July 2023 Media Highlights

Associated Press - A new millipede species is crawling under LA. It's blind, glassy and has 486 legs - “It’s amazing to think these millipedes are crawling in the inner cracks and crevices between little pieces of rock below our feet in Los Angeles,” said entomologist Paul Marek of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He was part of the research team that included scientists from West Virginia University, and the University of California, Berkeley. (Also picked up by ABC News, NBC News, US News & World Report, and many others)

USA Today - New millipede species with 486 legs discovered near Los Angeles “If we’re discovering this new species in the greater Los Angeles area, what else is there?” asked Paul Marek, an entomologist at Virginia Tech who authored the paper. “I think this is really the tip of the iceberg; I think there's a lot more dwelling underground.”

Los Angeles Times - Meet the 486-legged creature found in an L.A. area park - The two immediately realized they were looking at something unique and posted their find to iNaturalist, the citizen science app. Across the country, Virginia Tech entomologist Paul E. Marek was browsing the app and noticed their discovery. That Christmas, while visiting his family in Los Angeles, Marek and his wife drove out to Whiting Ranch to see if they could find the same animal. Also picked up by Silicon Republic.

IFL Science - Brand new millipede species discovered in Orange County Park has 486 legs - This caught the attention of Virginia Tech entomologist Paul E. Marek, who then drove out later in the year to see if he could find another specimen. Fortunately he was successful, and managed to transport the animals back to his lab in Virginia. DNA sequencing and analysis revealed that the tiny white millipede was a new-to-science species called the Los Angeles thread millipede (Illacme socal).

KNX-AM (Los Angeles) - Paul E. Marek discusses new millipede species - “it's less than a millimeter wide and it's about, you know, the length of a paper clip.” Paul Marek is an associate professor at the department of entomology at Virginia tech. “They've been isolated in these very small pockets of the world and Los Angeles is one of them.”

Good Morning America/ABC News - Holiday travel warning for drivers - With the holiday travel rush in full swing and winter storms moving across the country, officials are warning drivers to watch for dangers on the road, including truck blindspots. Video package includes VTTI”s Matt Camden. Original story link.

ABC affiliates - Medical Minute story on Lyme disease - Researchers from Virginia Tech found that ticks and Lyme disease are most common in areas such as meadows, grass and the edges of forests.

Forbes - Suburbia's renaissance in the age of flexible work - Hyojung Lee, a professor of housing and property management at Virginia Tech, humorously notes, "We've always talked about millennials as urban people... But it turns out they're not that cool anymore." Indeed, some 45% of millennials now plan to buy homes in the suburbs, according to a recent Bank of America survey. Perhaps it's not about being 'cool' anymore but about being 'smart'.

Forbes - In search of America’s missing hellbenders (Paywall) - These are credible threats, but studies conducted by physiological ecologist William Hopkins, a professor of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and director of the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech, identified a different culprit: environmental changes due to deforestation. “This is an animal that has been resilient over millions and millions of years, and something that we’re doing to the planet is severe enough that it’s causing them to disappear, and disappear quickly,” Professor Hopkins said in a statement. “I feel like we have an obligation to solve this problem.”

The Hill - Putin crackdown on Wagner rebellion creates new weak points in Russian military -   Yannis Stivachtis, the director of Virginia Tech’s Center for European Union, Transatlantic and Trans-European Space Studies, also dismissed the chatter of Putin’s regime collapsing or the military crumbling, at least because of Prigozhin. Stivachtis said the Russian leader remains strongly entrenched in power and that, generally, Russians strive to be loyal to the nation. (Picked up by The Kansas City Star).

Live Science - Mushroom-shaped superplume of scorching hot rock may be splitting Africa in 2 - Study co-author D. Sarah Stamps, a geophysicist at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, likens these responses to Silly Putty — if you hit Silly Putty with a hammer, it can crack and break, but if you slowly pull it apart, it stretches. Over different time scales, Earth's lithosphere can also behave in different ways. Also picked up by MSN.

Real Simple - ​​Your scented soap might be attracting more mosquitos, study suggests - “What was surprising in our results was the importance of the interaction between the specific soap chemicals and the body odor of each specific individual in determining whether a person would become more or less attractive to mosquitoes after applying soap to their skin,” explains Clément Vinauger, associate professor of Biochemistry at Virginia Tech and one of the authors of the study. “In other words, we were surprised to see that some soaps, but not others, would increase the attractiveness of some people but not others,” he adds.

CNN Newsource - A look at Amazon shipping and the pending UPS strike - Virginia Tech economics professor Jadrian Wooten says a prolonged strike would have a wider ripple than many consumers might think as other shippers shoulder the extra load. “Even if you're not a UPS customer, if you are just purely FedEX, purely Post Office, you likely still will see an impact in your deliveries even though you're not relying on UPS.” Aired on 185+ local stations including major markets.

