In the News
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September 16, 2025
“Electronics get hot … because (they) always have capacitors. Every time you store energy or you release that energy, you heat it up. An exciton is a new charge-neutral particle, like a photon, that doesn’t produce this heat,” said Parag Deotore, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, who, along with EECS professor Mackillo Kira, developed new technology that uses excitons to overcome the heat problem and could lead to a new class of electronics that can operate without generating waste heat.
Live Science -
September 16, 2025
“Being surprised is good. Seeing expectations proven naive means progress. Having entirely new avenues to chase down is tremendous. Astronomy is full of surprises and never boring,” said Jon Miller, professor of astronomy, whose unexpected discovery that smaller stellar-mass black holes “spit out” most of the material they devour could have implications for how black holes influence the evolution of their host galaxies.
Space.com -
September 16, 2025
Topping the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket in November will be Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose blanket tariffs on trading partners. “Even though the court didn’t explicitly address the merits of various Trump policies over the last few months, it has allowed the president to do very sweeping things,” said Leah Litman, professor of law. The tariffs case is “significant because we will have some insight into what they are thinking.”
The Financial Times -
September 15, 2025
“I don’t think it shows a story of getting ahead, unless you were already ahead to begin with,” said Kristin Seefeldt, professor of social work and senior associate faculty director of Poverty Solutions, about the recent release of Census Bureau income and poverty data, which only goes so far in showing the price pressures that people face. “It’s not capturing the day-to-day realities that face folks.”
MarketWatch -
September 15, 2025
“People who are employed are running to catch up with the changes in the economy and inflation, and they’re not keeping pace with the people at the top,” said Amanda Nothaft, director of data and analysis at Poverty Solutions, after Census Bureau data showed that real median incomes increased by 4.2% for the highest-earning households, but stayed mostly flat for for the lowest- and middle-income households.
The New Republic -
September 15, 2025
“These types of attacks are coming from lone offenders … They’re not part of organized groups. They are not operating in a cellular structure. There’s no command and control,” said Javed Ali, associate professor of practice of public policy, about the Charlie Kirk assassination. “Almost always … they have not been subject to a previous law enforcement or even FBI investigation or interest. So that’s what makes it really difficult to find these people in advance and stop them before they try these types of attacks.”
CBC News -
September 12, 2025
Loneliness — considered to be an epidemic in the U.S. — is not common in Costa Rica, said Edward Ruiz-Narvaez, associate professor of nutritional sciences, who found that Costa Ricans with good social connections have a nearly 30% lower mortality rate than those with weaker ties. “In Costa Rica, it’s common to observe houses with three generations (living in them) … and that’s a part of the social connection,” he said.
The Economic Times (India) -
September 12, 2025
Light regulates mood via the body’s internal clock, so the timing of when people are exposed to light is important, said Daniel Forger, professor of mathematics and of computational medicine and bioinformatics: “Our circadian rhythm processes sunlight into time. There are other environmental cues that could signify time, like temperature, but I think in humans, or animals, the most important signal is light.”
The Scientist -
September 12, 2025
The number of children in Michigan whose parents have died as a result of a “stigmatized death” is on the rise, according to research by Sean Esteban McCabe, professor of nursing: “Parental deaths from overdoses, homicides, suicides and other substance-related causes are associated with more adverse health outcomes and higher rates of early mortality in their children, so more attention is needed in this area because no child should ever have to grieve alone.”
WLNS Lansing -
September 11, 2025
“Right now the whole idea of carbon dioxide removal … is kind of a Wild West scene, with lots of actors promising to do things that may or may not be possible,” said Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability. “The priority has to be on reducing emissions, not on durable CDR at this point.”
Grist
