Because the surface of Mars is largely dust, massive storms can create dust clouds that block out the sun, says Nilton Renno, professor of climate and space sciences and engineering: “It’s almost like midnight on the surface of Mars for two months. If you are there with solar panels for power, you very likely don’t survive. You don’t have enough energy to keep things warm enough.”
Bloomberg/Quint (India) -
June 2, 2021
When it comes to understanding what math research looks like or what the point of it is, many folks are still stumped, says Wei Ho, associate professor of mathematics. “My cocktail party spiel is always about elliptic curves,” said Ho, who often asks partygoers, “You know middle school parabolas and circles? Once you start making a cubic equation, things get really hard. … There are so many open questions about them.”
Scientific American -
June 2, 2021
“It’s what I like to call bonkers. When you look at it from a 20,000-foot view, it means each individual crash was substantially more deadly,” said Carol Flannagan, research professor at the U-M Transportation Research Institute, commenting on data that shows more people died in traffic crashes last year than the year before despite fewer motorists on Michigan roads.
The Detroit News -
June 2, 2021
“For so long sports teams have gotten a lot of criticism for just looking at the bottom line, not really caring about the health and wellness and overall well-being of their consumers. … It’s really tricky because the other side of the coin is, ‘Well why did I have to reveal to you my vaccination status?'” said Ketra Armstrong, professor of sport management, on stadiums requiring fans to show proof of vaccination.
Reuters -
May 26, 2021
“When a health care worker declines a COVID-19 vaccine, it affects the herd immunity of the health care workforce and potentially the safety of patients and communities that workforce serves,” said Michelle Moniz, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. “And health care workers are a trusted a voice that influences others, so vaccine hesitancy in this group could undermine efforts to widely vaccinate populations and achieve herd immunity.”
Crain's Detroit Business -
May 26, 2021
“Federal research investments should be judged neither by the titles, nor by the immediate economic returns of individual grants. Instead, we should ask how our national portfolio of research funding enables people … to contribute to a growing, innovative economy that benefits us all,” wrote Jason Owen-Smith, professor of sociology and research professor at the Institute for Social Research.
The Hill -
May 26, 2021
A research team led by John Heron, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, has developed a material that could allow the property that makes fluorescent lights and electrical transformers buzz power a new generation of more efficient computing devices and also lead to better magnetic sensors for medical and security devices.
DBusiness Magazine -
May 26, 2021
“When Black Americans are the targets (of violence), other Black Americans respond with anger and search for more information; when other people of color are targeted, African Americans respond with empathy. White and Hispanic Americans have more muted responses, regardless of the target. What does that suggest about political attitudes?” wrote Kiela Crabtree, a doctoral student in political science.
The Washington Post -
May 21, 2021
“Instead of just extracting and throwing away, how can we better live in more sustainable ways by reusing everything that we have touched before?” asks Volker Sick, professor of mechanical engineering, pondering the public’s acceptance of products containing CO2 emissions captured by technology — products such as plastics, concrete, carbonated drinks and even fuel for aircraft and automobiles.
Michigan Radio -
May 21, 2021
A new study by Michelle Fearon, research fellow in ecology and evolutionary biology, found that areas with more types of bees have less disease than sites with fewer species: “And that is a really cool finding because it suggests that if we are conserving these bees and encouraging really diverse pollinator communities, we might be also reducing the risk of virus transmission.”
WKAR Radio
