Kelsy Burke, sociology, was interviewed for a Feb. 3 NPR article on the popularity of online masturbation abstinence groups. She said once someone is in these spaces online, it’s a short leap from self-help to more extreme, misogynist messages. “Undergirding arguments about porn addiction is that the sex industry, which is made of mostly, you know, women who are sex workers, that they are the source of temptation and that they are, frankly, ruining men’s lives,” she said.
Jay Storz, biological sciences, discovered in 2019 that the yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse is the world’s highest-dwelling mammal. The discovery was highlighted in a Feb. 6 Discover roundup of the six highest-dwelling animals on Earth.
Tim Gay, physics, was featured on a Feb. 7 episode of NPR’s “Short Wave” podcast that delved into a longtime mystery of football physics he helped explain: On a deep, well-thrown pass, why does the front tip of a football follow the ball’s trajectory, so that it points upward when launched but downward by the time it reaches a receiver? Gay and colleagues found that the answer lies in the combination of air resistance and the gyroscope effect.
Peter J. Capuano, English, was interviewed for a Feb. 8 USA Today article on the resurgence in popularity of “Frankenstein” movies, this time with women as the focus. The 19th-century Mary Shelley novel has been interpreted in recent years as “a dire warning about the dangers of scientific hubris” in regard to nanotech, synthetic biology and especially artificial intelligence, he said.
A first-of-its-kind study from Liang Chen, Earth and atmospheric sciences, has projected decreases in both severe wind and extreme snowfall — the two elements that team up to produce blizzards. Stories on the research appeared in KGFW, KNOP, KOLN/KGIN, Rural Radio Network, the Des Moines Register, Newsweek and PreventionWeb.
New research from a large survey study, co-authored by Husker political scientists Kevin Smith, Kyle Hull and Clarisse Warren, demonstrates the willingness of people to bend their morals — even behave unethically — when engaging in the political realm. Results also suggest that hostility toward outgroups is the driving factor for the moral ambiguity exercised when respondents switch from the personal to the political arena. The research was featured in a Feb. 21 Fast Company article.
