KU News Service

How America Got Hooked on Ultraprocessed Food They promised convenience and cheap nutrition. But they became one of the greatest health threats of our time.

A @nytimes.com multimedia piece from @alicecallahan.bsky.social on the history of ultraprocessed foods in the U.S. relied on the expertise of sources like
@universityofkansas.bsky.social professor and researcher Tera Fazzino.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

KU expands mental health services across Kansas KU's Positive Psychotherapy Clinic has expanded the number of clinicians providing effective counseling across Kansas.

What started as a way to give experience to @universityofkansas.bsky.social counseling psychology graduate students has grown into a telehealth clinic powerhouse helping people across Kansas address anxiety, depression, stress and mental health.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

History of Japan’s signature beverage ‘sake’ revealed in new book A new book explores the evolution of Japanese sake from homebrew to flavored varieties, while tracing its cultural significance and global rise.

Historian Eric Rath’s new book is the first history of sake in English. The @universityofkansas.bsky.social professor explores sake’s evolution from homebrew to flavored varieties while tracing its cultural significance and global rise.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Study examines ties between mental health and criminal charges among youth Click for more on research appearing in Children and Youth Services Review

The complex relationship between juvenile crime and mental health may have a silver lining in detainment, according to a @universityofkansas.bsky.social psychology scholar. “For many, it’s the first time their mental health issues are formally recognized.”

news.ku.edu/news/article...

A Kansas professor is getting students to lead the climate change conversation Dr. Imogen Herrick, assistant professor of STEM Education at the University of Kansas, is changing the way climate change is discussed in K-12 classrooms. Her Community Science Data Talks shift the fo...

On a recent @kcur.org “Up To Date” episode, @universityofkansas.bsky.social professor Imogen Herrick spoke about shifting the climate conversation in K-12 classrooms from global issues and intangible statistics to local impacts and student emotions.

www.kcur.org/podcast/up-t...

Women are taking pay cuts as companies mandate return to office Researchers are identifying several key factors behind why gender pay gap – which had narrowed steadily over the years – has suddenly widened.

The share of working mothers ages 25 to 44 with young children has fallen nearly every month in 2025, according to @universityofkansas.bsky.social expert @mlheggeness.bsky.social. Read more on @washingtonpost.com.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Slow and steady wins the race to intelligibility for ALS patients Experiment found that speaking slowly helped those with neurodegenerative diseases be understood more than trying to speak clearly

Trying to speak more slowly than normal appears to be an effective strategy for most people with ALS to make their speech more understandable to others. Read more about this latest @universityofkansas.bsky.social research benefitting brain health.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Building a Midwest STEM Alliance KU researchers are part of a national project to build a Midwest STEM Alliance, with plans to work with Kansas educators.

Via Midwest STEM Alliance, @universityofkansas.bsky.social researchers will elevate science education in rural elementary schools. “Students experience all sorts of scientific phenomena in their daily lives, and we want to make space for that in elementary classrooms.”

news.ku.edu/news/article...

KU program found effective in helping reduce stress among child welfare service providers Resilience Alliance, a program aimed at reducing trauma, stress, burnout for social workers, shown effective.

Researchers from @universityofkansas.bsky.social implemented an intervention for Kansas child welfare caseworkers that lowered secondary traumatic stress and boosted the resilience in this workforce faced with occupational trauma, burnout and negative health outcomes.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

The family that makes music together Drapers’ second album features KU Music professor, his father, daughter

The latest from @universityofkansas.bsky.social music professor Brandon Draper’s 2024 deal with KU graduate Oz McGuire’s Symphonic Distribution service starts with “In My Dreams,” a Draper Family Band single being released Oct. 3.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

New book examines how ‘bookish’ language of Shakespeare’s England influenced today’s society A KU professor reveals how the broad lexicon of book-related words in the newly print-savvy era of Shakespeare’s England taught cultures how to think, contemplate and describe the world.

On the same page.
Judge a book by its cover.
Read someone’s mind.

A @universityofkansas.bsky.social professor’s new book details how these “bookish” phrases that rose to prominence in the 16th and 17th centuries remain in use today.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

This weekend is Family Weekend at the University of Kansas KU’s Family Engagement Director, Nikita Haynie says along with all the fun activities, families can support their students throughout the school year.

Earlier this morning, Office of Family Engagement director Nikita Haynie spoke with Rae Daniel about @universityofkansas.bsky.social Family Weekend, which kicks off today on the Lawrence campus. Read more and watch at @kshb41.bsky.social.

www.kshb.com/news/local-n...

New guide helps educators build critical AI literacy A new article offers a guide for educators to help students and fellow teachers develop critical AI literacy.

By writing an artificial intelligence guide for teachers, a pair of @universityofkansas.bsky.social English scholars is shepherding educators to interrogate — and perhaps integrate — AI into their curriculum.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Kansas law professor calls for cultural shifts to address environmental crises • Kansas Reflector People must reconsider their connection to other species and KU professor and international law expert John Head

Kansas law professor calls for cultural shifts to address environmental crises | via @crazeywriter.bsky.social #ksleg

Researchers will create safer, more reliable communication for drones and air taxis Click for more on NSF grant to multidisciplinary KU team.

Thanks to National Science Foundation funding, @universityofkansas.bsky.social investigators will develop “intelligent spectrum management frameworks” to enable reliable communication so that ever-expanding fleets of drones can operate safely and dependably.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

KU School of Business partners with Healthy Bourbon County Action Team to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystem in southeast Kansas The University of Kansas School of Business has launched a collaboration with a southeast Kansas organization to support local entrepreneurs and small business owners.

