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News & Information
February, 2013
Top Ten Emerging Technology Trends for 2013
Risk Science Center Partners on Hydraulic Fracking Project
January, 2013
Hot Button Issues: Motor Vehicles and Personal Technology
Hot Button Issues: Climate Change
At the Frontiers of the Science of Health Risk: Five Areas to Watch
Do You Know What Messages Your Patient Stories Are Really Sending?
December, 2012
Hot Button Issues: Genetically Modified Foods
Hot Button Issues: Chemicals Management
September 2012
Sounds and silence
August 2012
UMRSC August 2012 News and Updates are now posted.
Leveraging bacteria in drinking water to benefit consumers
Lead Paint Renovation Risks Part II: Expert Advice
July 2012
Noise: it’s everywhere you want to be (Especially if you live in New York City)
UMRSC July 2012 News and updates are now posted
The Batman Shooting: The Trouble With Acting Too Fast
Working or Playing Indoors, New Yorkers Face an Unabated Roar
Risk Science Moment: Weighing lead paint renovation health risks
New Certificate in Risk Science and Human Health launching this Fall
Tiny particles: Big potential or big threat?
Scientists: Nanotech-based products offer great potential but unknown risks
Chlorpyrifos in the Spotlight: Usage, Exposure Routes, and Controversy
June 2012
UMRSC June 2012 News and updates are now posted
The Myth of the Bicycle Helmet
Michigan Finds Response to Exercise Advertisements Is Gender-Dependent
Are We Not Paying Attention to Global Risks, Or Do We Just Not Care?
May 2012 News and updates are now posted
Early heads-up: new Graduate Certificate in Risk Science and Human Health
May 2012
Andrew Maynard taking over as Interim Chair of the UM Environmental Health Sciences department
Does science literacy increase polarization in risk perception?
Web 2.0 Means Public Health Can Join the Online Vaccination Discussions… or Risk Being Ignored
Communicating about communicating science at the National Academies
Think Design – an alternative take on nanotech (in 11 minutes!)
Frightful Or Functional? A New Era for Tattoos (Part One)
Carbon nanoparticles could be ubiquitous to many foods
Cancer prevention in a pill: Science vs. Marketing
Risk Science Center Annual Meeting – May 30 (all welcome!)
New Managing Director joins the UM Risk Science Center
Flame retardants in furniture foam – weighing the evidence
Radiation as Currency: A Better Metaphor for Understanding Risks?
Nanoparticles, cosmetics and sunscreens – again!
Pink Slime and Cochineal Bugs: The “Ick” Factor
April 2012
What's in your makeup? Burden of keeping cosmetics safe left up to manufacturers
UMRSC April 2012 News and Updates are now posted.
Risk Science Center goes European
Swedish pancakes and Nordic risks – Rick Neitzel settles into a Summer in Sweden
HazCom 2012: The new system for communicating about workplace chemicals
Pink Slime
Mind the Science Gap: Using banana peels to remove metals from polluted water: an aPEELING option
Pink Slime and ammonia consumption – the numbers
Noise pollution takes a toll on health
Risk Science Center Fellows 2012: Introducing Lindsay Weir
March 2012
UMRSC March 2012 News and Updates are now posted.
Scientists developing poison pill for Asian carp
Risk Science Center Fellows 2012: Introducing Natalie Sampson
Drama Over Red Meat and Death: A Case Study in Academic Complexity
Mind the Science Gap: Stress: Shrinking Your Brain and Risking Your Health
Egg Freezing: Taking a Closer Look at the Experimental Label
Mind the Science Gap: One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Nuclear experts available to discuss Fukushima one year later
What Do Artificial Wombs Mean for Women?
Nano Quadrotors – a game-changing technology innovation, but can we handle it?
Mind the Science Gap: It Came from the Black (Manure) Lagoon!
SPH students creating science blogs in social media course
University of Michigan Researchers to Study Health Outcomes and Economics of Newborn Screening
February 2012
Mind the Science Gap: What’s that smell? Worker exposures in nail salons
UMRSC February 2012 news and updates are now posted
Mind the Science Gap: Oil and Water…and Dirt
Mind the Scienge Gap: Beach Bums! Gastrointestinal Distress from Sand?
RSC Member Shobita Parthasarathy’s Influential Book Now Out In Paperback
Mind the Science Gap: Why Don’t More Kids Get Flu Shots?
