Headliners

INTERNATIONAL OPTIMISM: Research performed by KU and Gallup that shows optimism to be universal has been cited in media and publications around the world, including U.S. News and World Report. Nearly 90 percent of people around the world feel the next five years will be as good as or better than life is today, the study found. "These results provide compelling evidence that optimism is a universal phenomenon," said Matthew Gallagher, a doctoral student in psychology at KU.

EDUCATED BY BABIES: John Colombo, director of the Bureau of Child Research, was quoted in a recent Dallas Morning News article about what can be learned from the brains of infants. "Adults can follow directions and focus, and that's great," Colombo said. "But children, it turns out, are much better at picking up on all the extraneous stuff that's going on. ... And this makes sense: If you don't know how the world works, then how do you know what to focus on? You should try to take everything in."

FOCUS ON LITERACY: Don Deshler, professor of special education, was cited in a recent Charleston (S.C.) Post and Observer article about the importance of focusing on literacy in adolescents. The local school district recently learned that one out of every 10 ninth graders can’t read higher than a third-grade level. Some say the information is eye-opening but not useful to schools in making improvements. “Literacy experts held different opinions as to the necessity in compiling this type of information at a district level. Don Deshler, an adolescent literacy expert from the University of Kansas, said it's helpful for school districts to know this kind of information to make decisions on allocating resources to schools and on investing in training for teachers,” the article says.

“Knowing students' reading grade-level equivalency shows where the problems are, the depth of the problems and where to put money and time,” Deshler said.

FILIPINO FROG FUNGUS: Rafe Brown, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, was quoted in a recent Inquirer.net article about several species of frogs in the Philippines that have become endangered because of a fungus. Five species have been infected and could become extinct because of the deadly fungus. “This is a very serious threat to amphibian biodiversity in the Philippines,” Brown said. “The Philippines is home to an incredibly diverse amphibian fauna. Along with forest destruction, pollution, and climate change, chytrid fungus may turn out to be the ‘final blow’ that sparks major amphibian extinction in the archipelago.”

BURNED OUT SUN? Two KU physics and astronomy professors were quoted in a recent New Zealand Press Association article about the mild solar activity in the last few years. A lingering mild sun could lead to either higher or lower temperatures on Earth, experts aren’t sure which is more likely. "You could have all these competing effects," said Gregory Rudnick, assistant professor of phyics and astronomy. "We don't have a really good understanding of this." Either way, the results would likely not be good. "I'm inclined to think the effects are real," said Adrian Melott, professor of physics and astronomy. "But the evidence is nowhere as solid as it is for the carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere" and climate change. My worry is that it will lower temperatures and cause people to think it's OK to burn all that coal and oil."