Multimedia Features | The University Record

November 21, 2013

Balloon-based disaster aid

Disasters frequently knock out communications infrastructures, isolating desperate people from the outside world. The Internet would enable these people to contact rescuers — if an Internet-to-ground linkage could be established. In this video, a team led by Aaron Ridley, associate professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, shows how high-altitude balloons could be used to quickly carry Wi-Fi routers into positions above affected zones, creating platforms for Internet-to-ground signals.

November 20, 2013

Kick the habit

While Thursday is the annual “Great American Smokeout,” any day can be the day to quit smoking. MHealthy has redesigned how it delivers its Tobacco Consultation Service programs to make them easier to access. This video explains what is available.

November 19, 2013

Archiving mass atrocities

When abusive regimes are deposed, it becomes imperative that the archives documenting their atrocities be preserved because “archival information can clearly have a powerful impact on accountability proceedings such as criminal trials and truth commissions,” John Ciorciari, assistant professor of public policy and senior legal adviser to the Documentation Center of Cambodia. In this video, Ciorciari explains the importance of making such records available.

November 18, 2013

The state of entrepreneurship

Despite its image as an example of Rust Belt decay, Michigan has “much more going on here entrepreneurially than the rest of the country realizes,” says David Brophy, professor of finance and director of the Center for Venture Capital & Private Equity Finance. In this video, Brophy discusses how programs at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business are helping feed Michigan’s entrepreneurial rebirth.

November 16, 2013

Heroes at the Big House

Red Cross nurse Catherine Ashlin tends to Clare Gargaro, a physician’s assistant at the U-M Health System, while Gargaro donates blood Sunday during the Be a Hero at the Big House donation drive at Michigan Stadium. The annual event had about 800 participants and collected 318 pints of blood. It is part of the annual fall challenges between U-M and Ohio State — the Wolverine vs. Buckeye Challenge for Life, the Blood Battle and the Marrow Match-up. (Photo by John Masson)

November 14, 2013

Mission to Mars

NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft is scheduled to launch Monday on a 10-month journey to Mars to unravel several mysteries about the Red Planet. In this video, Stephen Bougher, the Andrew F. Nagy Collegiate Research Professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences and a co-investigator on the MAVEN mission, describes the workings of the spacecraft and its scientific objectives.

November 12, 2013

Cars of the future

Helping Ann Arbor become the first American city with a shared fleet of networked, driverless vehicles by 2021 is the goal of the Mobility Transformation Center, a U-M initiative that also involves government and industry representatives. In this video, drivers comment about what they would like to see in cars of the future and project officials talk about the effort to make Ann Arbor a testing ground for connected and driverless vehicles.

November 12, 2013

Delegation to India

President Mary Sue Coleman is leading a U-M delegation to India this week to build partnerships and strengthen collaborations with Indian institutions of higher education. In this video, U-M leaders and faculty members discuss the goals of the trip and the benefits of global education.

November 11, 2013

Understanding autophagy through art

A unique artistic collaboration among a cell biologist, composer, choreographer and scientific illustrator helps convey the process of autophagy, in which cells break down and dispose of that which no longer is needed while recycling essential parts worth keeping. The project was the brainchild of Dan Klionsky, Arthur G. Ruthven Professor of Life Sciences. Watch a longer documentary on the autophagy collaboration on “Detroit Performs,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on WTVS Detroit Public TV.

November 8, 2013

Celebrating the campaign

Trees around Ingalls Mall were aglow, and images from the Victors for Michigan campaign were projected onto Burton Tower during Friday night’s celebration. View a page of images from the evening’s festivities. Photo by Lon Horwedel, Michigan Photography.