Mind the Science Gap: The Science Influencing the CDC Panel Recommendation for the HPV Vaccine for Boys
Planned Parenthood (lowercase): The Cure for Poverty
January 2012
Infrasounds, Annoyance and Anecdotes: The Debate over Wind Turbine Safety
National Academy publishes new nanomaterials risk research strategy
How To Innovate While Protecting Public Safety?
UMRSC lastest news and updates are now posted
NRC Report Calls for New Nano Safety Research Strategy
Mind the Science Gap – Helping science students connect with a non-science audience
Identification of Environmental Survival Factors For A. baumannii and Risk Assessment of Exposure
Going to Pot: A dangerous concoction of science journals, media and publicity
Fungicides in orange juice - quick facts
2012 World Economic Forum Global Risk Report and its relevance to public health
Scientific Triumph Meets Political Nightmare: H5N1 Raises Issues of Fear and Free Speech
2012 Risk Science Summer Fellows Announced
FDA Faces Challenge of Dealing With Scientific Uncertainty
A decade after anthrax, scary white powders still arrive by mail
Study of the Day: 9 Out of 10 City Dwellers At Risk of Hearing Loss
December 2011
The Quiet Emergency of Hazardous Medical Waste in Developing Countries
Other People’s Children – How Scientific Illiteracy and Political Maneuvering are Hurting the Globe, Public Health, and You
Noise: New risks; old hazards?
City dwellers risk hearing loss from harmful 'MP3' noise exposure
Do you hear what I hear? Noise exposure surrounds us
E-waste: Haunting Health from the Dead
Music a surprising cause of hearing loss in city dwellers
Sound from MP3 players eclipses environmental noise
MP3 Player Noise Greater Than Loud Workplaces, Could Be Harmful
Do you hear what I hear? Noise exposure surrounds us
I'll have a life when........
Free the Food Market!
Promise of nano revolution hasn’t materialized
Vitamin D Recommendations Fall Short
Why You Shouldn't Take Your Vitamins
How The Happy Meal Ban Works—Before It’s Even Begun
European Journal of Law & Technology Special Edition on Nanotechnology -introduction by Joel D'Silva and Di Bowman
Creating Disease Reservoirs: The Continuing Saga of the Anti-Vaccination Movement
Risk Science Unplugged: Risk Rage Transcript
View the November UMRSC updates
Postdoctoral Fellowship position in Risk Governance
November 2011
A few Small Issues about Public Engagement on Nanotechnology
About Pepper Spray
Crowdsourced symptom maps, preventative or paranoia inducing?
Thinking differently about Risk, Innovation and Sustainability – David Zaruk, September 21, 2011
The Risk Science Center welcomes a new team member
Exposure to silver nanoparticles may be more common than we thought
Opening Comments Day 2 – David Munson, September 21,2011
October 2011
Innovate or Perish – Ford’s Director of Sustainability on innovation and sustainability
Sickness, Sleep, and the Workplace: Occupational Stress in Uncertain Times
Risk Perception ‘Fallout’ from Tokyo’s Radiation Hotspots
New models needed to master technology trends – World Economic Forum
Perhaps, It Gets Better (Maybe): The Legacy of Social Media?
Public Health Fairytales
New Risk Science Center Coordinator announced
September 2011
Emerging technologies and sustainability: What’s risk got to do with it?
New Plates on the Table: The Harvard Healthy Eating Plate
Ballet Should Be Banned: Act I
Contagion, plausible reality and public health: In conversation with Larry Brilliant
September Risk Science Center Newsletter
Soderbergh’s Contagion: Optimism in the midst of destruction
Sick People Are So Inconsiderate
Infection Control in the Spotlight: “Contagion”
Define nanomaterials for regulatory purposes? EU JRC says yes.
Small is beautiful – Paul Weiss and Andrew Maynard talk nano on YouTube
Tackling Risks from a public health law approach: one risk at a time
August 2011
Rare Elements, Unrare Risks?
News Release: Event explores new approaches to safe and sustainable technology innovation
‘Brain-Eating’ Amoebae hit the headlines – should we be afraid?
Final program posted for the 2011 Risk Science Symposium, Sept 20-21
Futurology: Optimism and Failure
Graphene: a 'miracle material' in the making
The Word of the Day: Misandry
Recommended Reading: FDA Publishes Evidence-Based User’s Guide to Risk and Benefit Communication
Don’t Coddle Your Immune System: Antioxidants and Necessary Cellular Stress
Is the internet dangerous? Taking a closer look at Baroness Greenfield’s concerns
Misunderstanding Momentum in Risk: The Climate Doesn’t Stop Warming on the Proverbial Dime
What was worrying us about nanotechnology safety seven years ago?
