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Is That the Phone in My Pocket or Just a Phantom Vibration?

January 9, 2016

For several years men and women of sound mind and perfectly good health have asked themselves the question: Is that my phone vibrating in my pocket, or am I suffering delusions?
With quite alarming frequency, the answer is the latter.
“I find so many people say, ‘This happens to me, but I thought I was the only one, I thought I was weird’,” Robert Rosenberger, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology said.

Published in: the Times (of London)
Former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn On Perils Of North Korea's Bomb Test

January 7, 2016

North Korea jolted the rest of the world this week with its announcement that it had tested a hydrogen bomb. International leaders and observers aren't so sure it was a hydrogen device, but it has still caused great concern.
Former Georgia Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn has spent years studying the threat of nuclear expansion. He is the co-founder (with Ted Turner) of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and a distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech.
During his years in the Senate, he chaired the Armed Services Committee. In a conversation with Denis O'Hayer on "Morning Edition," Nunn discussed the dangers North Korea's nuclear capability pose to its neighbors -- and some less obvious but equally troubling threats.

Published in: WABE 90.1FM
The Science Behind Why You Think Your Phone Is Vibrating, but No One Is There

January 6, 2016

Robert Rosenberger, Ph.D. is a professor at the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech, he joins Roe Conn and Anna Davlantes to talk about his research on why people suffer from “phantom vibration syndrome,” the sensation of a vibrating phone when no one is calling.
http://wgnradio.com/2016/01/06/the-science-behind-why-you-think-your-phone-is-vibrating-but-no-one-is-there/

Published in: WGN Chicago
Your Smartphone Is Making You Hallucinate

January 5, 2016

Ever reach for your vibrating smartphone in your pocket, only to find it didn’t buzz at all? You’re not alone. It’s called “phantom vibration syndrome” — yes, it’s a real psychological phenomenon — and studies in the past few years have found, when surveying college undergraduates, that the majority experience a “phantom vibration” once every two weeks. Georgia Tech School of Public Policy professor Robert Rosenberger explains the phenomenon in a recent video.

Published in: New York Post
Phantom Phone Vibrations Explained

January 5, 2016

You've probably experienced it and didn't even realize there was a name for it. “Phantom Vibration Syndrome" happens when you think your phone vibrates, but it doesn't. In fact, sometimes your phone isn't even near you. It's a phenomenon that happens to more people as we depend more on technology in our lives. Dr. Robert Rosenberger is an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech, and studies this syndrome.
http://www.georgianewsday.com/news/augusta/379334-phantom-phone-vibrations-explained.html

Published in: Georgia Newsday
Do YOU suffer from phantom vibration syndrome?

December 31, 2015

Dr Robert Rosenberg, who studies the impact technology is having on our behaviour at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, said detecting a vibrating phone has become a habit.
He argued users are so worried about missing a call or message they have become highly attuned to detecting the sensations that indicate they have one incoming.
But this has also led to similar sensations such as the movement of clothing or simply a spasm of a muscle to be interpreted as vibrations from a phone.
"Think about wearing a pair of glasses, he explained.
If you're accustomed to your glasses and they almost become a part of you, you can forget that you're even wearing them sometimes. The phone in your pocket is like this.
Through bodily habit, your phone actually becomes a part of you and you become trained to perceive the phone's vibrations as an incoming call or text.
So, due to these kinds of habits, it becomes really easy to misperceive other similar sensations."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3380082/Do-suffer-phantom-vibration-syndrome-Phones-training-brains-think-noises-movements-notifications-claims-expert.html#ixzz3wJn2PdKg

Published in: Daily Mail
Iraqi Troops Gain Major Victory Over ISIS

December 31, 2015

“Iraqi Troops Gain Major Victory Over ISIS” interviewed Lawrence Rubin, assistant professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, about how the takeover of Ramadi, Iraq, could affect the Islamic State's recruiting and geographic presence.. KQED, December 29, 2015.

Published in: KQED (NPR)
Book Offers Smart, Engaging Videogame Commentary

December 17, 2015

“Book Offers Smart, Engaging Videogame Commentary” concluded a review of Ian Bogost’s new book “How to Talk About Video Games.”Boston Globe, December 17.

