In the News
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March 31, 2025
Highly educated people face a steeper brain decline following a stroke, according to research by Mellanie Springer, assistant professor of neurology, and Deborah Levine, professor of internal medicine and neurology. “Our findings suggest that attending higher education may enable people to retain greater cognitive ability until a critical threshold of brain injury is reached after a stroke. At this point, compensation may fail, and rapid cognitive decline occurs,” Springer said.
U.S. News & World Report -
March 31, 2025
“What will likely happen is that consumers will see auto prices rise. Certainly if a consumer is going to buy an imported automobile. What might happen is demand will shift for the American luxury cars like a Cadillac or a Lincoln, but that demand will start to push up the price of American-produced cars as well,” said Chris Douglas, professor of economics at UM-Flint, about a new 25% tariff on all vehicles and parts shipped into the United States.
WJRT Flint -
March 31, 2025
Research at the U-M Biological Station, which included more than 100 scientists over several decades, found that carbon storage in forests depends more on what’s happening within the ecosystem than how old it is. “It’s nice to see the … research team leverage our historic data sets and crunch real-time carbon sequestration information to illuminate what’s happening in our forests and inform future management,” said Jason Tallant, data manager and research specialist at the Biological Station.
Earth.com -
March 28, 2025
“Vibe coding” promises to make website creation easy for tech novices using generative AI models like ChatGPT, but Nikola Banovic, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, says it’s not that simple: “People who do not have programming expertise often struggle to use these kinds of models because they don’t have the right kinds of tools or knowledge to actually evaluate the output.”
The Economic Times -
March 28, 2025
“There are many, many research grants that are funded by IES that really are important for helping us understand what seems to be working for children. … That loss just right out of the gate is just enormous,” said Elizabeth Moje, dean of the Marsal Family School of Education, about funding cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm.
Detroit Free Press -
March 28, 2025
“I suspect (Chief Justice John) Roberts has a certain measure of contempt for Trump and the way he treats judges. Roberts is an establishment Republican, but I think he’s horrified,” said Richard Friedman, professor of law. “From Trump’s point of view, it may be very perplexing because he thinks you’re going to have a judge entirely in his favor or against. But that’s not the way the world works.”
Reuters -
March 27, 2025
The dollar’s recent decline is in large part because importers have been trying to bring in extra goods ahead of the president’s tariffs, said Kathryn Dominguez, professor of public policy and economics: “We’ve actually been buying more imports, therefore needing more foreign currency, therefore driving up the value of foreign currency relative to the dollar.”
Marketplace -
March 27, 2025
“This is tickling liberals because the most dominant voices on the platform lean right and are dismissive of liberal arguments. But the larger data it trains on is likely to present a more balanced view of the world, often explicitly at odds with what its loudest voices are saying,” said Joyojeet Pal, associate professor of information, after the built in-chatbot on Elon Musk’s X stated that Musk himself is a “strong contender” for spreading the most disinformation on his social media platform.
BBC -
March 27, 2025
“Basically, global warming is turning the atmosphere into a bigger sponge so it can soak up more moisture … and then when the conditions are right for rainfall, it’s like squeezing that sponge,” said Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability, about intense and destructive deluges of rain that can fall following intense droughts.
The Associated Press -
March 26, 2025
“Refusing to act on Second Look harms Michigan’s economy, its corrections system and its communities. It exacerbates staffing shortages, worsens conditions for both incarcerated individuals and prison employees and perpetuates a system that is expensive and ineffective,” co-wrote Jeffrey Morenoff, professor of sociology and of public policy, about stalled legislation in the Michigan House that would allow inmates who have served at least 20 years to petition for a sentence reduction.
Detroit Free Press
