Starting college is a big deal for students. It’s also a big deal for parents. When students move into a campus residence hall or apartment, it may be the first time that they have lived away from home.
Hammerhead worms are once again making their way to backyards across the United States. They were most recently spotted in Washington, D.C and Virginia but have been around for some time.
Virginia’s most infamous hitchhiker is on the move again: the spotted lanternfly. These insects colonize quickly, disrupt native ecosystems, and potentially cause problems to human health and agriculture. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have partnered to empower the citizens of the commonwealth to take action themselves on these most unwelcome visitors.
Pickled vegetables in a mason jar. Homemade salsa. Craft ketchup. Each summer, people use a variety of home food preservation methods to make their garden harvest last all year, and many of them involve acidifying food with vinegar. But with low-acidity vinegars becoming increasingly prevalent, consumers can’t just grab any bottle from the shelf.
How are humans motivated to do what we do? That’s the fundamental question driving neuroscientist Pearl Chiu. “On a neurobiological level, each of our brains is similarly composed. We share the same general structures and cell types — yet as people, we’re all so different,” said Chiu, who the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors recently promoted to full professor with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and the College of Science’s Department of Psychology.
Cranking summer fun up to 11 first requires sensible safeguards against summer hazards. Dr. Stephanie Lareau, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, shares 11 safety tips for keeping summer plans fun and safe.
Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film “Oppenheimer,” shattered expectations on opening weekend, bringing in $80.5 million. The biopic about the so-called “father of the atomic bomb," J. Robert Oppenheimer, science director of the Manhattan Project during World War II, was Nolan’s biggest non-Batman debut. But how accurate is the science and the history behind Oppenheimer’s (portrayed in the film by Cillian Murphy) life portrayed? Virginia Tech’s Kevin Pitts, a physicist and high-energy experimentalist who previously was chief research officer at the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, weighs in.
Patrick Ridge couldn’t help but fall in love with the game of soccer. He played the sport growing up, and he remained hooked by the game’s excitement when he attended matches and World Cup watch parties in Latin America and Spain while studying, teaching, and researching. “I saw the fervor,” said Ridge, now an associate professor of Spanish at Virginia Tech who studies soccer for a living.
Grocery shoppers may have recently noticed that strawberries seem to be closer to the size of small apples. According to one Virginia Tech expert there are reasons for this change and it doesn’t include injecting them with chemicals to get the larger than life fruit. Jayesh Samtani, a small fruit expert at Virginia Tech, researches how to optimize berry production and determine the kinds that grow best in certain regions.
Peanut butter and jelly. Fireworks and the Fourth of July. A juicy burger and a crisp German lager. Some things just go together. With the recent rise of craft beer in the U.S., Americans now have more beer choices than ever before. While it’s tempting to serve your favorite adult beverage with every dish, pairing the right beer style with your dish of choice can elevate your Independence Day meal.
Ahead of the July 4th holiday, Virginia Tech experts can speak on a variety of topics, including food & beer pairings for cookouts, pets & fireworks safety, grilling safety tips, and more. To schedule an interview, please contact the media relations office at [email protected]. Safeguarding pets on the 4th of July Summer heat and holiday travel can always be dangerous for pets, and so can the noise of fireworks.
While summer is a time for fun in the sun, we often hear of parents expressing their concern about the “summer slide.” It’s when the loss of learning opportunities during the break lead to regression in reading and math. Some studies suggest up to a month of learning is lost over the summer, but according to Tonya Price, a 4-H youth development extension specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension, there are many things that can be done to keep children learning and engaged while out of the classroom.
The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season was among the most damaging and deadly in modern history, but that isn’t necessarily an indicator for 2023. According to Virginia Tech meteorologist Stephanie Zick most seasonal forecasts are predicting a near average season, which goes from June 1 to November 30. NOAA’s outlook predicts a 40% chance of a near-normal season, with numbers similar to last year.
Philadelphia work commuters and vacationers heading to the City of Brotherly Love or the Jersey shore are nearly a week into grappling with and sitting in stand-still traffic after a tanker truck fire collapsed part of a I-95 bridge in the northern part of the city. The fire also heavily damaged the southbound lane of I-95. How all this stress and time-waste affects commuters and their workday performance and/or their behavior at home after the commute is part of larger phenomenon that psychologists call “commuting spillover.
The weather is warming up which means it's time to watch out for ticks. One way to protect yourself from tick-borne illnesses is to rethink landscaping choices, from the municipal level down to individual yards, according to a Virginia Tech medical geography expert who studies how Lyme cases are associated with certain land cover characteristics and configurations.