Shark Week: Just When I Thought It Was Safe to Turn On the Television Again
July 2011
Andrew Maynard to Moderate ACS Webinar on Nanochemistry
Lord Voldemort’s Demise: Where He Went Wrong
Seven challenges to regulating “sophisticated materials”
The big elephant in health systems: drug shortages
Do we really need to “hold the salt”?
You Can’t Spell “Risk” Without “Exposure” (Well, okay, you can, but hopefully you get my point)
Do Messages of Safety Create Fear and Vice Versa?
John Berry Shares About His Summer Internship At ChemRisk
What keeps you awake at night? Give us your ideas for the next Risk Science Unplugged series
Hand Washing in the Age of Aquarius
Risk Science Center Launches Vimeo Profile
The ‘Next Big Thing’ in U.S. occupational chemical hazard communication: Now scheduled for September
Don’t define nanomaterials – the evolution of an idea
New Haven Independent, Nano "Principles" Issued
Andrew Maynard Quoted on Nanotechnology Regulation
Andrew Maynard Interviewed on Moneyweb Radio
June 2011
New faculty to join the University of Michigan Risk Science Center
Federal Agencies Move Toward Nanotech Regulation
An Interview with Designer James King
Consumers and food: Can’t live with them, can’t live without them!
A nanotechnology regulation hat trick from the US federal government
Perceptions of chemical products: When is a chemical not a ‘chemical’?
The Semantics and Practical Consequences of Hazard vs. Risk: Perspectives on Product Labeling Regulation
Mobile phones and cancer – catching up with the week’s coverage
May 2011
ISO guidelines for evaluating nanomaterial risks – are they any good?
Australian Education Union advises against using nanoparticle-based sunscreens in schools
Zombie Apocalypse: A Thinking Man’s Response
Jitters and Stained Teeth, but Cancer-Free? Some Surprising Effects of Coffee Consumption
Vaccine Risk Communication in the Context of Web 2.0: Respecting the Power of Stories
University of Michigan Q&A on the Gulf oil Spill – Ask M
“AskM” Video Response by Andrew Maynard
A plug for the 2011 Risk Science Symposium: Risk, Uncertainty and Sustainable Innovation
Proposed U.S. Chemical Control Legislation: The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011
Andrew Maynard answers questions about the Gulf Oil Spill that occurred a year ago via UM’s new “Ask M” series
Optogenetics and mind control – on the borders of the plausible?
Summer Vacation: All fun and games?
School of Public Health Summer Internships — Share Your Experiences
April 2011
How Do We Filter Risk Information?
Risk Science Center’s April Newsletter Now Posted
Health Impacts of the Gulf Oil Spill – Transcript of Unplugged Discussion Now Posted
Presenting Risky Choices in Small Doses Makes For Better Decisions
The Gulf oil spill & its health impacts, 12 months on
How Clean Is Clean? Studying the transmission of hospital-acquired MRSA
Why we don’t need a regulatory definition for nanomaterials
Making sense of radiation levels
Welcoming the Risk Science Center’s Newest Blogger
BBC Lab Introduces The Big Risk Test
US Schools of Public Health address the impacts of the Japan nuclear crisis
Health impacts of the Gulf oil spill – plugging Risk Science Unplugged (April 14)
Larry Brilliant: Enabling sustainable humanity through getting serious about risk
March 2011
The Risk Science Center team gets a new member
Cats, Birds and Wind Turbines – when risks and benefits are about more than just the numbers
Questions teens ask about risk
Health implications of Fukushima nuclear incident: Q&A with Kim Kearfott and Jim Martin
Making sense of radiation dose – an excellent visualization from xkcd.com
Radiation exposure and risk perception
Why don’t Nigerians Use Free Treated Bed Nets?
Is our obsession with the developing nuclear crisis in Japan obscuring our sense of perspective?
University of Michigan expert talks about health implications of Japan nuclear crisis
Finding My Tears For Japan: When 1 Is Worse Than 10,000
Fears of Fukushima: If It Can’t Be Fixed Quickly, Is It Necessarily Really Bad?
The Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster and its implications to public health.
Technology innovation and human health risk – rethinking the intersection.
Professional societies to regulators: Let us help you handle chemical risks.
