Frans von der Dunk’s July 20 piece for The Conversation on who owns the moon appeared in numerous publications in July. The articles were among 20 national news stories featuring University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty and staff during the month.

Von der Dunk, professor of space law at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, explained that the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 established the moon as a sort of “global commons” legally accessible to all countries, but that it failed to address the commercial exploitation of natural resources on celestial bodies.

“The very fundamental prohibition under the Outer Space Treaty to acquire new state territory, by planting a flag or by any other means, failed to address the commercial exploitation of natural resources on the moon and other celestial bodies,” von der Dunk wrote. “This is a major debate currently raging in the international community, with no unequivocally accepted solution in sight yet.”

The article was picked up by Newsweek, the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Post Intelligencer and more than three dozen other media outlets across the country.

Other coverage:

Chigozie Obioma, English, wrote a July 2 op-ed for The Guardian comparing mental health in the United States and Nigeria. He wrote that western nations could learn much from Nigerians’ general optimism and resilience.

Eighteen Native students recently attended the eighth annual Sovereign Native Youth STEM Leadership Academy at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The students learned about careers in science, education, government, the law, journalism and filmmaking. Indianz.com published an article on the academy July 2.

A new study by Syed Imran Ali Meerza and Christopher Gustafson, agricultural economics, has shown that an incident of fraud in food production can change consumer behavior toward all brands that produce that kind of food. Futurity.org ran an article on the research July 2.

Liz VanWormer, veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences, was interviewed for a July 5 Health feature on things people can catch from their pets. “The main types of worms people worry about [in pets] are roundworms and hookworms,” she said. The story also appeared on MSN.com.

Richard Edwards, director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, wrote a July 5 op-ed for The Washington Post about many black homesteading sites falling into decay and the importance of saving them. Edwards is also director of the Black Homesteaders in the Great Plains project at the university.

Brad Lubben, agricultural economics, provided an update on the 2018 Farm Bill July 6 for Ohio Farmer. He said the challenge now is crafting a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Joy Castro, English and ethnic studies, was interviewed for a July 8 Salon article about women deciding to stop coloring their gray hair. She cut her hair back to just the silver four years ago, which preceded a number of life-changing events.

Ron White, a food service manager at the university, was featured July 10 in BTN.com’s Staff Spotlight series. White and his team host summer grill-outs on East Campus that have proven popular.

National Review ran an article July 12 on Ted Kooser’s “Kindest Regards: New and Selected Poems.” Kooser is a Presidential Professor of English at Nebraska and a former U.S. poet laureate.

Billionaire investor and University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumnus Warren Buffett donated more than $100,000 worth of stock to the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Nebraskan, on July 16. CNBC ran an article on the donation July 18. Stories also appeared in the Columbus Telegram, Fremont Tribune, Grand Island Independent, KFAB, KIOS, KMTV, Lexington Clipper-Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, Norfolk Daily News, Omaha World-Herald and Scottsbluff Star-Herald.

A passage from University of Nebraska–Lincoln political scientists John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse’s book “Stealth Democracy: Americans’ Beliefs About How Government Should Work” was cited in a July 18 Vox piece on the “do what you want” theory of politics. Hibbing and Theiss-Morse write that most people feel strongly about few, if any, political issues.

A July 18 Forbes story on a smart bandage developed by researchers at Tufts University mentioned another smart bandage developed by Ali Tamayol, mechanical and materials engineering, and colleagues at Harvard Medical School and MIT. Both bandages can precisely administer drugs to speed healing.

The Nebraska/Harvard/MIT smart bandage was also featured in a July 19 New Scientist article. Articles on the smart bandage appeared in more than 30 other media outlets across the country.

Gus Hurwitz, law, was quoted in a July 19 Wall Street Journal article on the European Union slapping Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., with a $5 billion fine for abusing the dominance of its Android mobile platform. Hurwitz said any moves by the Federal Trade Commission to restrict Google’s growth could be bad for consumers.

Tiffany Heng-Moss, interim dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, recently surprised the Kime family of Lincoln by presenting them with new diplomas after their previous diplomas were destroyed in a house fire. The Kime family holds five degrees from Nebraska. Midwest Messenger published an article on the diploma presentation July 19.

The Nebraska Public Power District is participating in a federal study to develop safe methods to collect and store carbon produced by coal-fired power plants and ethanol plants. Adam Liska, biological systems engineering, and agronomy and horticulture, was interviewed for a July 21 Omaha World-Herald article on the study. The story was picked up by the Associated Press and U.S. News and World Report.

Steve Taylor, a food allergy researcher at Nebraska, was quoted in a July 23 Reuters article on a study showing that children’s foods promoted as gluten-free tend to be lacking in nutritional value and loaded with sugar like other processed foods. The story was picked up by more than a dozen media outlets across the country.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln will partner with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa on the Institute for Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Education. The institute will be based at Iowa State. Stories on the institute appeared in the Columbus Telegram, Fairbury Journal-News, Fremont Tribune, Grand Island Independent, Holdrege Citizen, Kearney Hub, KIOS, KLKN, KNEB, KRVN, Lincoln Journal Star, Norfolk Daily News, Omaha World-Herald, WOWT and more than 30 other media outlets across the country.

Jody Green, an urban entomologist with Nebraska Extension, was interviewed for a July 26 Reader’s Digest article on how to spot bed bugs in an airplane seat. The story later appeared on AOL.com.

Faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media are logged at http://newsroom.unl.edu/inthenews.
 If you have additions to this list, contact Sean Hagewood at shagewood2@unl.edu or 402-472-8514. If you have suggestions for national news stories, contact Leslie Reed at lreed5@unl.edu or 402-472-2059.