The conversation about video games is blossoming right now. It’s a million conversations, really, touching upon everything from arcane design philosophies to games’ political messages to the never-ending debates about free speech. It can all be a bit overwhelming. But if you want an engaging, enjoyable tour of the video game commentary in 2015 conducted by a smart and entertaining writer, you’d be hard-pressed to do much better than “How to Talk About Videogames,” a new book by Ian Bogost. A game designer and professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Bogost writes regularly about the business and art of video games for wide variety of outlets, including The Atlantic, where he’s a contributing editor.
The conversation about video games is blossoming right now. It’s a million conversations, really, touching upon everything from arcane design philosophies to games’ political messages to the never-ending debates about free speech. It can all be a bit overwhelming. But if you want an engaging, enjoyable tour of the video game commentary in 2015 conducted by a smart and entertaining writer, you’d be hard-pressed to do much better than “How to Talk About Videogames,” a new book by Ian Bogost. A game designer and professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Bogost writes regularly about the business and art of video games for wide variety of outlets, including The Atlantic, where he’s a contributing editor.

Published in: Boston Globe
Atlanta Financial Experts Weigh in on Fed's Decision to Raise Interest Rates

December 16, 2015

“Atlanta Financial Experts Weigh in on Fed's Decision to Raise Interest Rates” quoted David Laband, professor of economics. Atlanta Business Chronicle, December 16.
“It finally happened — the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time since June 2006. And while while many of Atlanta's top financial experts were split about the Fed's September decision to not raise interest rates, so far it seems most give the Fed's Dec. 16 decision to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 0.25 to 0.5 percent a "thumbs up.”… THUMBS DOWN Professor David N. Laband, chair of Georgia Tech's School of Economics: "I give a thumbs down on the FED's decision to raise the interest rate for the same reasons I gave a thumbs up on the decision last month not to raise the interest rate. There is little evidence that our extended period of 'easy money' has resulted in a worrisome inflationary regime. At the same time, there continues to be ample evidence that the post-2008 economic recovery has been, and remains, less-than-robust. Raising rates at this time can only compromise the pace and/or extent of our economic recovery, such as it is. Relatedly, it will further strengthen the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, which will hurt U.S. exporters.”
*Subscription required to read full article

Published in: Atlanta Business Chronicle
Can China Keep Its New Promise to City Migrants?

December 16, 2015

CityLab's “Can China Keep Its New Promise to City Migrants? ”quoted Nunn School Professor Fei-Ling Wang.
China is currently home to the largest migration in human history, with hundreds of millions of people moving from rural areas into cities in search of a better life. That “better” life, however, has proven hard to grasp—especially when a lack of residency status in those cities means migrants can’t access public services like health care and education. But the government’s latest move may finally provide some relief to the more than 250 million migrants across the country… The new policy is a compromise between migrants and permanent residents, who have pushed back in the past on sharing their city’s resources with “outsiders,” says Fei-Ling Wang, an expert on the history of China’s hukou system at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “Essentially, it’s a fairness issue,” he tells CityLab. “Those ‘outsiders’ are actually the wealth creators for cities. They work very hard and put in a lot of effort and they don't take much.” In that sense, he adds, they live much like undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

Published in: CityLab
Most Climate Change Damage Will Happen Before The Two-Degrees Warming Threshold

December 12, 2015

“Most Climate Change Damage Will Happen Before The Two-Degrees Warming Threshold” featured a new study by economics professor Juan Moreno-Cruz and colleagues. Newsweek, December 12.
"Most discourse regarding climate change is based around a simple premise: The more the Earth warms, the greater the damage done to the planet. But in new paper published in Nature Geoscience, a team of researchers found that presupposition is fundamentally flawed. The reality, they write, is more ominous."

Published in: Newsweek
Middle Class Mentality

December 11, 2015

School of Economics Assistant Professor Tibor Besedes Was a Guest on GPB Radio's "On Second Thought"
On Friday, December 11th, Assistant Professor Tibor Besedes was interviewed on Georgia Public Broadcasting's "On Second Thought." The discussion centered on what "middle class" means for Atlantans. Most individuals in the metro-Atlanta area identify themselves as being in the middle class, even if they do not make the money necessary to be classified as such. Professor Besedes weighed in on this issue from a behavioral point of view.
To listen to the full show, please click here.

Published in: Georgia Public Television
Weather Forecasting: Cubesats Promise To Fill Weather Data Gap

