In the News
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February 8, 2023
Ben van der Pluijm, professor of earth and environmental sciences, said massive earthquakes in Turkey are a consequence of the region’s geology. Turkey rests on the Anatolian plate, which is being squeezed by the much larger Arabian plate to the south and Eurasian plate to the north: “It’s a really tiny plate that’s squeezed between two big guys that are pushing towards one another.”
The Wall Street Journal -
February 7, 2023
“The fact that the virus enters the nucleus does not mean that it integrates into the genome of humans,” said Beth Moore, professor of microbiology and immunology, refuting claims by social media users that the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson alters recipients’ DNA.
The Associated Press -
February 7, 2023
Twitter’s decision to stop its free Application Program Interface, which allows third-party developers and users to access the app’s data, may shut down many popular bot accounts, as well as impact researchers who study social media. “User data is a pretty good way to make money … So it’s not surprising they’re trying to monetize the API,” said Libby Hemphill, associate professor of information and digital studies.
Vice -
February 7, 2023
Pregnant women and new moms in rural areas are at greater risk of poor health because they are more likely to be uninsured, according to Lindsay Admon, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology: “Being uninsured during the time of pregnancy has been associated with less adequate prenatal and postpartum care, which decreases opportunities to address risk factors affecting health outcomes for both the birthing person and baby.”
U.S. News & World Report -
February 6, 2023
U-M scientists discovered a 319 million-year-old, well-preserved brain in a fish skull found in England more than a century ago. “Not only does this … small fossil show us the oldest example of a fossilized vertebrate brain, it also shows that much of what we thought about brain evolution from living species alone will need reworking,” said Rodrigo Figueroa, doctoral student in earth and environmental sciences. Matt Friedman, director of the Museum of Paleontology, said, “That’s why holding onto the physical specimens is so important … who knows, in 100 years, what people might be able to do with the fossils in our collections now?”
MLive -
February 6, 2023
A study by Megan Patrick, research professor at the Institute for Social Research, shows that teens who first start heavy drinking by 11th grade have higher average weekly alcohol consumption later in life: “Most of the young adults who ever engage in high-intensity drinking (8+ drinks for women, 10+ drinks for men) went from their first drink to high-intensity drinking within only two years.”
Healio -
February 6, 2023
“This is one place where, if we’re trying to see things from the perspective of police … that fear, that vigilance really of anyone and everyone that they encounter may have a gun does look like it drives more police shootings,” said Luke Shaefer, professor of public policy and social work and faculty director of Poverty Solutions, whose research shows that U.S. police officers kill more people in days than police in other countries kill in years.
Michigan Radio -
February 3, 2023
Many older adults refused in-home care during the height of the pandemic for fear of contracting COVID-19, but doing so may have led to new or worsening health conditions, says Jennifer Inloes, doctoral student in nursing practice: “I wasn’t prepared to hear about so many patients declining home-based health care services … a much more controlled interaction with fewer potential points of infection.”
U.S. News & World Report -
February 3, 2023
Although large-scale carbon capture is in its infancy as a technology, the pace of climate change means its development can’t wait, says Volker Sick, professor of mechanical engineering and director of U-M’s Global CO2 Initiative. “And do we know that we have the best available technology? We know that we don’t. But we can’t make it better unless we try to build some factories to learn.”
Michigan Radio -
February 3, 2023
“There has been this idea that if federal agencies and other policymakers don’t have access to data on race and don’t explicitly take race into account when making policy decisions … the resulting outcome can’t be structurally biased,” said Evelyn Smith, doctoral student in economics, who found that computer algorithms — not IRS agents — are why Black taxpayers are three times more likely to be audited.
The New York Times