Bees serve an important role in pollinating our gardens. However, homeowners looking to venture into beekeeping have a lot to think about long before any potential honey harvest. James M. Wilson, beekeeping expert for Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension, has plenty of tips to offer about starting up and tending to a personal beehive.
A new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows that the world’s average temperature could breach a record 1.5 Celsius of warming compared to pre-Industrial Revolution levels. News reports call the WMO announcement a critical warning of an average world temperature limit in the face of climate. Researchers indicate the threshold could be broken as early as 2027.
What is a “brain freeze,” and how can we enjoy a refreshingly cold treat this summer without having to endure one? Virginia Tech neuroscientist Kristofer Rau explains the science beyond these quick-onset headaches and how to avoid them — or at least make them go away faster.
SNAP serves as the nation’s and the state’s largest line of defense against hunger and food insecurity. SNAP, formerly called food stamps, provides cash benefits to purchase food to eligible individuals with low incomes. Elena Serrano, director of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Family Nutrition Program, says, “Ending the enhanced benefits will affect households who have the most to lose, those households that qualified for maximum benefits, who will lose an added $95 per month in benefits. On average SNAP participants will lose $82 per month.”
By the end of March, Netflix plans to crack down on password sharing for U.S. subscribers. This announcement has been met by surprise, outrage, and confusion as consumers ponder how their Netflix accounts will be affected. Jadrian Wooten, a professor of economics at Virginia Tech, provides his perspective on the issue.
New legislation which takes effect September 21, 2018 will allow consumers to freeze their credit at no cost. From a financial perspective, there’s no reason not to do this, according to Virginia Tech's Travis Mountain.
Virginia Tech expert says the danger at Oroville Dam in California is confined to the spillway. While forecasters expect additional storms into next week, damage to the dam itself is highly unlikely.
A team of engineers and chemists at Virginia Tech is producing flexible solar panels that can become part of window shades or wallpaper that will capture light from the sun as well as light from sources inside buildings.
Veterinarians at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech remind us loud noises, whether from fireworks, gunshots, or thunderstorms can cause a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety for dogs.
Alireza Haghighat, a professor with the Nuclear Engineering Program at Virginia Tech, discussed research related to the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex with scientists in Japan.
Virginia Tech Unmanned Aircraft System researchers will be available for interviews May 12 through May 15 at the 2014 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International conference in Orlando.
One of the founders of the landmark early childhood intervention known as Carolina Abecedarian Project lauds the new insights that the project continues to produce.
Neuroscientist William “Jamie” Tyler uses boxing as an example for how the brain is affected by mechanical impulses — such as a blow to the head — in a cover story this week in The New Scientist. While brain cells communicate along electrical and biochemical pathways, Tyler points out neurons have mechanical clockwork, too.
As the world awaits white smoke from the Sistine Chapel roof -- the signal that a new pope has been elected -- Virginia Tech historian Frederic Baumgartner speculates about what will happen next.
Coastal Ecologist Jim Fraser is available to provide a scientifically informed response to how to manage damage at the North Carolina Outer Banks following Hurricane Irene.
Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech are using high-performance computer simulations to show how diseases like flu spread through large populations. They want to provide policymakers, decision-makers, and public health experts with a way to test health interventions that would help to put the brakes on the spread of a deadly influenza outbreak.
A virologist currently investigating transmission of swine viruses between species and a virologist who has developed a novel vaccine technology, which has broad applicability to almost all viruses, are available to respond to media queries related to Swine flu and related issues.
Charles E. Walcott, Virginia Tech professor of political science, can provide background on the presidential transition process, presidential appointments, George W. Bush's legacy, and the organization and operation of the presidency.
The financial system rescue package necessary; but think twice about politicians running the auto industry. "There are a number of significant misconceptions about the economic crisis," said George Morgan, the SunTrust Professor of Finance in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech.
Commercial fishing has by far the highest fatality rate among all occupations in the U.S, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Saving lives and ships by improving the stability and safety of sea-going vessels is the goal of an engineering researcher who has won two highly competitive grants to support her research.
"This is a glorious day for Fidel Castro," said Virginia Tech political science Professor Ilja Luciak regarding the Cuban leader's announcement today that he would not return as president or commander in chief. "He chose to step down on his own terms, ensuring orderly transition and confounding his enemies, who have been waiting to oust him for more that 50 years.