Engineered Nanoparticles in Consumer Products: Understanding a New Ingredient.
A new video podcast on nanotechnology safety from the ASME Nanotechnology Institute.
February 2011
NIEHS launches major study to investigate long term health impacts of Gulf oil spill.
What makes communications about chemicals useful, helpful and satisfactory to people who receive them?
The art of regulating nanotechnologies.
Transcripts for the Nanotechnology event are now available.
NIOSH Education and Research Centers on the chopping block in Obama’s 2012 budget.
Why We Prefer Surgeons to Cut Stuff Out of Us, Even If We Don’t Need Them To.
Nanotechnology - Unplugged: archived webcast is available.
The New Toxicology of Sophisticated Materials: Nanotoxicology and Beyond.
Handling the risks of nanomaterials – a personal perspective from Martin Philbert.
Nanotechnology governance – a personal perspective from Shobita Parthasarathy.
A personal perspective on nanotechnology – Mark Banaszak Holl.
World Economic Forum 2011 – Committed to changing the state of the world.
January 2011
Davos 2011: Global Risks permeate this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, but where’s the science?
Asking Smart People Dumb Questions: The New Role of Challengers at Davos - Andrew Maynard.
UM Risk Science Center director co-authors World Economic Forum white paper on technology innovation and sustainable development.
Public Health Needs Humility to Address Vaccination Fears.
Addressing global risks requires more sophisticated thinking on new technologies.
Familiarity and the Shingles Vaccine.
Obama's 21st century regulatory system will demand more innovative thinking on risk.
Risk Science Center director Andrew Maynard talks to NOVA about the dangers of nanotechnology.
Prions, BSE and the fear of airborne risks.
Airborne exposure to prions and human health.
New research suggests prions associated with BSE can be transmitted by air.
2011 Summer Fellows have been announced.
Lisa A. Prosser, PhD, MS joins the risk science center.
December 2010
December 2010 Newsletter
November 2010
International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies
October 2010
RSC Director Dr. Andrew Maynard mentioned in the UM State of the University Address 2010.
2020 Science: Beyond the obvious - lessons from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies: Rehabilitating "Risk"
SAVE THE DATE: 2011 Bernstein Symposium
Risk, Uncertainty and Sustainable Innovation: New Perspectives on Emerging Challenges
New Technology Magazine: Alberta Announces Water Monitoring Data Review Committee
September 2010
Science Daily: Doctors Need to Help Patients Prepare Better for Health Decisions, Experts Say.
Nature.com: Think tank mashes with geek adventure camp at Singularity U.
Nature: SPH's Maynard on U.S. Nanotechnology Initiative.
New Haven Independent: Study: Light May Break Down Super-Strong “Nanotubes"
August 2010
RSC Director Dr. Andrew Maynard submits detailed input to the 2010 National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) strategic plan. View Dr. Maynard's submission.
July 2010
July 2010 Newsletter
The Risk Science Center launches a new resource to track news and information on potential health impacts of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Andrew Maynard, Nano Educational Series Podcasts nano.asme.org, July 07, 2010
Peter Jacobson, Restoring Health to Health Reform jama.ama-assn.org, July 07, 2010
June 2010
Andrew Maynard, Michigan's Maynard Wins Survivor-style U.K. Online Teach-in FridayLetter.ASPH.org, June 25, 2010
Andrew Maynard, Welcome to real science! IEET.org, June 25, 2010
Howard Hu, Niladri Basu, Higher levels of heavy metals found in people living near Goldcorp mine WinnipegFreePress.com, June 18, 2010
Niladri Basu, Michigan in the News University of Michigan Record Update - online, June 07, 2010
Niladri Basu, Wash off tarballs, but brief encounters not risky Google.com, June 03, 2010
May 2010
Risk Communications Expert Brian Zikmund-Fisher joins Rick Science Center
Andrew Maynard, As scientists create the first synthetic cell, the future safety of synthetic biology will depend on sound science 2020science.org, May 26, 2010
Howard Hu, Niladri Basu, UM Study: Toxins High In Guatemalans Living Near Canadian-Owned Mine WWJ.com, May 23, 2010
Andrew Maynard, At the Dawn of a New Technology IEET.org, May 22, 2010
Howard Hu, Niladri Basu, Michigan in the News University of Michigan Record Update - online, May 20, 2010
Howard Hu, Niladri Basu. Toxic metals poison Guatemalans at Canadian-owned min EnergyPublisher.com, May 19, 2010
Howard Hu, Niladri Basu, Scientists Find Elevated Levels of Potentially Toxic Metals in Some Guatemalans Living Near Canadian-owned Mine, Recommend Further Studies CommonDreams.org, May 18, 2010
Jerome Nriagu, Books: Vanadium in the Environment, Part One: Chemistry and Biochemistry Aest V29-1 Good Gear Guide - online, May 11, 2010
Andrew Maynard, Building Trust Between Science and Society IEET.org, May 11, 2010
Alfred Franzblau, Dow-funded study warns of dioxin in local food Michigan Messanger - online, May 11, 2010
Andrew Maynard, How Risk and Regulation Can Shape the Development of Nanotechnologies Spectrum.ieee.org, May 07, 2010
Howard Hu, Lead Tied to Health Risk for Men Fox40.com, May 07, 2010
April 2010
New Director joins Risk Science Center
March 2010
The 2010 Summer Fellow has been announced.