A partnership with the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team means @kubusiness.bsky.social students will gain a stronger connection to and understanding of Kansas’ economic landscape while contributing to its continued growth.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Entrepreneur and author Elyce Arons returns to KU for fireside chat The former student, co-founder of the Kate Spade and Frances Valentine brands, will speak Sept. 26.

Former @universityofkansas.bsky.social student Elyce Arons, co-founder of the Kate Spade and Frances Valentine brands, will make her first return to the Lawrence campus in more than four decades — a visit that will be punctuated by a fireside chat Sept. 26.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Human-machine communication patterns inspire new theory KU scholars propose ‘Socio-Technical Exchange’ as contemporary refinement

New @universityofkansas.bsky.social scholarship brings a theory from the 1960s about how we engage with one another at work into the 21st century. Socio-Technical Exchange takes into account how we interact with ubiquitous technology.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

On the latest “When Experts Attack!” episode, @universityofkansas.bsky.social trade law expert Raj Bhala addresses “the greatest disruption in trade since the end of World War II,” including what tariffs mean for Canada. Listen and subscribe.

whenexpertsattack.libsyn.com/trumps-trade...

'The Kansas Industrial Court' and controversial labor law legacy KU professor writes new book on largely forgotten court in Kansas and its legacy on American labor law.

A early 1900s Kansas industrial relations court outlawed strikes and lockouts, applied heavy criminal sanctions and dictated terms of work life like wages and hours. A @universityofkansas.bsky.social scholar calls it “America’s closest practical encounter with fascism.”

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Country Music Is a Political Bellwether » PopMatters If politics runs downstream from culture per the "Breitbart Doctrine", then do far-right politics run downstream from country music?

Country music has functioned as a political bellwether in the U.S. for more than 100 years, @universityofkansas.bsky.social English scholar Iain Ellis writes in @popmatters.com.

www.popmatters.com/country-musi...

Research shows cellophane bee is built for the chill Click for a new study from University of Kansas researchers in the journal Ecology and Evolution

New @universityofkansas.bsky.social scholarship shows cellophane bees are specially equipped by evolution to handle harsh shocks and cold temperatures of early spring, recovering from “chill coma” about twice as quickly as honeybees and handling much lower temperatures.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Scholar/artist Merry Sun draws on Asian heritage for inspiration Works by Charlotte Street Visual Artists Award winner balance between monumental, ethereal

Merry Sun, a KU lecturer in visual art, is drawn toward industrial materials in her work. “I like the idea of a working object where labor and service are built into its intrinsic nature.” Read about her show at the @universityofkansas.bsky.social Spencer Museum of Art.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Exciting news from KU Ichthyology! 📣🐟 Research Affiliate Gloria Arratia, a global catfish expert, edited & contributed to the recently published volume "Catfishes: A Highly Diversified Group".

📸: Hypancistrus zebra by Leandro Sousa
@kunewsservice.bsky.social ➡️ 🔗 tr.ee/hdBog8tMGc

KU designated National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research Researchers and faculty members at the University of Kansas’ Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science recently received redesignation as a Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Resear...

The @universityofkansas.bsky.social is the only institution in the state to be designated a Center of Academic Excellence in both cyber defense and in research. Read about KU's latest designation from the National Security Agency.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

Catfishes have long captured the popular imagination, says a @universityofkansas.bsky.social professor who published an updated volume on the species. “Hearing about a fish that has ‘barbels,’ like whiskers, or that lives at night — it gives catfish an air of mystery.”

news.ku.edu/news/article...

KU plans rededication ceremony for WWI memorial A new memorial at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium renews KU's commitment to honoring Jayhawks who sacrificed their lives in World War I. The public is invited to a rededication ceremony at 2:30 p....

The public is invited to rededicate David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in honor of 130 @universityofkansas.bsky.social Jayhawks who gave their lives during World War I. The ceremony is at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 29 on the Garlinghouse Plaza on the northeast side of the stadium.

news.ku.edu/news/article...

AI can imitate morality without actually having it, new philosophy study finds A new paper shows that although AI does not currently have practical judgment, it has a functionally equivalent mechanism — transformer models — which can allow it to form maxims that consider morally...

A @universityofkansas.bsky.social philosophy scholar explored the question of whether artificial intelligence can truly exhibit morality. “I think that logic is so far stretched because there are certain things tied to us as human beings that AI systems don’t have.”

news.ku.edu/news/article...

How a little-known coup leader became a Pan-African hero The Post traveled to Burkina Faso to shed light on President Ibrahim Traoré’s remarkable reinvention — from obscure junta leader to political icon.

Ibrahim Traoré has become an almost “messianic figure” on the internet, @universityofkansas.bsky.social scholar @jyeku.bsky.social tells @washingtonpost.com bureau chief Rachel Chason. “For many young Africans, the democratic experiment is practically dead.”

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Art brings ideas about ocean to landlocked place Works spanning centuries bring focus to human relationships with the sea at KU art museum exhibition "Soundings."

When @universityofkansas.bsky.social art historian Emily Casey came to Kansas, she wondered what it might mean to teach about the art of the sea in a landlocked state. As evidenced in a new exhibition she co-curated, “there are so many connections to the ocean here.”

news.ku.edu/news/article...