In The Media
Newsweek
April 30, 2024
Study explores growing use of they/them pronouns
Jennifer E. Arnold, a professor in the UNC-Chapel Hill psychology and neuroscience department, explains how the use of “they” as a singular pronoun has been around since the Middle Ages. Newsweek
AP
April 30, 2024
Political campaigns focus on North Carolina as a critical battleground
Jason Roberts, professor in the UNC-Chapel Hill political science department, discusses the importance for political campaigns to win North Carolina in the upcoming election. AP
The Wall Street Journal
April 29, 2024
U.S. Fertility Rate Falls to Record Low
American women are giving birth at record-low rates. … “People are making rather reasoned decisions about whether or not to have a child at all,” said Karen Benjamin Guzzo, a sociologist and director of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at … Read more
Science Daily
April 25, 2024
‘Sunny day flooding’ increases fecal contamination of coastal waters
A new study finds that ‘sunny day flooding,’ which occurs during high tides, increases the levels of fecal bacteria in coastal waters. While the elevated bacteria levels in the coastal waters tend to dissipate quickly, the findings suggest policymakers and public health officials should be … Read more
Rolling Stone
April 25, 2024
Opioids came for country music. It’s fighting back
Today, drug overdoses kill more than 100,000 people annually in this country, with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, touted as the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 18 to 45. Those figures led Elvie Shane to come clean about his drug abuse … Read more
Science Daily
April 25, 2024
Shoreline model predicts long-term future of storm protection and sea-level rise
Researchers have created a coastal evolution model to analyze how coastal management activities on barrier islands, meant to adapt to sea-level rise, can disrupt natural processes that are keeping the barrier islands above water. Replenishing beaches and clearing over-washed roads may not be the best … Read more
Popular Science
April 25, 2024
How super resilient tardigrades can fix their radiation-damaged DNA
Microscopic tardigrades have fascinated scientists for their incredible toughness since they were first discovered back in 1773. They can sense when it’s time to go dormant and enter a tun state under harsh conditions. Tardigrades can even withstand dangerous levels of radiation, and a surprising … Read more