Washington Post - After crash that killed three, D.C. bill targets dangerous drivers - Ryan Calder, an assistant professor of environmental health and policy at Virginia Tech, has said D.C. has the data to track down drivers like Walker and could use it to target them. He and other safety advocates petitioned the city in response to the Rock Creek Parkway crash, urging officials to adopt policies to reduce traffic risks they say disproportionately affect lower-income and Black communities.

Associated Press - Decades after the dangers of lead became clear, some cities are leaving lead pipe in the ground - Leaving lead pipe behind should have stopped a long time ago, said Yanna Lambrinidou, a medical anthropologist at Virginia Tech and co-founder of the Campaign for Lead Free Water. The metal is especially dangerous for young children. It can lower IQ and deprive kids of problem-solving skills. The Environmental Protection Agency says no amount is safe for kids. Utilities, she said, have tried to reduce costs and dodge responsibility.

Associated Press - Here’s why there is still so much lead pipe in Chicago - Marc Edwards, a water treatment specialist at Virginia Tech, said proactive cities that replaced entire lengths of lead pipe are in better shape.

U.S. News & World Report - Backyard beekeeping for beginners - “Team up with a local or regional beekeepers association and learn from folks that are already in the beekeeping community,” says James M. Wilson, collegiate assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. “Fostering those connections and working with mentors is a great way to start off on the right foot.” Picked up by WTOP in DC. 

New York Post - Titan sub victims likely realized their fate between 48 and 71 seconds before deaths - Virginia Tech ocean engineering professor Stefano Brizzolara has suggested that the vessel’s pressure hull could have had a defect that may have fractured under the immense pressure. “It is difficult to say what caused the structural failure in this case, but any small material and geometric imperfection, misalignment of connection flanges, tightening torque of bolted connection may have started the structural collapse,” Brizzolara told The Post recently. Also picked up by the Daily Mirror.

Inside Higher Ed - Academic alerts are a mixed bag for students - Do academic alerts actually motivate students to step up their performance? Or do they just make them feel stressed out? New research by a Virginia Tech professor indicates the results of such “nudging” might be mixed. The research, which has not yet been published, is based on two studies. One study investigated the effects of emailing feedback to students and the other one evaluated texting students about their assignments and deadlines. Both studies found that students who received some form of communication did better on assignments than their classmates early in the semester, but the performance of the nudged students fell in line with that of their peers who were not nudged as the course progressed.

Inside Higher Ed - Fostering students’ intercultural competence - (op-ed) I now clearly understand that cultural competence is as important, if not more so, than linguistic competence when connecting with domestic classmates. More important, I now recognize that, as a faculty member, I can play a role in helping students gain that competence … Shakil Rabbi is an assistant professor of English at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His scholarship focuses on writing and rhetoric.

People - Eye tissue removed from dog saves another dog's eye: 'It was serendipity' - “They did an amazing job,” DePierro told the university's website. “Virginia Tech has been fabulous. I never thought that anyone would take the time to save the eye.”

Upworthy - Doctors successfully use eye tissue from one canine to save another dog's eye: 'The stars aligned' - Now she is in good health and recovering well. Her lively spirit won the hearts of the students and interns at the hospital. “Susie Q has a very special personality,” DePierro said. “She has to be on someone’s lap at all times. As for her recovery, DePierro is grateful for the medical team's quick thinking and skill. They did an amazing job. Virginia Tech has been fabulous. I never thought that anyone would take the time to save the eye.”

FOX LiveNow via WTTG - Writers Guild of America votes to go on strike - The Writers Guild of America has voted to go on strike. Dr. James Ivory, a professor at Virginia Tech's School of Communication joined LiveNOW from FOX's Josh Breslow to discuss the impacts of the strike.

Associated Press - How hard is it to win the lottery? Odds to keep in mind as Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots soar -  Lottery tickets are “definitely not good investments,” Matthew Kovach, an assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s economics department told The Associated Press. “They’re not even investments ... there’s an expectation you will always lose money.” Carried by ABC News, MSN and many, many, many other news outlets.

USA Today - How can airlines curb bad behavior? Start by providing better service. - Take a deep breath. Anger and aggression are normal, said Bruce Friedman, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. "The best thing to do first then is to elicit the opposite response – relaxation," he said. You remember what your mother told you about counting to 10? It works in this situation. Take some time before you react.

Smithsonian - New device can detect covid in the air within five minutes - “They’ve demonstrated that it works. It’s able to detect [the] virus at low levels that we would be concerned about in the air,” Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech who studies the spread of viruses and was not involved in the study, tells Science News.

