Spotlights

Researchers at the University of Rochester have discovered a better way to turn seawater into drinking water as climate change, population growth, and drought intensify pressure on freshwater supplies.

Desalination, as the process of converting saltwater to freshwater is known, has been used for some time. But desalination methods commonly used today have significant drawbacks: they require large amounts of energy and generate brine waste that can damage marine ecosystems.

Enter University of Rochester optics and physics professor Chunlei Guo and his research team, who have developed a solar-thermal desalination technology that converts seawater into drinking water without chemical additives and without producing the harmful brine.

Their system uses a specially engineered solar panel made of “superwicking” black metal etched with ultrafast lasers that allow it to absorb light and attract water. The panels have a laser-treated “active” region that pulls a think layer of water across the surface, absorbs sunlight, distills the water, and deposits leftover salts and minerals onto the untreated “passive” region.

The technology also transforms waste into a resource. Instead of generating brine, the process captures salts in solid form, creating opportunities to recover valuable minerals. Guo's team has already demonstrated the ability to extract lithium, a critical component in rechargeable batteries, from salt-rich water sources.

For reporters covering sustainability innovation, Guo is available to discuss:

• Why desalination is becoming increasingly important worldwide
• The environmental challenges associated with current desalination technologies
• How solar-powered desalination works
• The role of advanced materials and laser engineering in water purification
• Recovering valuable minerals such as lithium from seawater
• The future of sustainable water and resource management

With an estimated 2.2 billion people worldwide lacking access to safely managed drinking water, Guo's research offers a glimpse of how next-generation technologies could help address both global water shortages and growing demand for critical minerals.

Researchers recently explained their method in a paper published in Light: Science & Applications.

Journalists can connect with Guo by contacting Luke Auburn, director of communications at the University of Rochester’s Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, at luke.auburn@rochester.edu.

What if the government finally revealed the truth about UFOs and extraterrestrial visitors?

That’s the premise of the new Steven Spielberg film “Disclosure Day,” which the director has said was inspired by the U.S. government’s release of previously classified records related to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) that sparked congressional hearings and renewed interest in so-called “disclosure.”

But to University of Rochester astrophysicist Adam Frank the real question isn't whether the government is hiding secrets. It's what would count as actual evidence of extraterrestrial interaction.

“Over the last several years, we’ve had hearings, testimony, and lots of extraordinary claims,” Frank says. “What we haven’t had is the one thing science requires: hard physical evidence.”

Frank, an award-winning science communicator, astrophysicist, and leading expert on the search for extraterrestrial life, says the distinction matters. Stories, rumors, and secondhand accounts may generate headlines, but they don't constitute proof.

"What true disclosure would mean is simple," Frank says. "It wouldn’t be stories about alien spaceships, but the actual spaceships. Not stories about alien bodies, but actual physical evidence that independent scientists around the world could examine and verify."

As media coverage surrounding UFOs, government transparency, and extraterrestrial life intensifies, Frank offers a grounded scientific perspective on what we know, what we don't know, and how science separates possibility from proof.

Frank is available to discuss:
• The science behind UFO and UAP investigations
• What constitutes evidence of extraterrestrial life
• Why government disclosures have so far failed to provide proof
• The search for life elsewhere in the universe
• How Hollywood portrays alien contact versus scientific reality
• Why scientists remain open to — but skeptical of — extraordinary claims

"The universe is vast, and the possibility of life elsewhere is real," Frank says. "But if we're going to claim aliens have visited Earth, then we need evidence that meets the same standards we would demand for any other scientific discovery."

Frank is a frequent on-air commentator for live interviews and segments in national media outlets and the author of The Little Book of Aliens (Harper Collins, 2023). He also regularly contributes to written publications, including Forbes, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Scientific American. He is a recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal, which recognizes and honors outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public.

Click on Frank's profile to connect with him. 

Most soccer fans watch the FIFA World Cup for the goals, the stars, and the drama. Pablo Sierra Silva sees a lot more.

“You’re seeing empire, migration, nationalism, labor, religion, commercialization, and identity all unfolding in real time,” says Sierra Silva, a University of Rochester history professor who teaches a course called “World History Through Soccer.”

He adds: “The World Cup is never just 22 players kicking a ball.”

As the largest World Cup field ever unfolds across North America, Sierra Silva says the tournament offers a unique lens into the forces shaping the modern world. Fans need only look for it.

Take the scheduled Group Stage game between France and Senegal. The matchup reflects centuries of shared history, from French colonial rule in West Africa to contemporary migration patterns and diaspora populations. The crowd, the flags, the chants, and even who is playing can reveal as much as the final score.

