March 2024 Media Highlights

NPR -  A stingray named Charlotte got pregnant - exactly how remains a mystery - "It's very unlikely [the ray and a shark] could have hybridized," says Warren Booth an associate professor of entomology at Virginia Tech. He's a go-to DNA tester to solve cases like Charlotte's. "Even though they're both Elasmobranchs, I think they're so genetically distant that that is not considered possible."

NPR / Marketplace -  A look at news deserts across the United States - A conversation with a man in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley who had to pull the plug on the local newspaper he published for years who now gets by by printing mainly college newspapers. “UVA's printed here, Virginia Tech's printed here, VCU.s printed here. They're all printed here.” That's Keith Stickley owner of Shenandoah Publications in Edinburg, Virginia.

Associated Press - Trillions of gallons leak from aging drinking water systems, further stressing shrinking US cities [Carried by Washington Post and many others] In the Detroit enclave of Highland Park, where the population halved in the past 20 years, an estimated 70% of the water is lost from pipes up to 120 years old. Several Chicago suburbs likely are losing more than 40% of water. And some Georgia systems are losing more than 80% of their treated drinking water, said Sunil Sinha, a water researcher at Virginia Tech.

Associated Press - The big crunch: For 2020 U.S. Democrats, March is key in delegate race - "Starting with Super Tuesday, we shift from the momentum race to the delegate race," Virginia Tech political scientist Caitlin Jewitt said in an email. She said during the next month, "if Sanders can rapidly amass delegates and expand his delegate lead, it is more likely that his competitors will begin to see his nomination as inevitable and withdraw from the race."

CNN -  CNN Poll of Polls shows close Biden/Trump matchup (requires Virginia Tech login)  - Caitlin Jewitt: “I think that having a candidate that is not Biden nominated at the convention, when no other candidate participated in the primaries, or at least not a candidate that got any significant support, would be a mistake, because it would be a move away from democratic values, and the will of the people, and that's particularly concerning in the time we are now, where democracy is in a fragile state.”

USA Today -  In the face of rejection, cancer and her child's illness, Hoda Kotb clung to hope - While a student at Virginia Tech in the '80s, Hoda Kotb had her heart set on breaking into broadcast journalism. But a professor told her quite frankly she didn’t have the look and should pivot to public relations. It’s a story Kotb tells between tapings of NBC’s “Today” and “Today with Today & Jenna.”

Vox - Can you change what you crave? - With food, says Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, a nutritional neuroscientist at Virginia Tech, you could seek out a particular food because of conscious choice. “I think I’m going to want this because I’m trying to eat healthy,” she says as an example. Or we can like the flavor, texture, or memory the food conjures.

BBC - 'Motonormativity': The bias that leads to dangerous driving - "What needs to happen to really bring down speeds more ubiquitously is better road design for reducing speeds in the first place," says Charlie Klauer, who researches driving behaviour at Virginia Tech, a university in Blacksburg, US. The phrase "speed kills" is undeniably true: each 1% increase in average speed raises the risk of a fatal crash by 4%, according to the World Health Organization.

Al Jazeera - What is Super Tuesday and why is it important? All you need to know - “Because there are so many states holding contests simultaneously, candidates need to be really well funded, well organised and have good name recognition to do well across the board on Super Tuesday,” Caitlin Jewitt, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Tech, told Al Jazeera.

Scripps News - Nikki Haley calls it quits - Transcript: Caitlin Jewitt is a political science professor at Virginia Tech specializing in campaigns, elections and political parties.

Evening Standard - When is Super Tuesday 2024 and what does it mean for Biden and Trump? Caitlin Jewitt, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Tech, said: “Because there are so many states holding contests simultaneously, candidates need to be really well funded, well organised, and have good name recognition to do well across the board on Super Tuesday.”

