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9 new sci-fi and fantasy books to check out this October

October 1, 2018

Lisa Yaszek, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was recently written about in The Verge. The popular news and culture website included her recent book, The Future is Female!, in its list of new sci-fi and fantasy books to check out in OCtober.

Here's an excerpt:

Science fiction isn’t usually what first comes to mind when you think Library of America, but the publisher has produced some compilations of authors such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip K. Dick, and classic novels from the 1950s. This new anthology edited by Lisa Yaszek pulls together some of the best — and forgotten — female authors from the genre between the 1920s and 1960s. Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying that it’s an “educational, enjoyable, and significant retrospective of science fiction’s foremothers.

Read the full story here.

The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Published in: The Verge
How Social Media Affects Your Brain

September 26, 2018

Robert Rosenberger, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy, was recently featured in a Buzzfeed video entitled, "How Social Media Affects Your Brain." Specifically, his recent research on Phantom Vibration Syndrome was discussed. Watch the full video here.

The School of Public Policy is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of LIberal Arts.

Published in: Buzzfeed
Medicare Patients Receiving Annual Wellness Visits More Likely to Undergo Key Preventive Health Services

September 21, 2018

Danny Hughes, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Economics, was recently quoted in a Radiology Business article entitled "Medicare Patients Receiving Annual Wellness Visits More Likely to Undergo Key Preventive Health Services." The article disucssed a recent study he co-authored regarding the effectiveness of annual wellness visits in Medicare patients.

Here's an excerpt:

"Promoting preventive care among the Medicare population is essential to enable the elderly to stay healthy, avoid or delay the onset of disease, and live productive lives,” co-author Danny R. Hughes, executive director of the Neiman Institute and a professor of economics at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, said in the same statement.

Read the full story here.

Published in: Radiology Business
Georgia Tech and GSU Establish Global Studies Center

September 20, 2018

The Weather Channel published a recent video about the establishment of the new Global Studies Center, which is a partnership between Georgia State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Modern Languages.

Published in: The Weather Channel
Energy Conversion Through Energy Technology Innovation

September 19, 2018

Yeong Jae Kim, a 2017 Ph.D. graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology School Public Policy, wrote an article in South Korea's Energy News entitled “Energy Conversion through Energy Technology Innovation.” The School of Public Policy is part of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Here's an excerpt:

To cope with climate change, it is urgent to spread clean energy and improve energy efficiency. Everyone knows that many consumers have to buy energy-efficient products, as well as efforts to invest in technology development to spread clean energy and promote widespread use of energy-efficient products. As part of this effort, 22 countries and the European Union will launch Mission Innovation, aiming to double the size of Clean Energy public and private sector Research & Development (RD & D) by 2015-2021.

Read the full story here.

Published in: Energy News Korea
It's Getting Real. Virtually Real.

September 17, 2018

Neha Kumar, assistant professor in the Georgia Tech Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, co-authored a story about her work leveraging low-cost VR technologies for underserved learning environments.

Here's an excerpt:

Virtual reality (VR) is no longer solely the stuff of science fiction. As VR headsets become increasingly mainstream and affordable, thanks to major industry actors such as Google and Samsung, a slew of companies have surfaced to explore the more and less understood affordances of this emerging technology. With much of this activity focused on technology-rich parts of the Global North, we were curious to understand what VR might offer a world less saturated by technology. In this article, we describe our experience of introducing immersive, 360-degree VR to a resource-constrained learning environment in Mumbai, India. We also discuss some of the challenges and possibilities of going mainstream with VR, reflecting on the narrowing digital divide and the questions it raises for technology transfer.

Read the full story here.

Published in: Interactions Magazine
The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin

September 17, 2018

Publisher's Weekly gave a starred review to Georgia Tech School of Literature, Media, and Communication Professor Lisa Yaszek's new book, The Future Is Female! 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin.

Here's an excerpt:

These 25 distinguished short SF stories from the 1920s to the 1960s evince the important early contributions made to the genre by women authors, who were intrigued by its openness to hitherto unexplored experiences. According to editor Yaszek, women made three major literary contributions to pulp and space-age SF: depth and complexity of emotion, revised gender roles, and sympathetic treatment of alien characters.

Read the full story here.

Published in: Publisher's Weekly
History Lesson: Scholars Take Aim at Racist Views of Middle Ages

September 12, 2018

Chair of the Georgia Tech School of Literature, Media, and Communication Richard Utz was recently quoted by the Christian Science Monitor in a story about race and representation for Medieval histortians.

Here’s an excerpt:

Some feel there should be a stronger separation between academia and politics and object to their colleagues’ more progressive efforts, says Richard Utz, professor of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

But efforts to purge racial bias have been building momentum, Dr. Utz says, and despite the painful process, some medievalists see a sense of hope emerging.