The same is true for players like Spain’s teenage superstar Lamine Yamal, whose Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean heritage reflects broad changes in European society.

“He is redefining what it means to be Spanish,” Sierra Silva says. “This is one of the stories of modern Europe, and soccer makes it visible.”

Sierra Silva also studies how the World Cup has evolved into a global cultural phenomenon shaped by social media, celebrity, commerce, and fandom. Even seemingly simple traditions — such as collecting Panini World Cup stickers — offer lessons about geography, migration, and national identity.

For journalists looking for unique angles on the World Cup, Sierra Silva can provide expert commentary on:

• The history and politics behind international soccer rivalries
• Migration, diaspora communities, and national identity
• Race, religion, and representation in global sport
• Sports marketing, fandom, and media culture
• The World Cup as a reflection of world history and its various impacts on nations 

“People feel connected to histories and identities through these teams,” Sierra Silva says. “That’s why it matters.”

To connect with Sierra Silva, contact University of Rochester media relations specialist David Andreatta at david.andreatta@rochester.edu.

The U.S. national debt exceeding the size of the American economy is a dubious milestone that has sparked alarm and confusion among policymakers who are asking how worried they should be and what can be done to stop the bleeding.

David Primo, a political scientist and professor of business administration at the University of Rochester and a fiscal policy expert who has testified before Congress on the national debt, says Americans should be very concerned about the debt and, at the same time, know there is a solution.

“The federal budget outlook is grim and threatens the economic future of the United States,” says Primo, the author of Rules and Restraint: Government Spending and the Design of Institution (University of Chicago Press). “If Congress waits to act, Americans will need to give up a bigger piece of the nation’s economic pie to stabilize the country’s finances.”

Primo says a solution lies in a constitutional amendment restraining the federal budget. Specifically, such an amendment would clearly define spending and revenue, set spending limits based on a multiyear period, and allow for waiving the limit only with a large supermajority in Congress.

“As it stands, Congress is constitutionally incapable of tying its own hands, making it difficult for legislators to implement durable changes to the federal budget,” Primo says.

Recent data show the national debt has crossed 100% of the GDP threshold — roughly $31.27 trillion versus $31.22 trillion in economic output — marking the highest peacetime level in U.S. history. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that debt levels, if left unchecked, could reach 181% of GDP in the next 30 years.

Primo says delaying implementing a solution raises the risk of increased interest rates, which would, in turn, reduce investment and, ultimately, economic growth.

For journalists covering deficits, tax policy, and the long-term economic outlook, Primo offers key expertise and a clear lens on:

• The implications of national debt exceeding GDP
• Constitutional and institutional approaches to fiscal reform
• Fiscal policy and political incentives

“The United States is in precarious fiscal health,” Primo told Congress in 2023. “In the absence of a constitutional amendment, I fear it will take a fiscal crisis before Congress acts. Nobody wants that.”

Connect with Primo by clicking on his profile.

Put down the protest signs already. Retire the “Save Pluto” pins. Step away from the planetary outrage. Seriously.

So says University of Rochester astrophysicist Adam Frank in his latest column in Forbes. Frank explains that the real story behind Pluto being stripped of its planetary status in 2006 isn’t about what Pluto lost, but what scientists found.

Pluto made news recently when NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman replied to a Florida girl’s handwritten plea to restore Pluto’s designation as a planet, saying he supported such a move.

Frank has one word for Isaacman: Stop!

“Now Isaacman seems like a good guy and I sure don’t want to make little kids cry,” Frank writes. “Still, there’s an amazing science reason why Pluto got kicked out of the planet club.”

For decades, Frank explains, we thought the solar system ended with the nine familiar planets, with Pluto being the most distant. But beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt, a vast expanse filled with icy remnants from the birth of the solar system.

These objects are essentially the leftover building blocks of planets. Pluto, it turns out, is one of them.

That matters because this cosmic debris holds crucial clues about how planets form. Studying Pluto and its neighbors helps scientists understand the origins of Earth and the potential for life elsewhere in the universe.

So, Pluto isn’t an outcast; it’s a key witness to our cosmic history. It belongs to a newly understood class of worlds that are central to modern astronomy.

Rather than mourn Pluto’s status and push for restoring its former title, Frank suggests we celebrate its reclassification as the moment astronomers realized the solar system is far richer than they had ever imagined.

If you’re a journalist looking for an expert to talk about Pluto — or planets and worlds formerly known as planets — Frank is your scholar. He is a frequent contributor to the likes of CNN, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and MSNBC, and can help your audience make sense of our vast universe.

As Americans scale back spending on luxuries and some necessities — from dining out and live entertainment to home and auto maintenance — the ripple effects are being felt across the broader economy.