December 11, 2015

“Weather Forecasting:Cubesats Promise To Fill Weather Data Gap” featured comments by the Nunn School’s Mariel Borowitz. Science, December 11.
The massive weather satellites that plumb the atmosphere are facing a swarm of tiny competitors. Data from shoebox-sized private satellites, exploiting a new technique for probing the atmosphere, could significantly reduce forecast errors, researchers say. But national weather agencies, used to generating their own data, have so far been reluctant customers. At a workshop this week, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hoped to address some of the stumbling blocks.
The big government systems are becoming increasingly fragile and unaffordable. Witness the $11.3 billion Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) at NOAA: It is drastically over budget and behind schedule for the planned 2017 launch of its JPSS-1 satellite, jeopardizing the flow of crucial weather data.
Companies say they can fill the gap with data from cheap CubeSats, small satellites the size of one or several 10-centimeter cubes (Science, 10 April, p. 172). Last week, Boulder, Colorado–based PlanetiQ booked a 2016 flight for its first two weather satellites. And after the successful launch of four satellites in September, San Francisco, California–based Spire says it is in negotiations to license its data to both government and private entities.
Yet NOAA has been hesitant to support the satellite weather startups, says Mariel Borowitz, a space policy researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology [Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts] in Atlanta. “They have said, ‘Build it and once it's in operation, then we'll decide if we want it or not.’”

Published in: Science
Economists: Buckle Up, Climate Change Is Going to Be a Rough Ride

December 9, 2015

The article for Slate featured perspective by Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts economics professor Juan Moreno-Cruz.
"With just two or three days remaining of official negotiations, the end game has arrived in the Paris climate talks… A trio of new reports released this week show that whatever happens in Paris, families and countries at the front lines of climate change will likely have their work cut out for them—and together they provide even greater urgency to the negotiations in Paris. In the first report, a group of climate scientists and economists warns that the impacts of climate change could come more quickly and more harshly than predicted, which eventually will remove some incentives to cut emissions. That’s because, once damages from effects like rising sea level reach a “saturation” point—a low-lying country like the Maldives going underwater, for example—vulnerable countries will no longer have reason to argue for restrictions on greenhouse gases because they’ll have nothing left to lose. "We have a relatively small window of opportunity in terms of economic incentives underlying the climate science," said Juan Moreno-Cruz, an economist at Georgia Tech and a co-author of the report, in a press release. "Once we pass a certain threshold, we won't be able to go back because we will lose the incentives to do so.”"

Published in: Slate
Analysis: ISIS Has Dumbed Down Islamic Radicalism

December 8, 2015

Lawrence Rubin, assistant professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, was quoted in an article entitled, “Analysis: ISIS has Dumbed down Islamic Radicalism .” Read the full article in The Jerusalem Post.

Published in: The Jerusalem Post
Why Israel Outlawed the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement

December 6, 2015

Lawrence Rubin, assistant professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, published an article entitled “Why Israel Outlawed the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement.” Read full article in Lawfare.

Published in: Lawfare
The Economist: Best Books of 2015

December 5, 2015

Ian Bogost's newest book, How to Talk about Videogames, made The Economist's “Best Books of 2015” list. Read full article on The Economist.

Published in: The Economist
The Shortcomings of Billionaire Philanthropy

December 5, 2015

Daniel Amsterdam, Assistant Professor of History in the School of History and Sociology in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech, published an article entitled “The Shortcomings of Billionaire Philanthropy.” Read full article in The Atlantic.

Published in: The Atlantic
Stop Rebranding Months as Causes

December 2, 2015

Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, published an article entitled “Stop Rebranding Months as Causes.” Read full article in The Atlantic.

Published in: The Atlantic
Persis Ashers: Igniting the Leadership Spark in East African Women

December 2, 2015

The website, SheInspiresHer, recently featured a profile on Persis Ashers, a fellow for the Ivan Allen College Global Women Entrepreneurship Institute. Read full profile at SheInspiresHer.

Published in: SheInspiresHer

Recent Press Coverage

Is That the Phone in My Pocket or Just a Phantom Vibration?

Former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn On Perils Of North Korea's Bomb Test

The Science Behind Why You Think Your Phone Is Vibrating, but No One Is There

Your Smartphone Is Making You Hallucinate

Phantom Phone Vibrations Explained

Do YOU suffer from phantom vibration syndrome?

Iraqi Troops Gain Major Victory Over ISIS

Book Offers Smart, Engaging Videogame Commentary

Atlanta Financial Experts Weigh in on Fed's Decision to Raise Interest Rates

Can China Keep Its New Promise to City Migrants?

Most Climate Change Damage Will Happen Before The Two-Degrees Warming Threshold

Middle Class Mentality

Weather Forecasting: Cubesats Promise To Fill Weather Data Gap

Economists: Buckle Up, Climate Change Is Going to Be a Rough Ride

Analysis: ISIS Has Dumbed Down Islamic Radicalism

Why Israel Outlawed the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement

The Economist: Best Books of 2015

The Shortcomings of Billionaire Philanthropy

Stop Rebranding Months as Causes

Persis Ashers: Igniting the Leadership Spark in East African Women

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Georgia Institute of Technology

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