Voice of America - Trump Nears Crucial Delegate Numbers Ahead of Super Tuesday - Caitlin E. Jewitt, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Tech, told VOA that the 2024 presidential primaries have been remarkably uncompetitive. While incumbent presidents rarely face serious primary challenges, Trump’s position as the Republican Party’s most recent president and his continued hold over its base appear to be granting him similar advantages.

Sankei Newspaper (Japan) — U.S. Presidential Election Super Tuesday: Republican Haley likely to lose vote, focus on general election - Increasing support among independents is also a challenge for Democratic President Biden heading into the general election. Dr. Caitlin Jewitt, a political scientist at Virginia Tech University, points out, “There is no doubt that the general election will be a battle for Haley's votes.''

Daily Mail — Electric cars release MORE toxic emissions than gas-powered vehicles and are worse for the environment, resurfaced study warns - Electric cars release MORE toxic emissions than gas-powered vehicles and are worse for the environment, resurfaced study warns Hesham Rakha, a professor at Virginia Tech told Dailymail.com that the study is only 'partially correct' because even though EVs are heavier, their tires will emit more microplastics into the air, but this could also be true for sedans versus SUVs.

Popular Science - Too many screens? Why car safety experts want to bring back buttons - A 2017 report from the AAA Foundation claims drivers using infotainment systems to complete tasks like typing in navigation destinations or sending a text were visually and mentally distracted for around 40 seconds. That’s potentially a cause for concern, particularly in light of previous research from Virginia Tech which estimates drivers who look away from the road for more than two consecutive seconds are more than two times as likely to  get into a near-crash.

Mother Jones — Utility Fraud and Corruption Are Threatening the Clean Energy Transition - By the 1920s, according to Virginia Tech technology historian Richard Hirsh, the industry had grown effective at capturing and manipulating its regulators, leading to decisions that put the utilities’ bottom lines ahead of the public interest. And the majority of the industry’s assets were concentrated in the hands of a few highly leveraged holding companies.

Smithsonian — Interested in Using Museum Collections to Better Understand Freshwater Mussels? There’s Now an App for That - But few apps help researchers actively work together to save endangered species. To help fill this gap, John Pfeiffer, the curator of bivalves at the National Museum of Natural History, recently teamed up with Traci Dubose, a conservation biologist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Sean Keogh, an evolutionary ecologist at the Field Museum of Natural History.

Washington Post — Supreme Court declines to rule on bias-reporting program at Va. Tech - The Supreme Court has declined to review a defunct program at Virginia Tech that allowed students to anonymously report allegations of biased behavior, frustrating two of the most conservative justices.

NBC News — Supreme Court dodges dispute over ‘speech police’ on college campuses - The Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a challenge to college “bias response teams,” which critics say are a form of speech police that chill freedom of expression. The court said the dispute over the practice at Virginia Tech, whereby students could report incidents of alleged bias on campus, is moot, most likely because the policy has since been discontinued.

USA Today — Supreme Court declines to enter fray over 'bias-response teams' at college campuses - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal challenging a "bias-response team" at Virginia Tech, avoiding a roiling debate over campus speech that has pit First Amendment claims against efforts to foster inclusivity at American colleges.

Bloomberg Law — Challenge to Campus Speech Policy Denied by US Supreme Court - The US Supreme Court declined to review whether a defunct policy aimed at addressing free speech complaints at Virginia Tech actually chilled the First Amendment right. The justices on Monday said an appeal from right-leaning advocacy group Speech First, which has challenged anti-bias initiatives on the Blacksburg campus and at other universities, was moot.

NPR - Scientists studied how cicadas pee. Their insights could shed light on fluid dynamics - "Insects are just the perfect laboratory for exploring handling fluids at the micro-scale," says Anne Staples, a fluid dynamicist at Virginia Tech who studies the mechanics of insect respiration and wasn't involved in the research. "They fly through air, they drink water, they handle nectar. As this paper shows, they urinate — they excrete."

