In the News
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April 18, 2019
A floating city concept to cope with climate change, put forth by startup Oceanix, earns cautious praise from Geoffrey Thün, associate professor of architecture: “(It) offers an ideal model for how we should be thinking about the metabolism of our cities … but they seem to exclude much of the gritty realities of complex urban life.”
NBC News -
April 18, 2019
Research by Elizabeth Bruch, associate professor of sociology and complex systems, and Mark E. Newman, professor of physics and complex systems, shows that single men and women search for an online dating match close to where they live: “Whether or not the influence of geography is exacerbated by the setup of online dating sites, however, depends on how local dating is to begin with. My sense from cell-phone studies of routine activity is that people typically stay within a given urban area, which suggests that offline dating is also fairly local,” Bruch said.
CityLab -
April 17, 2019
“I do think the way that 9/11 is being used against Ilhan — it’s being done to silence her. It’s being done to say, ‘In reality, you have no right to speak in this public space,’” said Sally Howell, director of the Center for Arab American Studies and associate professor of history at UM-Dearborn, on the backlash toward U.S. Rep Ilhan Omar, a Muslim, for her comments about 9/11.
The Atlantic -
April 17, 2019
Abram Wagner, research assistant professor in epidemiology, says the vaccination exemption rate in Michigan’s Oakland County is 4.8 percent, more than twice the national average: “The reason why measles has been making its way so quickly through Oakland County is because a large number of children are unvaccinated and parents are asking for nonmedical exemptions to vaccination requirements in school.”
Fox 2 Detroit -
April 17, 2019
David Sandberg, professor of pediatrics, says the risks of avoiding surgery on intersex children — those with atypical genitalia — are not clear: “Being different in some way doesn’t necessarily hurt you, but it is not an advantage. And so one has to know something about the factors that make a child more vulnerable for being rejected or neglected by peers.”
CNN -
April 16, 2019
Amal Hassan Fadlalla, associate professor of anthropology, women’s studies and Afroamerican and African studies, was interviewed about last week’s military takeover in Sudan against authoritarian President Omar al-Bashir, after months of popular protests with citizens demanding a democratic transition.
BBC -
April 16, 2019
“Some Middle Eastern powers — the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — cautiously welcomed the initial takeover. … They have an interest in the continuation of military rule in Sudan at the expense of Sudan’s Islamist movement. … The reaction from the African Union could not be more different … (as it) called for dialogue between Sudan’s new leader and the opposition,” co-wrote Mai Hassan, assistant professor of political science.
The Washington Post -
April 16, 2019
Stephen Goutman, associate professor of neurology, discussed the findings of his research that looked at the connections between the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and organic toxins, like pesticides and industrial chemicals — toxins that are long-lasting and common in Michigan.
Michigan Radio -
April 15, 2019
Research by Lona Mody, professor of internal medicine and epidemiology, and colleagues found that privacy curtains used in patients’ hospital rooms are often rife with drug-resistant microbes: “Health care textiles often fly under our radar. Curtains are touched often before the patient is examined. The patients themselves touch the curtain when they go in and out.”
The Guardian (U.K.) -
April 15, 2019
“You don’t necessarily think of another human listening to what you’re telling your smart speaker in the intimacy of your home. I think we’ve been conditioned to the [assumption] that these machines are just doing magic machine learning. But the fact is there is still manual processing involved,” said Florian Schaub, professor of information, and electrical engineering and computer science, commenting on Amazon employees who listen to voice recordings captured in private homes and offices to help improve the Alexa digital assistant powering its line of Echo speakers.
Bloomberg
