December 2024 Media Highlights

Focus (Germany) - He now wants to control time : Musk and Ramaswamy demand abolition of watch change - Google translation: While some members of the new Trump administration, such as Senator Marco Rubio, support the abolition of the time change, there are also critical voices. Dr. Jadrian Wooten of Virginia Tech says, according to CNN, the argument reflects only different preferences of morning and night people. Nevertheless, experts argue that the permanent standard time fits better with natural zircadian rhythms and offers health benefits.

CNN - Musk and Ramaswamy suggest ending time changes, reviving an effort that has failed in the past - “I think this is really an argument between morning people and nighttime people,” said Dr. Jadrian Wooten, a collegiate associate professor at Virginia Tech’s Department of Economics who has studied the risk and benefits of Daylight Saving Time.

Washington Post - Tsunami researchers hunt for clues about the next big Pacific Northwest quake - To a layperson, these cores would be an unintelligible tube of waterlogged sediment. But to Virginia Tech paleoseismologist Tina Dura, they were part mystery, part puzzle, part history book.

Forbes - Gratitude Powers Leadership and Supports Purpose & Values: Here Is How - [op-ed] “As the year winds down, many leaders reflect on their successes, failures, wins, and losses. As you ponder your year's experiences and outcomes, remember to express gratitude for the opportunities that came your way and for the people who supported you and your efforts.” Kathy Miller Perkins … is a Professor of Practice at Virginia Tech’s Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability, where she teaches masters-level courses on leadership and communications for sustainability.

People - 19 Species Named After Your Favorite Celebrities (Including Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and More!) - "Her music helped me get through the highs and lows of graduate school, so naming a new millipede species after her is my way of saying thanks," Virginia Tech entomologist Derek Hennen said in a statement.

Inside Higher Education - Academic Probation Gets a Rebrand - Virginia Tech offers a one-credit course, LAHS 1014: Academic Success Through Personal Investment and Responsibility, which helps students identify their motivations, goals and what success means to them to help them develop and apply college-level skills and utilize campus resources. Learners also meet regularly with an adviser and jointly create an academic success agreement.

Economic Times - Southeast Atlantic Coast Faces Major Climate Risks: $1 Trillion in Property Could Be Lost, 14 Million Americans at Risk - The researchers stress that robust adaptation strategies are needed to protect communities from the combined effects of rising sea levels, groundwater flooding, and land sinking. Experts like Manoochehr Shirzaei from Virginia Tech University suggest that cities and coastal regions should rethink how they plan and build infrastructure to withstand these compounded climate challenges. This study also shows that there is a need to include more climate hazards in resilience strategies to protect these high-risk coastal communities.

Associated Press (also MSN) - Nvidia’s stock dips after China opens probe of the AI chip company for violating anti-monopoly laws - David Bieri, an international finance expert at Virginia Tech, said that China’s investigation is “not about what Nvidia is doing in China, per se” but rather a signal to the incoming Trump administration. China, Bieri said, is looking to set the tone of future relations.

The Hill - AT&T to ditch old copper phone lines for most: How will you be impacted? - Landline phones work by sending your voice as sound waves into a metal disk, which then turns those waves into electrical energy, a handout from the Virginia Cooperative Extension explains. The energy then travels via a wire, like copper lines, before being converted back into sound waves for the receiving phone.

LiveNOW Fox - Hegseth on Capitol Hill to secure Pentagon spot - Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, is ramping up his pitch to lead the Pentagon with back-to-back meetings on Capitol Hill. Since his nomination, Hegseth has been meeting privately with senators in Washington, D.C., in an effort to earn their support ahead of his confirmation hearing next year. Hegseth was back on the Hill for a second day on Wednesday, meeting first with incoming Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is set to be the Armed Services Committee chair, ahead of a crucial meeting with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. Cayce Myers with Virginia Tech joined LiveNOW from FOX to discuss.

Estadao (also La Presse Canadienne) - EUA ainda não terão sua primeira presidente mulher; quais países já tiveram? - Google translate: “There are these gender stereotypes that still persist, where it is proven that a woman needs to prove that she is strong, especially the Commander-Chef of the United States, which politically is one of the two most important countries in the world,” Farida Jalalzai agrees. Jalalzai, professor in the Department of Political Science at Virginia Tech University.

New York Times - Many Videos That Purport to Show Drones in New Jersey Likely Show Planes, Visual Analysis Shows - Determining the direction of a flying object at night is also extremely difficult. The human eye has a harder time comparing the object to reference points, like the horizon or tree lines, at night than it does when it's light out. "If you do not have something to compare against, you personally can't tell it's moving," said Tombo Jones, director of the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership's drone test site. Objects that seem to be hovering in place nearby might, in fact, be quite far away and moving very quickly. 

NPR - Julia Gohlke on the effects flooding has on pregnancy - Transcription: “This nine month window of the very start of your life is really dynamic and susceptible to external perturbations and can have lifelong consequences,” said Julia Gohlke.