Read the full story here.

Published in: The Christian Science Monitor
Unlikely Political Alliance Emerges on Tech Transparency

September 10, 2018

Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy Professor Milton Mueller was recently quoted in a National Journal article about the bipartisan alliance to open up the tech platforms’ algorithms to public scrutiny.

Here's an excerpt:

“If you think you can look at the algorithm and suddenly divine what is the proper, fair way to do this, I think that’s showing a lack of understanding,” said Milton Mueller, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy. “It’s just opening the door to, I think, a nightmare of meddling in the process of managing one of these platforms.”

Read the full story here.

Published in: National Journal
Victorian-Era Orgasms and the Crisis of Peer Review

September 6, 2018

School of History and Sociology Chair Eric Schatzberg and Georgia Tech instructor Hallie Lieberman published a paper that was featured by The Atlantic. In addition, the two were also quoted in the story about the myth of Victorian era doctors treating female patients by stimulating them to orgasm with a vibrator.

Here's an excerpt:

There is absolutely no evidence that Victorian doctors used vibrators to stimulate orgasm in women as a medical technique, asserts the paper, written by two historians at Georgia Tech. “Manual massage of female genitals,” they write, “was never a routine medical treatment for hysteria.”

“There’s no evidence for it,” says Hallie Lieberman, an author of both the new paper and Buzz, a popular history of sex toys. “It’s inaccurate.”

Read the full story here.

Published in: The Atlantic
Genius as an Alternative Social Media

August 30, 2018

Kate Holterhoff, a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology, recently wrote a blog about social engagement and academia that was published online by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Excerpt:

That many academics rely on social media goes without saying. Not only is social media integral to the research, pedagogy, and public identities of academics, online communication permits us to share thoughts, accomplishments, notifications (book publications, conference CFPs, syllabus questions) with colleagues across the globe. Yet, I am dissatisfied with my social media. Twitter can often be overwhelming, and in my experience it fails to foster engaged discussion. In fact, Theresa MacPhail complains of "Twitter's brand of shallow scholarship" in her recent piece "Why I Quit Twitter." Both personally and professionally I get the most out of Facebook. However, like others at ProfHacker, the recent revelations concerning Cambridge Analytica have spurred me to reconsider my relationship to this app.

Is there another option for social engagement that aligns with the unique needs, interests, and skill sets of academics? Of course, numerous apps targeted to academic audiences have sprung up. Academia, LinkedIn, HASTAC, and Humanities Commons among others, all lobby to provide a forum for academics to socialize online. However, in my experience these niche sites all fall short of my need to engage meaningfully with peers, while establishing myself as a public intellectual.

Read the full blog post at The Chronicle for Higher Education's website.

Published in: The Chronicle for Higher Education
VR, AR Are Real in the Metro Atlanta Classrooms

August 24, 2018

The virtual reality design consultancy of Neha Kumar, assistant professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, was recently featured in by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Read the full article on the Chronicle's website (subscription required).

Published in: Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech Teams with ‘Big Data’ Experts to Study Medical Imaging

August 21, 2018

Danny Hughes, a Georgia Institute of Technology professor of economics, was recently quoted in an article from Georgia Health News about the new five-year, $3.3 million research partnership to establish the Health Economics and Analytics Lab (HEAL) within Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

“The goal of the HEAL lab is ultimately just to provide objective, credible scientific evidence into the national medical imaging debate,” said Danny Hughes, executive director of the Neiman Institute and professor of economics in the School of Economics, a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Using big data analytics, the HEAL lab will look at “the broader view of policy as it impacts the medical profession,” said Hughes, “but we are primarily focused on understanding that from the viewpoint of medical imaging,” such as X-rays, MRIs and CT-scans.

Read the full interview on the Georgia Health News website.

Published in: Georgia Health News
Sam Nunn Says Iran Nuclear Deal Was Not Designed to Stop Bad Behavior

August 16, 2018

Sam Nunn, distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology, was interviewed in Bloomberg TV, May 11, “Sam Nunn Says Iran Nuclear Deal Was Not Designed to Stop Bad Behavior.” The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt

The Europeans have declared they're going to try to keep the agreement. Keeping the agreement, and Russia has said the same thing, means doing business with Iran, because that was the quid for the quo. And right now doing business with Iran would run into the United States secondary sanctions, which would affect European investment in European countries -- telling the Europeans that in effect if you trade with Iran you can't trade with the United States. That is a very, very serious strategic error. And I think it is going to do more damage to the alliance unless it's turned around than anything we've seen in many years.