Insider - The 13 best cat litter boxes of 2023, tested and reviewed - Just because the box is self-cleaning doesn't mean you're entirely off the hook. Dr. Mark Freeman, a board-certified veterinarian and assistant professor of community practice at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, says litter boxes should be deep-cleaned with soap and water every few weeks. Additionally, the small compartment that collects waste may need emptying several times before it's time to change the litter tray.

DW (Deutsche Welle) - Why EU sanctions don't include Russian nuclear industry - "Rosatom is one of the few companies in the world that has mastered the entire nuclear fuel cycle, i.e. enrichment, fuel production and also reprocessing," said Sonja Schmid, professor of science and technology studies at Virginia Tech and the author of "Producing Power: The Pre-Chernobyl History of the Soviet Nuclear Industry."

The Virginian Pilot via Yahoo News - With upheaval on Twitter, some Virginia lawmakers make the move to Threads - Many political players in Virginia are active on Twitter and, so far, aren’t abandoning their accounts. But some Hampton Roads state legislators — seemingly all Democrats so far — are dipping their toes into Threads, which is trying to present itself as a more stable, friendlier version of Twitter. “They are trying to replicate a Twitter experience prior to Musk’s takeover and that is really appealing to a lot of individuals,” said Cayce Myers, a public relations professor at Virginia Tech. “If Threads takes off, which I think it will, you are certainly going to see the government on there.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education - Howard Zinn and the Politics of Popular History - At Virginia Tech, for example, the local branch of AIA argued that the book should be banned in the university’s history classes. “Zinn’s book ... portrays American heroes as villains,” their report argued, before criticizing the historian for interpreting the world “through Marxist eyes.” After making this case, AIA suggested that students write to their college president to complain about the use of the book: Its presence on reading lists meant that they were not presented with “the fundamental facts and interpretations of American history” as advertised by the course catalog.

New York Times - ‘Conan,’ ‘Goodfellas’ and MTV: How Tony Bennett Revived His Career - But what makes Mr. Bennett’s career arc remarkable is that he won over new generations of young people as he released albums and toured across the country into his 60s and far beyond, said Ariana Wyatt, an associate professor in the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech. His popularity was bolstered whenever he paired up with younger stars, such as Lady Gaga, with whom he last performed in 2021.

Washington Post - Tony Bennett helped bandmate in crisis: ‘I just can’t forget something like that’ - “When it’s time, it’s time,” said Langosch, who continued making music. He performed at local venues — such as the Bertha’s Mussels in Baltimore — and taught jazz at Virginia Tech in 2013. “I still play as much as I can,” he said.

CNN - Intense smoke fills NYC and forces a ‘code red’ in Philadelphia as millions from the East Coast to Canada suffer from Quebec’s wildfires - [July 24 update of June 7 story] “N95s protect very well from the smoke particles, which are the most hazardous component of the smoke,” said Linsey Marr, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech university. “You may still smell smoke gasses through the mask, but it’s still doing its job blocking particles as long as it’s a high-quality mask that fits well,” Marr said. Also carried by MSN Travel.

Popular Mechanics (also picked up by MSN) - A new discovery may help predict when Africa will ultimately split in two - In a new paper—published in March of this year in the Journal of Geophysical Research—scientists from Virginia Tech explored the inner workings of EARS using GPS and 3D thermomechanical modeling. They discovered that northward mantle flow driven by the African Superplume—a massive upwelling of molten rock that transports heat from the Earth’s core—is responsible for the atypical, rift-parallel deformations.

Daily Dot - ‘Like I’m just a child’: Server born in 2005 shares what it’s like when customers ask if she has kids - In an interview with CNN, Kelly Elizabeth Wright, an experimental sociolinguist and lexicographer at Virginia Tech, encouraged young women being called “ma’am”—or those asked similar age-related questions—to push back. “You can’t control how people see you, but you have a right to assert how you’d like to be seen,” Wright said. “The only way these things move forward is through constant reassertion.”

MSN Brazil - Cientistas classificam estes alimentos como drogas; veja a lista -  [Scientists classify these foods as drugs; see the list]  - [Google translation] Alexandra DiFeliceantoni, a health behavior researcher at Virginia Tech University, goes further and argues that the items mentioned cannot even be considered food: “These are products that were very well designed to provide addictive substances”, he said.

KCBS - Is Meta's Threads unraveling the twitterverse? -  Threads continues its quest to topple the twitterverse. They released a new IOS update this week and revealed a few bugs that could impact user privacy on the platform. For more, Liz Saint John spoke with Donna Wertalik, a Professor of Practice in Marketing for the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech and co-host of the podcast "Voices of Privacy". [clip]