Virginia Tech experts available to discuss headlines in the news
The Virginia Tech media relations office has the following experts available for interviews this week surrounding issues in the news. To schedule an interview, please contact mediarelations@vt.edu.
COVID expansion of SNAP benefits expires
With the expiration of the pandemic-era enhancement of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), millions of Americans dependent on those benefits will find buying food harder and the poverty rate will rise. Elena Serrano, director of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Family Nutrition Program, explains what the end of the emergency allotments will mean and what can be done to address food insecurity. “Living costs have outpaced family income and more families, individuals, and seniors are suffering from food insecurity. Food insecurity is hidden. The face of food insecurity is not the face you may picture,” she says. “There are numerous opportunities to address the increase in food insecurity brought about by this change, and to overcome barriers to participation in nutrition assistance programs.” More here.
Netflix password sharing outrage can be explained by behavioral economics
Pioneering streaming service Netflix plans to crack down on password sharing among U.S. subscribers by the end of March, and customers have reacted with surprise, outrage and confusion, taking to social media outlets like Twitter to vent their frustration. Virginia Tech economics professorJadrian Wooten explains the behavioral economics concept behind the anger. “Loss aversion,” he says, “refers to the tendency for people to react more strongly to the prospect of losing something compared to the happiness they feel from gaining something.” Though subscribers accustomed to sharing passwords among family members have threatened to quit Netflix, “it is unlikely to cause a significant drop in their overall subscription numbers,” says Wooten. More here.
Can we really be “Everything Everywhere All at Once”?
The Oscar ceremony is coming up March 12, with the front runner, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a best picture nominee like no one has ever seen before, in no small part because of its use of the concept of multiple universes — shortened to “multiverse” in pop culture parlance. Award-winning Virginia Tech physics professor Djordje Minic discusses how physicists theorize that the multiverse might really function, and whether there can be contact between parallel universes. “Think of universes as expanding bubbles that can collide — and think of seeing that collision from inside a single bubble,” he says. Though research could soon illuminate how parallel universes work, “whatever that new and deeper theory is, it can’t contradict what we already know in quantum theory.” More here.
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If you are seeking an expert for a specific topic, please email mediarelations@vt.edu.