More Information
December 2009
2010 Fellowship Competiton closed
October 2009
2010 Fellowship Competiton now open
June 2009
Bernstein Symposium Proceedings
January 2009
The 2009 Summer Fellows have been announced.
More Information
September 2008
Risk Science Fellowship Competition Wrap-Up
July 2008
Gift to UMRSC
July 2008 Newsletter
June 2008
Air Toxics Symposium Announcement
March 2008
Newsletter
October 2007
Bernstein Symposium Proceedings
Bernstein Symposium Photos
Excellence in Research Award to Garabrant
September 2007
Dioxin 2007 Conference, Japan
UMRSC research team attend international event, graduate student Qixuan Chen awarded Otto Hutzinger prize at conference.
November 21, 2006
With the Emergence of New Nanotechnologies, There Is a Real Need to Monitor Exposure to Humans
Fourteen top international scientists in the field of nanotechnology have identified Five Grand Challenges for nanotechnology risk research that must be met if the technology is to reach its full potential. The study will be published Thursday November 16 in Nature. Dr. Martin Philbert, co-author of the paper, answers Scitizen’s questions.
November 16, 2006
Andrew D. Maynard, Safe Handling of Nanotechnology (Nature; Vol 444: 267-269)
The Pursuit of responsible nanotechnologies can be tackled through a series of grand challenges.
November 15, 2006
Scientists Warn of Nanotech Risks and Urge Action by Government and Researchers
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A group of top nanotechnology scientists says that governments must take immediate steps to minimize the potential risks posed by the burgeoning nanotechnology field, which could grow into a $100-billion market within 10 years.
October 13, 2006
Industry, Experts Try To Sell FDA Nanotech Panel On Status Quo (26KB, PDF)
FDA Week (Vol. 12 No. 41)
At a Tuesday (Oct. 10) meeting by the FDA advisory panel on nanotechnology, the cosmetics lobby announced an upcoming, voluntary data exchange program in a bid to counter consumer advocates' calls for FDA to increase scrutiny of products containing nano-sized particles.
October 10, 2006
Public Meeting on Nanotechnology Materials in FDA Regulated Products
(www.fda.gov)
October 10, 2006
FDA Gets Mixed Advice on Nanotechnology (16KB, PDF)
Associated Press
The government must balance close oversight of the
fast-growing field of nanotechnology against the risk of stifling new
development, a Food and Drug Administration conference was told Tuesday.
September 26, 2006
Nanotechnology Risks Unknown (Washington Post; Page A12)
Insufficient Attention Paid to Potential Dangers.
September 6, 2005
Center for Risk Science kicks off with symposium Sept. 15-16 (The University Record)
Quantifying Danger (838KB, PDF)
UM SPH Findings magazine (Vol. 19, No. 2, Spring 2004)
In a recent survey, Americans ranked nuclear power as the greatest potential risk to human health. But experts view it as less risky than firefighting, pesticides, surgery, and riding bicycles. Who’s right? And how can we be sure? Read about the issues central to the establishment of the new University of Michigan Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Research Update: Nanotechnology (213KB, PDF)
UM SPH Findings magazine (Vol. 18, No. 2, Spring 2003)
The University of Michigan Risk Science Center Executive Director Martin Philbert and colleagues throughout UM launch an ambitious exploration of inner space to capture astonishing views of living cells in real-time and 3D. Read about how synthetic nanoprobes are used to view differences in operation between healthy and diseased cells.
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