BBC - How much water should you drink a day? - Some studies suggest fluid consumption can help manage weight. Brenda Davy, a professor of human nutrition, food and exercise at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, has carried out a few studies looking at fluid consumption and weight.

BBC - Seven ways to improve your sleep according to science - This is the forgotten ancient practise of "two sleeps". It was rediscovered by Roger Ekirch, a university distinguished professor of history at Virginia Tech, Virginia, in the 1990s. He believes that an awareness of the habit's historical prevalence might help to reframe the experiences of those who suffer from insomnia today – and perhaps lessen their anxiety about waking up in the night. Read more about the lost ancient habit of "biphasic sleep" in this article by Zaria Gorvett.

Southern Living - The Differences Between Regional Southern Accents, According To A Linguist - Like many Southern states, Louisiana has many accent variations that derive from several influences. The more rural Cajun accent has a historical explanation, according to Katie Carmichael, Ph.D., an associate professor of English at Virginia Tech and an expert on the subject. “Cajun accents feature evidence of the French heritage in Louisiana. French was maintained longer in the rural areas of the state, since many residents of the bayous and prairies didn’t need to speak English for traditionally common occupations in these regions as trappers, trawlers, and farmers,” she says. “Many French pronunciations and words are still heard in these regions as a result.”

Today with Hoda & Jenna - TODAY fan plays pop culture trivia to win trip to Punta Cana - A student from Virginia Tech joins Hoda & Jenna to answer pop culture trivia questions in a game of Trip or Bust. See if they win a trip to Punta Cana!

Business Insider - Netflix's hit sci-fi series '3 Body Problem' is based on a real math problem that is so complex it's impossible to solve - (Picked up by Yahoo News) However, "throwing in a third body that's close enough to interact leads to chaos," Shane Ross, an aerospace and ocean engineering professor at Virginia Tech, told Business Insider. In fact, it's nearly impossible to precisely predict the orbital paths of any system with three bodies or more.

U.S. News & World Report - Survey Finds Americans Conflicted About Plant-Based Diets - “U.S. consumers have favorable perceptions of foods and beverages that support human and environmental health, but that’s not translating into what they’re purchasing and consuming,” said lead researcher Katherine Consavage Stanley, a doctoral student in human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

U.S. News & World Report - Why Are Eggs So Expensive Right Now? - The last several months have been especially bad, says Michael Persia, a professor and extension specialist of poultry nutrition at Virginia Tech. “In December of 2023 over 9 million laying hens and another 2 million pullets – young females before they reach adulthood – were lost to avian flu,” Persia says. “These numbers are not as bad as in 2022 but still represent a significant loss of egg production in the USA.”

The Atlantic - You Can’t Even Rescue a Dog Without Being Bullied Online - Some commenters may be acting out of genuine concern for animal welfare, but their moral case is limited. Research suggests that even temporarily putting a shelter dog in foster care improves their stress levels and sleep. “I highly doubt moving from a foster home to an adoptive home is anywhere as stressful as returning to and living in the shelter,” Lisa Gunter, a professor at Virginia Tech and one of the study’s authors, told me over email.

Matter of Fact With Soledad O'Brien - Sinking cities along Eastern U.S. Coastline - * (Carried on WNBC New York) Dozens of cities along the east coast are sinking at an alarming rate. Take a look at these satellite images from NASA. A team of researchers at Virginia Tech's Earth Observation and Innovation Lab studied the land between 2007 and 2020. They found the ground beneath New York City, Baltimore and Norfolk, Virginia, sank by an average of almost two millimeters each year.

Mother Jones - Sinking Shores and Rising Seas Will Inundate 24 US Coastal Cities - “One of the things we wanted to do with this study is really emphasize the impact of land subsidence, which is often not reflected in most of the discussion around sea level rise,” said Leonard Ohenhen, the lead author of the study and a graduate student at Virginia Tech’s Earth Observation and Innovation Lab.