From the Media

The first protein shake was a concoction of "melted-down beef hides and carcasses." Now, consumers have various options, some that could be on a dessert menu. Hannah Cutting-Jones, a food studies assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages, spoke with The Guardian about the earliest protein shakes.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a who's who of the Silver Screen, stretching over 18 blocks in Los Angeles. But the city also boasts another walk of fame that highlights stars from the adult film industry. SF Gate spoke with Peter Alilunas, associate professor of cinema studies at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences. “You get this moment where adult films start to have premieres, and they start to have publicity, and they start to take themselves seriously,” Alilunas says. “And so they start to form themselves into an industry in the sense of all the trappings that go with that,” he adds, including critics’ associations, award shows. And walks of fame."

Landslides in Oregon are becoming more frequent and more unpredictable than earthquakes. CAS Earth scientist Josh Roering spoke with the Eugene Register-Guard about the past few decades of landslides. "Over the last couple decades, the landslides and the surface processes and surface hazards that I've been working on have become much more prominent, primarily due to climate change and humans inhabiting more areas in hazardous terrain," said Josh Roering, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Oregon who studies weathering, erosion and landslide processes.

Research by College of Arts and Sciences economist Jonathan Davis and data scientist Rori Rohlfs is featured in the Nov. 8 print and digital issue of the Economist about the Eugene-based mental health de-escalation program CAHOOTS. The article mentions a study co-authored by Davis showed that CAHOOTS reduced the probability that a 911 call ends in an arrest by 76%. Each arrest costs taxpayers, so the service provided significant savings. And Rohlf's research is that police were dispatched to 23% fewer calls when CAHOOTS responds.

Protein shakes and bars have surged in popularity over the years. But how did the protein craze emerge? Oregon Public Broadcasting spoke with Hannah Cutting-Jones about protein. Cutting-Jones is a food historian and assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages and has written about the rise of protein as a diet trend.

College of Arts and Sciences economist Keaton Miller speaks with The Oregonian/OregonLive about the loss of SNAP funds and what it means for the state's grocery stores. “(Grocery stores) have to pay for their facilities. They have to pay for their staff. They have to pay for all of the logistics, no matter how much they’re selling to consumers,” he said. “So, that’s going to put potentially upward pressure on pricing.”

The publication Astronomy wrote about a study by researchers who detected a unique incident of a star wandering near a supermassive black hole. “What’s exciting about this one is how well-sampled the data are,” said Yvette Cendes , an assistant professor in physics at the College of Arts and Sciences who analyzed the radio data. “We’ve seen second brightenings before, but this time we watched the rise and fall in real time.”

Brian Trapp, who currently serves as Director of Disability Studies at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences, is on a regional tour in support of his new book “Range of Motion.” In his book, he wrote a dynamic character like his brother. Trapp is featured in his hometown newspaper of Chagrin Falls in Ohio.

After months of countless miles and training to run a marathon, what happens to the body during race day? Outside Magazine spoke with running experts, including College of Arts and Sciences human physiology assistant professor Brad Wilkins. When a runner hits the "wall," Wilkins see it more of a battery: “It’s basically what’s the distance above your critical speed that you can run before you become exhausted. When you deplete that, that’s hitting the wall.”

A growing number of scientists are backing laws recognizing that nature has inherent rights and intrinsic value. That includes College of Arts and Sciences political science professor Craig Kauffman. Kauffman founded the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor in 2022 to track rights of nature developments. Analyzing more than 450 examples worldwide, he tells Inside Climate News that he found a major commonality: They all treat nature, whether a river, forest or individual species, as part of a larger web of life.

In a Buzzfeed article, College of Arts and Sciences Professor and Department of Psychology Head Ulrich Mayr offers insight into some of the “red flags” of memory loss in old age. “One really telltale sign might be getting lost in your hometown, just not finding your way,” said Mayr.

As WNBA players negotiate their labor contract, the commissioner of the women’s basketball league is under scrutiny. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation spoke with Courtney M. Cox, an associate professor in the Department of Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies, about the negotiations. “Officiating is connected to labor, to shared governance of this league and speaks to what is important for multiple unions,” she said. “The frustration is not isolated but rather compounded by a sense of stagnation on several key issues.”

Scientists have a more detailed look at the process of glacial calving thanks to a fiber-optic cable on the seafloor. “It’s always impressive for people to get any observations near the glacier front,” agreed David Sutherland, a physical oceanographer at the University of Oregon in Eugene who did not contribute to the new paper. Researchers working at the front, he explained, risk losing expensive equipment and have to navigate the mélange, a closely packed mix of sea ice and icebergs.

Legal hurdles around the country are making it difficult for Democrats to counter the president’s red-state gerrymandering, reports POLITICO. Political science assistant professor Chandler James says that fair redistricting laws fall in line with other “good governance” laws popular in the West like universal mail-in voting, non-partisan and open or semi-open primaries, ranked choice voting, citizens initiatives and ballot measures.

Colin Koopman, philosophy professor and director of the New Media & Culture Program at UO, joins a radio roundtable to discuss how AI tools are already being adopted by students and faculty, and the complex tension between using AI to support learning vs. letting it undermine skill development and academic integrity.