NPR - The Cambrian Explosion - When discussing the research by Ben Gill the hosts said: "If you look at the basic architecture of animals, the Cambrian explosion is the most exciting event because that's when all the fundamental architectures of animals appeared. In later times, like the Mesozoic dinosaur era, for example, there were many more species, but we still see the same number of basic animal architectures. So, in that sense, the Cambrian explosion is the most exciting event."

Associated Press (Picked up by ABC News and many more) - American chestnuts are part of Yuletide lore. But in the US, they’ve nearly been wiped out - Still, American chestnut trees are better suited for timber, they’re culturally loved by people all over North America and they used to be an important species for the ecological health of forests, providing a reliable source of nutritious food and shelter for wildlife and humans alike. “It was really a pretty significant species to lose,” said Amy Brunner, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who works on the tree’s genetics. “The more diversity you lose, the less resilient that forest ecosystem is.”

Associated Press (also NPR, ABC News, Epoch Times) - About 3 dozen high-rise buildings in South Florida are sinking - A separate study earlier this year showed buildings in major cities along the Atlantic Coast were sinking. The research from Virginia Tech and the U.S. Geological Survey showed that areas of New York City, Long Island, Baltimore and Virginia Beach were sinking more than the rate of seawater rise.

BBC News (also El País) - Science In Action, Sun Grazing - Microfossil hunter Shuhai Xiao, from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, has been compiling a single statistical database to better understand evolution during the so-called ‘boring billion’, why subsequent changes on the planet triggered a new diversity of species to emerge, and how the interplay between biology and geology has paved the way for modern life as we know it.

Forbes - New Study Charts 2 Billion Years Of Life's Diversity - “This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of this period to date. And more importantly, we’ve used a graphic correlation program that allowed us to achieve greater temporal resolution,” explains Virginia Tech geobiologist Shuhai Xiao, coauthor of the study.

NPR - Shuhai Xiao on fossils - YUNG: OK, that is Shuhai Xiao, a geologist from Virginia Tech. He's tried to find and study new fossils from this period, and now he's trying to make sense of it all and draw lessons about how biodiversity has changed throughout Earth's history, including in that early period.

Forbes - Young Mako Shark Travels 750 Miles, Offering Hope For Conservation Efforts - The tagging was part of the White Shark Chase initiative, spearheaded by Francesco Ferretti, Virginia Tech assistant professor in the College of Natural Resources and Environment. The team’s focus had been white sharks, but the young mako was encountered unexpectedly during a summer 2023 research expedition, and the team decided to seize the rare opportunity. “During that research trip, we encountered a young shortfin mako shark by happenstance,” explained Brendan Shea, a Ph.D. student involved in the expedition. “We placed an electronic tag on it, which provides valuable information about its movements, helping us understand how to better conserve the population.”

The Weather Channel - Kevin Kochersberger on surveying flood damage - When asked how his team was able to assess the Hurricane Helene damage, Kochersberger said: “We’ve worked with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality before, using our drones to image areas hit by floods back in 2021. This larger-scale disaster required larger airplanes. Since I’m a glider pilot and a powered pilot, I had a friend who owned a motor glider, and we were able to mount a Go-pro Hero 9 on it. With that setup, we captured imagery covering about 77 square miles in the southwest Virginia area.”

NPR - Nikki Giovanni Transcription: “There are things that they are afraid of, so coming into my classroom, I'm going to share it with you, and if you don't want to hear it, the door that was open when you came in is open for you to go out. That's the truth, but we have to look ahead because the future belongs to the youngsters” said Nikki Giovanni.

Washington Post - From Ali to Kaepernick, Nikki Giovanni understood the power of sport - Giovanni, the National Book Award finalist and Grammy-nominated poet, died Monday at 81. She was in Blacksburg, Virginia, where she taught at Virginia Tech for 35 years before she retired in 2022.

Los Angeles Times - Appreciation: Nikki Giovanni made me a poet. Listen, and she'll still make you one to - On that day, I followed Nikki’s careful instructions to type and collate the lines of poetry I’d scrawled in composition books and notepads for years and leave the rest to her. Less than three months later, I confronted my fear of my artistic shortcomings and chose faith in what I could accomplish outside that Atlanta newsroom, enrolling in the nascent MFA program at Virginia Tech, where Nikki — always, she insisted, just Nikki — was a distinguished creative writing professor for more than three decades.

Atlantic - What Nikki Giovanni Wouldn’t Write About - Though Fowler always served as Giovanni’s digital intermediary, the poet never felt distant to me. I remember that speaking with her was easy, as if we were longtime friends. She never made me feel that I should have been honored or cowed because I was working with one of the most highly acclaimed poets in the United States. Instead, she politely accepted my edits and suggestions. She even thanked me for asking her to write. I can only imagine how gracious she was to the hundreds of students in her classes at Virginia Tech, where Giovanni taught until 2022.

NPR - Remembering the actors, musicians, writers and artists we lost in 2024 - Over a celebrated literary career that started in 1968 with her first published poetry collection, [Nikki] Giovanni wrote prolifically about Black pride and power, and about love and the sensual pleasures of everyday life. The longtime Virginia Tech professor authored more than 30 books, including many for children, racked up dozens of honorary degrees, and was the sort of celebrity poet who drew thousands of fans to her readings.

