Human-engineered Changes on Mississippi River Increased Extreme Floods
Science Newsline – April 4
A new study has revealed for the first time the last 500-year flood history of the Mississippi River. It shows a dramatic rise in the size and frequency of extreme floods in the past century–mostly due to projects to straighten, channelize, and bound the river with artificial levees … Zhixiong Shen of Coastal Carolina University used a technique called optically-stimulated luminescence–which determines a material’s age by analyzing when it was last exposed to sunlight. Matthew Therrell of the University of Alabama used annual tree rings to reconstruct a detailed record of more recent regional flooding.
Laboratory Equipment – April 4
Science Daily – April 4
Woods Hole Oceanographic – April 4
EurekAlert – April 4
Phys.org – April 4
Danbury News Times (Connecticut) – April 4
Greenwich Time (Connecticut) – April 4
Norwalk Hour (Connecticut) – April 4
San Francisco Gate – April 4
Stamford Advocate (Connecticut) – April 4
MRT.com (Midland, Texas) – April 4
New Haven Register (Connecticut) – April 4
MyPlainview.com (Texas) – April 4
KALB (Alexandria, Louisiana) – April 4
The Southern Illinoisan – April 4
WKRN (Nashville, Tennessee) – April 4
 
Denny Chimes rings 39 times for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – April 4
We are about 30 seconds away from the University of Alabama marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. This is a live look for you. They will be ringing 39 times in memory of Dr. King.

ProfNet Experts Available on U.S. Census, Howard University Protests, More
New York Lation News – April 4
Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area. Autocratic Leadership, Dr. Peter Harms, Assistant Professor of Management, The University of Alabama … Today’s political and cultural climate means a renewed study of autocratic leadership is relevant, and a fresh perspective is needed to understand the reasons people choose autocratic leaders.

Police spoke to YouTube suspect, family on morning of attack; saw no sign of threat
KOMO News (Seattle, Washington) – April 4
Police in Mountain View, California denied Wednesday that the family of the woman believed responsible for a shooting at YouTube headquarters warned them she might take violent action, as authorities confirmed that they believe her rage over the company’s policies motivated the attack … A study led by Adam Lankford, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, examined 292 mass shootings around the world from 1966 to 2012 and identified only one female suspect. It is not clear how significant Aghdam’s deviation from that pattern would be, though.
Fox 29 (San Antonio, Texas) – April 4
Fox 11 (Green Bay, Wisconsin) – April 4
NBC 4 (San Antonio, Texas) – April 4
NBC 3 (Las Vegas, Nevada) – April 4
Circa.com – April 4
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – April 4
KEPR (Pasco, Washington) – April 4
Fox 4 (Beaumont, Texas) – April 4
Fox 55 (Springfield, Illinois) – April 4
ABC 12 (Abilene, Texas) – April 4
ABC 12 (New Bern, North Carolina) – April 4
CBS 2 (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) – April 4
CBS 11 (Coos Bay, Oregon) – April 4
CBS 4 (Roseburg, Oregon) – April 4

Why Female Mass Shooters—Like the One at YouTube—Are So Extraordinarily Rare
Yahoo! – April 4
Hours after gunfire erupted at YouTube’s headquarters in Northern California on Tuesday, police identified the suspect as disgruntled video creator Nasim Aghdam—a woman, who died of a self-inflicted wound …  Research by University of Alabama criminal justice professor Adam Lankford, published in 2016, says that one woman was among 292 public mass shooters worldwide. Another FBI study revealed that of the 16,964 murderers in 2016, 7.6% were women and 60.7% were men; the gender of the rest was unknown.
San Francisco Chronicle – April 4

A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Resistance Stories
Hyper Allergic – April 4
Readers of the May 24, 1796 Pennsylvania Gazette found an advertisement offering ten dollars to any person who would apprehend Oney Judge, an enslaved woman who had fled from President George Washington’s Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon … The other two historians are Joshua Rothman of the University of Alabama and Edward E. Baptist (author of the 2016 The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism) of Cornell University.

UA students partner with Capstone Village residents to create children’s book
Crimson White – April 4
Looking down at a photo of her grandchildren, Beverley Shivers Sweeney, an 89-year-old resident of Capstone Village, told stories about taking her grandchildren to feed bread to ducks. Sitting by a lake, Sweeney and her grandchildren would give pieces of frozen bread to the ducks. Sweeney said looking at that picture was like going back in time.

U.S. Special Counsel Reportedly Tells Lawyers Trump Is Not ‘Target’ In Russia Probe
Radio Free Europe – April 5
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller continues to investigate whether President Donald Trump attempted to block his probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but he has told Trump lawyers the president is not currently a “target” of the probe, media are reporting … “If Mueller believes he has sufficient evidence to indict Trump, but cannot indict a sitting President, expect the report he writes to be sufficiently politically damaging to make impeachment the only option,” tweeted University of Alabama law professor Joyce Alene, who served as a U.S. attorney when Barack Obama was president.

More than $270,000 in tornado relief raised so far for JSU students, faculty
Anniston Star – April 4
The private charitable arm of Jacksonville State University plans to open registration Friday in preparation to distribute $275,000 to help students and faculty affected by the March 19 tornado … The University of Alabama created a similar fund to help students and faculty after a tornado damaged parts of Tuscaloosa in April 2011, said Julie Shelton, associate vice president for the UA office of finance. The fund, which raised $1.6 million, started giving money to those in need on May 31 of that year, Shelton said.

Animals and methane emissions
Fauna Forum – April 5
An interesting scientific experiment took place last year. Two reasons.  One is because it is about the air expelled from the anuses of living beings, popularly known as farting … Hundreds of biologists, researchers, wildlife enthusiasts and laypersons have written in from all over the world. Nick Caruso, a PhD student at the University of Alabama.

UA English professor sweeps awards season
Crimson White – April 4
Born in Greene County, Trudier Harris and her family moved to Tuscaloosa after her father died when she was six, leading her to Stillman College and her lengthy, notable career in English. Harris, a University of Alabama distinguished research professor of English, majored in English and social studies at Stillman College.