(Commentary) The technology to digitally alter still images – Adobe’s Photoshop editing software – has been around for decades. But deepfake videos pose new problems, like being weaponized, particularly against women, to create humiliating, nonconsensual fake pornography. “There’s potential harm to the viewer. There’s harm to the subject of the thing. And then there’s a broader harm to society in undermining trust,” says Deborah Johnson, UVA emeritus professor of applied ethics.
Is the Supreme Court in crisis, and if so, how can it be fixed? On Wednesday, three distinguished Court-watchers from across the ideological spectrum debated these questions at Harvard Law School. The panelists included Saikrishna Prakash, the James Monroe Distinguished Professor of Law at UVA.
(Editorial) Graduating from college is a major life event. Students who have worked hard, spent a lot of time, not to mention money, and completed the requirements for a degree are understandably disappointed when there’s no traditional rite of passage. It was therefore most welcome to see the Northam administration recently announce revised plans for holding in-person events this year, owing to a reduction in COVID cases and the steady distribution of vaccine.
In a career spanning from 1912 until 1933, Culpeper native Eppa Rixey was a feared southpaw pitcher. National League umpire and University of Virginia coach Cy Rigler, recommended Rixey to the Philadelphia Phillies. The team immediately placed the UVA graduate into the starting rotation and is one of the few major league Hall of Famers to skip the minor leagues. In the off season, Rixey pursued a Master’s degree in Chemistry from UVA and served during World War One in the army’s Chemical Warfare Division.
Shane Simpson recently had the phrase “bet on yourself” tattooed on his forearm. It’s the product of a journey during which the Easton Area High School graduate has had to prove himself every step of the way. Simpson will have another opportunity to do just that on Wednesday as he participates in the University of Virginia football program’s pro day in front of an audience of NFL scouts.
The NFL Draft isn’t only about height, weight and traits. It’s about obstacles and handling oneself well under pressure. Charles Snowden hasn’t had the typical draft journey. Snowden, 22, sustained a broken right ankle in November, ending his senior season. At the Senior Bowl in January, he couldn’t partake in on-field drills. Come Wednesday, his Virginia Cavaliers will do their pro day, but Snowden, despite significant progress, will be limited to the bench press.
(Audio) Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Dr. Damita Brown (in exile): A.D. Carson, award-winning hip-hop artist and assistant professor of music at University of Virginia, joins us to talk about race, music and arts, his new album, “I used to love a dream” and his outstanding rap dissertation, “Owning My Masters: The Rhetorics of Rhymes & Revolutions.”
“This critical point in life, when autistic kids are hitting puberty and going through adolescence, is really under-researched,” says Kevin Pelphrey, a neuroscientist at the University of Virginia.
Former resident Ashley Deeks has been named White House associate counsel and deputy legal advisor to the National Security Council. She is the E. James Kelly Jr.-Class of 1965 Research Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law and director of UVA’s National Security Law Center.
Christopher Ali, an associate professor in UVA’s Department of Media Studies, agreed that the current system of divvying up the money in the Universal Service Fund isn’t working for rural areas, but the problem isn’t small, inefficient companies.
Infectious disease experts are still worried that a rise in more infectious variants could result in a spring surge before most of the population has been vaccinated against the disease. “That’s a nightmare for me. And it’s a predictable one,” Dr. Taison Bell, a UVA infectious disease specialist, said last week.
(Video) For the fourth year in a row, Great Harvest Bread Café is hand baking “honey bunnies” with money from each purchase going to benefit UVA Children’s.
Family and friends call Dave Champion’s remarkable recovery from an extreme case of long-hauler COVID-19 nothing short of a miracle. “Champ,” as friends and clients call the popular Virginia DJ, took his first steps on Feb. 10, one day after a double lung transplant at the UVA Medical Center.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is working to develop guidelines for preventing serious brain injuries in military members and they’re asking a University of Virginia researcher to help. Dr. James Stone is an imaging expert at UVA Health and has been studying traumatic brain injuries in service members as well as how blast exposures affect the brain.
More than 2 billion people are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, a brain parasite, particularly spread by cats, or contaminated meat. But most hosts of this parasite will never show symptoms in their lifetime. Until recently, we didn’t know why so many people were affected by this parasite without developing symptoms. An answer was given, and we owe this discovery to the UVA School of Medicine.
Even as Americans are lining up for highly effective COVID vaccine, UVA scientists are working on a new approach to protecting the public. Their new vaccine could be better for three big reasons.
A new discovery may help prevent heart attacks and strokes caused by plaques that form within human arteries. Scientists at the UVA School of Medicine say strengthening the fibrous caps that overlay atherosclerotic plaques could help.
Scientists peering into the beating heart have solved a decades-old, fundamental mystery about how the heart works. The revelation could herald the development of new treatments for heart diseases — the leading cause of death worldwide. Researchers from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Florida State University and UVA have observed a tiny muscle filament during a crucial stage in a beating heart for the first time. The research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The medical world recently came one step closer to preventing heart attacks and strokes, thanks to a lucky accident at UVA. When New York University postdoctoral fellow Alexandra Newman was a graduate student at UVA’s School of Medicine, she beheld something no eyes before hers ever saw.
University of Virginia officials announced on Tuesday that students may gather outside in groups of up to 25, provided everyone wears a mask and social distancing is observed. UVA Dean of Students Allen W. Groves, in a message emailed to students posted on his office’s website, said the decision to increase the outdoor gathering limit was made because COVID-19 cases are declining. The indoor limit for students is still set at six.