In the News
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March 21, 2025
“It’s the move fast and break things approach, without really thinking through the implications of a range of different choices you are making. So they tell everyone to return to work without considering the fact that they don’t have the space to accommodate everyone,” said Pam Herd, professor of public policy, about the Trump administration’s return-to-office order for hundreds of thousands of federal employees after years of working from home.
Reuters -
March 20, 2025
One of the best ways to trick yourself into falling asleep is to try not to sleep. By doing the opposite — a phenomenon called paradoxical intention — you’ll unintentionally doze off at some point, says Deirdre Conroy, clinical professor of psychiatry: “In your mind, you’re actually trying to stay up but sleep will eventually kick in.” Cathy Goldstein, clinical professor of neurology, says that good sleep starts in the morning: “Set your alarm and get light first thing — this doesn’t just cue your body when wake time is, but also when sleep onset should occur.”
Buzzfeed -
March 20, 2025
Feeling tired at the “wrong” time is not indicative of willpower or lack thereof, but a sign that someone may be dealing with an issue such as bad sleep hygiene, disturbed sleep throughout the night, or an underlying sleep disorder, says Sonja Schuetz, clinical associate professor of neurology: “It’s very common that people are sleep deprived without being aware of that, because their body needs at least nine hours to feel really rested.”
CNN -
March 20, 2025
“From a face validity perspective, it seems a little bit strange that putting this device between your body and your sleeping surface, for instance, would make a massive change in your closeness to the electrical current of the Earth,” said Greta Raglan, clinical associate professor of psychiatry, about the use of grounding mats, bed sheets and other electromagnetic devices to help improve sleep and health.
New York Magazine -
March 19, 2025
“These are fully functional galaxies, but they’re about a millionth of the size of the Milky Way. It’s like having a perfectly functional human being that’s the size of a grain of rice,” said Eric Bell, professor of astronomy, who along with lead researcher Marcos Arias and others discovered a collection of tiny galaxies located roughly 3 million light-years away that includes the smallest and faintest galaxy ever seen.
Space.com -
March 19, 2025
Federal efforts to force hospitals to be more transparent about their pricing may not have much impact, said Denise Anthony, professor of health management and policy. “There is evidence that even when clear pricing data is available to patients, they don’t use it to move to a different hospital/provider. There are all kinds of reasons people go to the same hospital despite lower prices somewhere else — physician, history, quality, convenience, etc.”
NBC News -
March 19, 2025
In canceling $400 million in funding to Columbia University for failing to protect students and faculty from “antisemitic violence and harassment,” the government skipped the onerous process civil rights law mandates must take place before funds can be revoked. “It is puzzling that (Columbia has) not filed a lawsuit that they would be extremely likely to prevail in,” said Leah Litman, professor of law.
The New York Times -
March 18, 2025
“There’s often the tendency to think of Mesozoic mammals as these kind of meager critters that were just running around hiding. I would be hesitant to draw that conclusion about all early mammals. I think there’s a lot of interesting things that are happening, especially in the late Cretaceous,” said Luke Weaver, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences and assistant curator at the Museum of Paleontology.
Popular Science -
March 18, 2025
“Menstruation remains a subject cloaked in silence and associated with taboos, even within the realm of scientific inquiry. Lack of dialogue about menstruation, particularly about the changes in bleeding patterns as women approach menopause, leads to women’s lack of knowledge about what is normal,” said Siobán Harlow, professor emerita of epidemiology and of obstetrics and gynecology.
CNN -
March 18, 2025
Although hundreds of millions of people have taken Xanax or one of its cousins in the benzodiazepine family to help them sleep or to calm anxiety, there is a shortage of research into long-term use of the drugs, says Donovan Maust, professor of psychiatry: “There’s lots of evidence that people can stop and they’ll be fine. But you have these pockets where people have been profoundly affected in a very bad way.”
The Wall Street Journal