Business Insider - The 11 best litter box furniture enclosures of 2024 If you're looking to gain extra space with your litter box enclosure, the Tucker and Murphy Laskie may be a good option. The steps that take your cat to an elevated lounging area double as roomy drawers to stash cleaning tools or anything else you want to keep handy. It has two entrances, both 7.75-inch squares. This is good for your cat because two exit points can help keep your cat from feeling trapped in the confined space and offer a quick escape if they're being ambushed by another furry family member, says Dr. Mark Freeman, a veterinarian and assistant professor of community practice at the Virginia Tech Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

The 19th - What happens when climate denialism and misogyny intersect? Enter: ‘petro-masculinity’ - Cara Daggett, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Tech University, coined the term “petro-masculinty” in a paper she published in 2018. She used the term to describe the rise of authoritarian movements in the Western hemisphere and how they were being shaped by climate change denialism and misogyny in an appeal to men who felt they were being left behind by society. 

MSN - The 30 most surprising fossil finds in recent years - Also named in 2022 was the oldest known dinosaur to have ever been discovered in Africa, the Mbiresaurus raathi. First found by a Virginia Tech graduate student and other palaeontologists over the course of two digs in 2017 and 2019, the new dino’s mostly intact skeleton identified it as a sauropod. Estimated to be around six feet (1.8m) long and possibly weighing up to 65lbs (29kg), the dinosaur was found in the Zambezi Valley and is thought to have existed some 230 million years ago.

Associated Press (also ABC News, AOL, Breitbart, U.S. News & World Report, LA Times) - In 2024, artificial intelligence was all about putting AI tools to work - Musicians and authors have voiced similar concerns over AI scraping their voices and books. But generative AI still can't create unique work or “completely new things,” said Walid Saad, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and AI expert at Virginia Tech.

CNN - The US still has not had a woman leader – here are the countries that have - “We know that there is some sort of power to seeing people like you represented. That matters,” said Farida Jalalzai, associate dean for global initiatives and engagement and professor of political science at Virginia Tech, in an interview with CNN prior to the US election. “You see more examples of diverse people in these roles, whether they’re nominees, whether they’re presidents, whether they’re prime ministers, and it breaks down conceptions of what we think those leaders should look like.”

Forbes - Virginia Tech Researcher Says More Commercial Drone Detection Needed - Tombo Jones is the director of Virginia Tech's Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP). MAAP accelerates the unmanned aircraft industry by connecting industry problems with solutions from innovative research. It is one of only seven FAA-designated UAS test sites.

USA Today (also Detroit Free Press) - Scammers now can use voice-cloning AI to impersonate us or others and steal money - "We can expect a significant uptick in AI-powered fraudulent activities by 2025," said Katalin Parti, an associate professor of sociology and a cyber crime expert at Virginia Tech.

Wall Street Journal - How Scammers Are Using AI This Holiday Season to Steal Your Money - Fraudsters are deploying AI to more efficiently perform a variety of tasks, according to Katalin Parti, a cybercrime researcher at Virginia Tech. That includes blasting out text messages to bait victims and writing programming to test huge volumes of stolen credit card information, she said.

National Geographic - How sugar and fat affect your brain - When we eat fat and sugar, sensors in the mouth send a message to release dopamine in the striatum, a section of the brain associated with movement and rewarding behavior. But that oral sensory process is only part of the story, says Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. There’s also a secondary sensor in the gut that registers fat and sugar, signaling the brain to release dopamine in the same region.

The Cool Down - Scientists develop groundbreaking process to transform trash into hand soap — here's how it could solve a growing crisis - A professor at Virginia Tech's Department of Chemistry is exploring a process that can turn plastics into soaps, detergents, lubricants, and other products to reduce environmental waste.

MadameNoire - This Super Annoying Way Of Getting Fired Is On The Rise - PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans) pose a significant risk to African American employees, as they are terminated at nearly twice the rate of their white counterparts, according to a study by Virginia Tech. 

Medium - Dr Kimberly Horn On Raising Children Who Are Mentally & Emotionally Healthy - An esteemed professor and research psychologist, Dr. Kimberly Horn has worked with top-tier academic institutions, including West Virginia University, The George Washington University, and Virginia Tech. Devoting her career to helping others lead healthier, happier, and more connected lives, she has conducted nearly three decades of health behavior research with an extensive publication record. Her contributions have garnered recognition and accolades on a global scale.

Foreign Policy - Iraq's Long-Awaited Census Reveals a Demographic Gift - By Ariel I. Ahram, a professor and chair of the government and international affairs program at Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs.

South China Morning Post - How friendly will Europe’s right wing be to Trump on China? It’s complicated - Dimitris Tsarouhas, research director at Virginia Tech's Centre for European Union and Transatlantic Studies, said that compared with Meloni, Orban - who has maintained close connections with Trump since his first term - was more a "privileged partner".