Daniel Burnside, clinical professor of finance at the Simon Business School, says the trend reflects more than just belt-tightening and signals deeper structural pressures tied to energy markets.
“Higher energy prices push inflation up and growth down, putting monetary policymakers in a bind,” Burnside says, explaining the current situation as being beyond a typical price spike.

“This isn’t just a price shock, it’s a capacity shock,” he says. “You can’t just flip a switch back to normal because a lot of energy infrastructure has been destroyed.

That distinction matters. Because energy costs are embedded in nearly every good and service, rising prices squeeze consumers beyond the gas pump. The result is reduced discretionary spending at venues like sporting and live music events, restaurants, and leisure destinations.

Looking ahead, Burnside says a rapid rebound in discretionary spending is possible but unlikely.

“If, by some miracle, energy prices quickly return to prewar levels, you would see a sharp run-up in discretionary stocks,” he says. “But that’s precisely because expectations are so low.”

For now, markets are signaling that a swift return to pre-crisis conditions isn’t on its way, Burnside says. Until energy supply stabilizes, the pressure on both consumers and the businesses that rely on it is likely to persist.

Burnside regularly fields inquiries from journalists looking for his insight on personal money matters and investing. Contact him by clicking on his profile.

A dramatic decline in reading for pleasure in the United States has fewer American parents reading aloud to their children — and experts warn the consequences can be dire.

“It builds connections,” Carol Anne St. George, an expert in early literacy at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education and Human Development, recently told The74 for an article citing a 41-percent decline in parents reading to children daily.

“People talk about text to text, text to world,” St. George said, “and those are the kinds of things that help children cognitively think and classify their world around them.”

Many young parents grew up in an education system focused on reading as a means to testing and building skills rather than enjoyment. As a result, St. George worries, they often view reading to their young as an obligation rather than a joy and a time to bond.

Experts say an increased reliance on screens and digital content and time pressures and competing demands on families have also fueled the decline.

St. George notes that children benefit greatly from being read to regularly. The advantages of early literacy include:

• Having a more robust vocabulary and stronger communications skills.
• Being better prepared to learn in school.
• Having a closer relationship with their parents.
• Higher academic achievement and better health outcomes later in life.

What Parents Can Do St. George advises parents to:

• Let children choose books they enjoy.
• Make reading part of a daily routine and that bedtime is ideal.
• Focus on fun and connection.
• Model good reading behavior because children mimic what they see.

St. George is available for media interviews and can be reached by contacting Theresa Danylak, the director of communications at the Warner School, at tdanylak@warner.rochester.edu.

The on-again-off-again nationwide boycott of Target has the retailer’s new chief executive, Michael Fiddelke, officer facing relentless pressure from activists on both sides of the issue.

David Primo, a professor of political science and business administration at the University of Rochester, says Fiddelke can’t seem to move Target from the crosshairs despite slashing prices on thousands of products and investing in stores, workers, and technology.

“Target remains a battleground for activists on the left and the right, and its new CEO hasn’t yet figured out how to extricate the company from this role,” Primo recently told USA Today. “Fiddelke already faces a huge challenge in turning around a company with significant operational issues. This certainly doesn’t help matters.”

Target has reported 13 straight quarters of sluggish sales. Company officials have admitted that shopper anger has contributed.

Activists in Minneapolis, where Target is based, organized a nationwide boycott last year over the company’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. From church pulpits to community gatherings, the policy about-face was widely viewed as a betrayal of Black Americans who had propped up the retail giant’s bottom line.

Primo studies corporate political strategies, among other areas, and regularly shares his insights with business journalists and political reporters. His essays have appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and he’s been interviewed by many radio and television outlets, including Bloomberg and National Public Radio.

Contact him by clicking on his profile.

With the recent presidential comments on potential alien life, UFO enthusiasts have new hope that finally we’re going to get federal “disclosure” of UFOs, aliens and the great government conspiracy surrounding both. But, as a scientist who studies the search for life in the Universe, the question I have is much simpler: What would disclosure really need to disclose? What is required for actual, factual proof that aliens exist and they’ve been visiting Earth?

We’ve already had three years of Congressional hearings on UFOs that have produced zero proof of anything. What we need now is simple: hard physical evidence. That is what disclosure needs to deliver. Not stories about alien spaceships being held by the government, but the actual spaceships themselves. Not stories about alien bodies but the actual icky, gooey bodies with their icky gooey tentacles. If disclosure provides physical evidence that independent laboratories and independent scientists all over the world can verify, then it will live up to its hype. That would make “Disclosure Day” truly history-making.