Meta, the parent company of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, faces federal lawsuits from 42 states’ attorneys general asserting that the company intentionally crafted features to make children and teens become addicted to their products. Virginia Tech experts Mike Horning and Donna Wertalik offer their perspectives on what the lawsuits mean for social media companies and users.
Virginia Tech has a number of experts available to speak on topics surrounding the election including Virginia legislative races, issues such as abortion and education rights, campaign finance, and more. To schedule an interview, please contact [email protected]. Topics: Virginia legislative races, effects of redistricting, campaign spending, reproductive rights, public education, possible implications of state legislative results for policy/emphases in Virginia, what results tell us about the 2024 presidential race.
As clocks “fall back” and daylight saving time ends, many Americans will be driving longer at night which could translate to more driver fatigue and hazards on the road, says Virginia Tech Transportation Institute expert Matt Camden. Camden says that any time change can exacerbate drowsiness and your body may need a few days to adjust accordingly.
Every year, millions of kids go to houses for ubiquitous trick-or-treating. To ensure what’s put into each trick-or-treater’s bag is a safe treat when eaten, Alexis Hamilton, an assistant professor of food processing microbiology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Department of Food Science and Technology, has some tips and tricks.
There are few things tastier than the crisp bite of a cold IPA…for now. A recent study published in the journal Nature Communications found the changing global climate may be affecting the flavor and cost of beer. A warmer and drier climate is expected to lower the yield of hops — the aromatic flowers of the Humulus lupulus plant that give beer its signature bitter flavor — in Europe up to 18 percent by 2050.
With summerlike temperatures on their way out and cooler temperatures moving in, homeowners may start to see more uninvited guests inside, particularly the brown marmorated stink bug. Virginia Tech experts say not only are these bugs a nuisance, they also pose an economic threat to farmers. But, there are some positives to having them around as well.
This Halloween is expected to look a lot like Barbie’s Dreamland. The widely successful summer film’s stars Barbie and Ken have found their way onto the top Halloween costume lists for this year.
Virginia Tech has several experts available to speak on various topics surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict. Israeli politics and foreign policy Joel Peters is a professor of government and international affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech located in the Washington, D.C., metro area. His research interests and publications cover Israeli politics and foreign policy, the Arab-Israeli peace process, regional cooperation in the Middle East and Europe’s relations in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
With autumn in full swing, pumpkins are flying off store shelves and into homes for carving. Those who are putting jack-o-lanterns out for display may be wondering how to preserve their pumpkins as long as possible. “Pumpkins are very sensitive to temps below 45 degrees Fahrenheit,” said Virginia Cooperative Extension horticulture expert Ashley Edwards.
October is peak season for admiring fall foliage and soon those leaves will begin to fall, if they haven’t already done so. Before you start to clean them up, Virginia Tech turf experts suggest that you try a different approach instead of bagging and tossing.
The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is underway in New York. Some are calling his crimes one of the biggest financial frauds in decades. The 31-year-old former crypto mogul is charged with orchestrating a conspiracy to use $10 billion that FTX’s customers had entrusted to him for venture capital investments, political donations and luxury real estate purchases.
Taylor Swift’s Swifties and professional football fanatics typically do not rub elbows. But in the past two weeks, they’ve been finding some common ground. When the pop superstar attended a Sunday night prime time NFL match-up between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets, her appearance set in motion a frenzy of attention and situated the league in front of a new fan base.
As Netflix prepares to release a new streaming miniseries, "The Fall of the House of Usher," Ashley Reed, an associate professor of English at Virginia Tech, discusses author Edgar Allan Poe’s legacy and the evolving impacts of his work on literature and film.
The “Barbie” buzz continues, even months after the blockbuster movie’s release. The box office record-breaking film now is available to rent or buy through various video on demand platforms, including Prime Video and Apple TV.
Bulldogs, pugs, and boston terriers all have one thing in common - their short snouts, and experts say as climate change worsens, they are going to suffer.
The first big tech trial in decades is underway as the Department of Justice takes Google to court, arguing it abused power as a monopoly to dominate the search engine business. According to Virginia Tech expert James Ivory, the case hinges on claims that Google illegally orchestrated business dealings so that its search engine would be people’s first option on their devices.
The acclaimed documentary “King Coal” mediates on the legacy of coal mining, exploring its influence on tradition and culture, and examining its impact on health and the environment.
James Ivory, a Virginia Tech media technology expert, answers questions about the consequences of the ongoing strike for viewers, producers, actors and writers — and for those who appear to defy the strikes.
