Multimedia Features | The University Record

October 20, 2021

Fending off the flu

President Mark Schlissel talks with Lisa Ranger, a registered nurse with Michigan Medicine, before she administers the president’s annual flu shot Tuesday. Faculty, staff and students are being encouraged to get the flu vaccine, and there are several options to do so on all three campuses and at Michigan Medicine. Individuals covered under an accepted insurance plan will not have to pay out-of-pocket. An appointment is required at Ann Arbor campus flu shot clinics, now available on select days through November. Walk-in clinics are available Nov. 3 at UM-Flint, and Nov. 9-10 at UM-Dearborn. (Photo by Roger Hart, Michigan Photography)

Class of 1901 Bench

This bench, a gift from the Class of 1901, sits on Central Campus, west of Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library. The Record periodically highlights pieces of public art at U-M. Learn more about this piece, or browse an online collection of public artworks.

October 18, 2021

Mindful breathing for pain control

It’s long been known that meditative mindful breathing helps with various health conditions, including pain. To that end, U-M researchers compared two types of meditative breathing — traditional mindful breathing and virtual-reality mindful breathing — to reduce pain. In this video, Alexandre DaSilva, associate professor at the School of Dentistry, explains how each lessened pain by modulating the somatosensory cortex, a region of the brain responsible for processing pain, but each used different mechanisms.

Read more about mindful breathing for pain control

October 15, 2021

Hyenas in Ethiopia

Hyenas are frequently vilified and often feared, but a new study led Neil Carter, assistant professor of environment, and colleagues concludes that hyena scavenging provides significant public health and economic benefits to the African cities where they roam. In this video, Carter and others discuss the role that spotted hyenas play in annually removing 207 tons of animal carcass waste around the Ethiopian city of Mekelle.

Obtawaing Biosphere Region

The Obtawaing Biosphere Region in northern Michigan is a newly awarded UNESCO designation involving U-M’s Biological Station. It recognizes the region as a place of unique and diverse ecological, social and economic significance. In this photo, U-M researchers walk the property of the U-M Biological Station in Pellston. (Photo by Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography)

Read more about the Obtawaing Biosphere Region

October 13, 2021

Energy-saving windows

The Office of the Vice President for Student Life and Architecture, Engineering and Construction collaborated over the summer to replace windows at Oxford Houses in a move expected to significantly reduce energy use and save heating and cooling costs. The project involved approximately 16,000 square feet of windows at the facility east of Central Campus on Oxford Road that is home to approximately 350 students, including those in LSA’s Sustainable Living Experience. (Photo by Alex Bryan, Student Life)

Read more about the Oxford Houses window project

October 12, 2021

Community Recognition Festival

Members of K-Motion, an all-female Korean pop dance group, perform at the Year Five DEI Strategic Plan Community Recognition Festival Monday afternoon at the Trotter Multicultural Center. The open-house-style event was an opportunity for the campus community to recognize the many accomplishments of U-M’s five-year DEI Strategic Plan implementation. K-Motion’s performers included Hannah Kim, Nerissa Wang, Chelsea Oh, Jessica You, Christina Tan and Catherine Zhang. (Photo by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography)

Cow-inspired biodigesters

A $6.8 million effort to more efficiently convert organic solid waste from trash and wastewater into methane, a pipeline-ready renewable fuel, is being led by U-M, in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University and others. The U.S. Department of Energy is providing $5 million of the funding. Graduate research assistant Renata Rae Strarostka is one of the researchers working on the project that takes as its inspiration one of nature’s most efficient biodigesters — a cow’s stomach. (Photo by Robert Coelius, College of Engineering)

Leadership Address

President Mark Schlissel delivered his annual President’s University Leadership Address to campus leaders Oct. 7 at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business’ Robertson Auditorium, as well as to the university community at large via livestream. In the address, a full video of which is provided here, Schlissel emphasized the importance of collaboration, outlined his priorities for the coming year and provided updates on several campus initiatives.

Read the Record’s coverage of address highlights

October 7, 2021

Nuclear nonproliferation

The Department of Homeland Security is giving researchers at U-M $1.9 million to find out what to look for when neutrons used to to probe shipping containers slip through the shielding around nuclear contraband. Current methods do not work well when special nuclear materials are “shielded” inside a heavy material. In this photo, Christopher Meert, a graduate student in nuclear engineering and radiological sciences, arranges the metal shielding that mimics the way weapons-grade uranium and plutonium might be hidden inside shipping containers. (Photo by Robert Coelius, College of Engineering)

Read more about nuclear nonproliferation