Find the interview on the Bloomberg website

Published in: Bloomberg TV
The Case for Rooms

August 9, 2018

Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication was quoted in the City Lab, August 6, article, “The Case for Rooms.” The Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

In a recent essay in The Atlantic, Ian Bogost described a new luxury concept called the “mess kitchen”—a second kitchen out of sight from the main kitchen and the rest of the open plan. He cited it to demonstrate why the open floor plan and its rhetoric around “entertaining” have reached new levels of absurdity. However, to me, the mess kitchen offers hope for a transitional period where open spaces may become closed again.

For the full article, visit the City Lab website.

Published in: City Lab
Satellite Data and Cheeseburgers

August 9, 2018

Mariel Borowitz, assistant professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology, wrote the Space News, August 8, op-ed, “Satellite Data and Cheeseburgers.” The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

“If cheeseburgers were declared a global public good because food is necessary for life, and therefore it’s a global public good and cheeseburgers therefore had to be given away to the world for free, how many cheeseburgers would have been available to me at nine o’clock at night on a Sunday when I landed in Washington, D.C.? The answer is zero. Why? Because nobody is going to start producing cheeseburgers for free.”

There are a couple technical issues with this analogy, discussed below, but it captures the key question well: how do we balance support for an exciting, new commercial market with the government’s responsibility to provide data that supports science, protects lives and property, and enables value-added companies in sectors ranging from agriculture to energy?

For the full article, visit the Space News website.

Published in: Space News
Searching for a Lost Odessa — and a Deaf Childhood

August 9, 2018

Ilya Kaminsky, Margaret T. and Henry C. Bourne Jr. Chair in Poetry and professor at the School of Literature, Media and Communication at Georgia Institute of Technology, wrote the New York Times, August 9, article, “Searching for a Lost Odessa — and a Deaf Childhood.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

I had no hearing aids until I came to America. The Odessa I know is a silent city, where the language is invisibly linked to my father’s lips moving as I watch his mouth repeat stories again and again. He turns away. The story stops. He looks at me again, but the story has already moved on.

Decades later, when I come back to this city, I don’t feel I have quite returned until I turn my hearing aids off.

For the full article, visit the New York Times website.

Published in: New York Times
Something Is Wrong at Facebook

July 30, 2018

Ian Bogost, professor at the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, wrote The Atlantic, July 26, article, “Something Is Wrong at Facebook.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Facebook’s chief financial officer, David Wehner, warned that its revenue growth would slow over the remainder of the year. Wehner also said that the company’s profitability would slow. Its operating margin has almost reached 50 percent in the past. That’s an incredible number—Google and Apple often reach only 25 to 30 percent. Wehner urged investors to expect that figure, 44 percent for the current quarter, to trend toward the mid-30s in the future. The reasons amount to investments in new products and services, and changes related to privacy and security. Facebook’s user growth also slowed, and actually dropped in Europe, thanks to the effects of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect in May.

For Facebook’s critics, the crash had moral implications. At last, the company’s misdeeds might be catching up with it. But a single bad day—one that hasn’t even concluded as I write this—says very little about its performance over time. With the exception of the March calamity, driven by election scandals and the company’s questionable responses to them, many of Facebook’s stock dips tracked with fears about its ability to continue to increase profits at its prior

For the full article, visit The Atlantic website.

Published in: The Atlantic
Study: US Unlikely To See New Nuclear Power Anytime Soon

July 30, 2018

Marilyn Brown, professor in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in the WABE, July 25, article, “Study: US Unlikely To See New Nuclear Power Anytime Soon.” The School of Public Policy is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Marilyn Brown, who runs the climate and energy policy lab at Georgia Tech, agrees with Morgan that nuclear power is important for addressing climate change, and she said the paper, which she was not involved with, is a fair assessment of the challenges for nuclear.

But, she said, her outlook for the future isn’t quite as grim as Morgan’s. She said she would like to see the U.S. build a few more nuclear reactors, but she also believes that renewable sources of energy and battery technology will keep improving.

“I think we can manage no new nuclear. I just don’t want to see a bunch of good plants retired,” Brown said

For the full article, visit the WABE website.

Published in: WABE
Driving Without a Smartphone

July 10, 2018

Ian Bogost, professor at the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Institute of Technology, wrote The Atlantic, July 10, article, “Driving Without a Smartphone.” The School of Literature, Media, and Communication is part of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Excerpt:

Last week, for the first time in years, I stopped my car at a red light and didn’t bide the time by fondling my smartphone. This isn’t a proud admission, but it is an honest one: Pretty much every time I stop my car at a traffic signal, I pick up my phone and do something with it. I’m not even sure what. I “check my phone,” as people say. Checking your phone doesn’t really mean checking your email or text messages or social-media feed. Mostly, it means checking to see if there’s anything to check.

For the full article, visit The Atlantic website.

Published in: The Atlantic