With autumn set to start Sept. 23, leaf peepers won’t have long to wait for forest leaves to turn and produce spectacular color displays. The vistas to be found in Southwest Virginia are just about guaranteed to be jaw-dropping regardless of the upcoming weather.
A late summer increase in COVID-19-related hospitalizations and the emergence of new coronavirus variants raises concerns about how best to counter infection and who should receive the newly-approved vaccines.
Wildfires in Hawaii have devastated the island of Maui and leveled the historic town of Lahaina. As federal and local authorities investigate the causes of the disaster, questions have arisen about the effectiveness of government responses to the crisis.
Thousands of people are dead and at least 10,000 missing after devastating flooding in Libya. The Mediterranean storm brought heavy rains to the northeastern part of the country, already crumbling from more than a decade of conflict. “Although Storm Daniel caused the devastating flood, a combination of factors exacerbated the nation's vulnerability to natural hazards, resulting in enormous casualties,” says Virginia Tech geophysicist Manoochehr Shirzaei.
Wildfires in Hawaii have devastated the island of Maui. Canada continues to experience its worst ever wildfire season, with more than 1,000 active fires. Brian Lattimer, Director of Virginia Tech’s Extreme Environments and Materials Lab, explains what the Maui and Canadian wildfires have in common.
For the first time in United States history, a former president has their mug shot taken and released to the public in connection to criminal charges. Donald Trump surrendered at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia last night and was booked on felony charges alleging he participated in a criminal conspiracy to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.
The March on Washington brought a quarter of a million people to our nation’s capital six decades ago to protest rampant discrimination and peacefully demand equal rights for Black citizens.
One Virginia Tech researcher wants to spread awareness about the science of breastfeeding, particularly for pregnant women with opioid use disorder and their advocates.
Tropical Storm Hilary packed a punch but wasn’t nearly as devastating as it could have been. Meanwhile Tropical Storm Franklin is battering the Caribbean. As we enter the height of hurricane season, Virginia Tech has a team of coastal experts available who can provide insight about hurricanes, flash flooding, storm surge, sea-level rise and emergency response.
The start of a new school year can be exciting, but for some students it comes with fear and anxiety - especially for those who are victims of bullying. According to Virginia Tech psychologist Rosanna Breaux, about 1 in 4 children experience bullying in elementary school. “The hurtful behavior can happen in a variety of ways - physical, verbal, or social,” says Breaux.
Bewildering as the premature arrival of Halloween merchandise might seem, the impetus for retailers to get the jump on a holiday can be readily explained as simple economic behavior. Jadrian Wooten, a Virginia Tech professor of economics, explained what drives these early holiday displays.
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.
Hundreds of people are still missing and rubble scorched ground is all that is left after wildfires decimated parts of Maui. Lahaina is facing years of rebuilding, as very little is left of the tourist town. Liesel Ritchie is a disaster resilience expert and associate director of the Center for Coastal Studies at Virginia Tech.
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.
There’s more to back-to-school season than snagging the latest notebooks, bookbags, and trendy jackets and jeans. A new routine, new teachers, and new schools signal a big adjustment period for some students. “Anxiety can be associated with the unknown, such as what will the teacher this year be like, what friends will be in my class, where will my classroom be, and likely other worries can pop into children’s minds,” said Cindy Smith, director of the Children’s Emotions Lab at Virginia Tech and an expert in child emotional development, parent-child interaction, and parenting behaviors.
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.
Singer Tony Bennett, dead at age 96, left behind a mountain of musical achievements over a career that spanned eight decades. Singer and Virginia Tech voice expert Ariana Wyatt expounds on Bennett’s many contributions to music and society.
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.
Extreme heat is now plaguing parts of the U.S., Europe, and Asia. A Virginia Tech expert explains what is making this one of the hottest summers on record.
Hollywood actors and writers are standing side by side on the picket line for the first time in more than 60 years. Future blockbusters such as the next “Mission: Impossible” and “Deadpool” movies and the fifth season of “Stranger Things” have stopped production. “More than 11,000 writers were involved in the Writers Guild of America strike.
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.
New users signing up for Threads, Meta’s response to Twitter, should be aware of the app’s data collection capabilities, says a Virginia Tech privacy expert. “Threads collects user data across 25 different categories, surpassing Twitter’s data collection capabilities,” says Donna Wertalik, a professor of practice in marketing for the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech and Voices of Privacy co-host.
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