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Tag: Ohio State University

  • Illinois surgeon pleads not guilty to the killings of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in Ohio

    An Illinois doctor indicted on murder charges in the December shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in their Columbus home pleaded not guilty to the killings in an Ohio courtroom on Friday.Michael David McKee, 39, appeared remotely on camera from jail for his arraignment in Franklin County, where he faced four aggravated murder counts and one count of aggravated burglary while using a firearm suppressor in connection with the Dec. 30 double homicide of Monique Tepe, 39, and Dr. Spencer Tepe, 37. He was garbed in prison attire and did not speak during the brief hearing. Defense attorney Diane Menashe waived a request for bond, at least for now.The mystery that first surrounded the case — which featured no forced entry, no weapon and no obvious signs of theft, additional violence or a motive — drew national attention. McKee, of Chicago, was arrested 11 days later near his workplace in Rockford, Illinois. He was returned to Ohio on Tuesday to face the charges against him.Who is Michael David McKee?McKee attended Catholic high school in Zanesville, a historic Ohio city about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east of the capital, according to the Diocese of Columbus. He enrolled at Ohio State University in September 2005 — the same semester that his future wife, then Monique Sabaturski, enrolled, university records show. Both graduated with bachelor’s degrees in June 2009. Sabaturski earned a master of education degree from Ohio State in 2011, and McKee earned his medical degree there in 2014.Sabaturski and McKee married in Columbus in August 2015 but were living apart by the time Monique filed to end in the marriage in May 2017, court records show. Their divorce was granted that June. McKee was living in Virginia at the time, court and address records show. He completed a two-year fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in October 2022, according to the school.McKee also lived in and was licensed to practice medicine in both California and in Nevada, where he was among doctors named in a personal injury lawsuit in a Las Vegas court in 2023. OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois, where McKee was working at the time of his arrest, declined to provide specific information on the dates of his employment. His Illinois medical license became active in October 2024.What is McKee accused of?An Ohio grand jury indicted McKee in the double homicide last week.McKee is accused of illegally entering the Tepes’ home with a firearm equipped with a silencer, shooting the Tepes — whose bodies were found in a second-floor bedroom — and leaving the property along a dark alley alongside the house.Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant has said that McKee was the person seen walking down that alley in video footage captured the night of the killings. She also said a gun found in his Chicago apartment was a ballistic match to evidence at the scene and that his vehicle’s movements were tracked from Columbus back to Illinois.A message seeking comment was left with McKee’s attorney.McKee is charged with two aggravated murder counts for each homicide, one for prior calculation and design and one for committing the crime, as well as facing the aggravated burglary count. If convicted, he faces a minimum of life in prison with parole eligibility after 32 years and a maximum term of life in prison without parole.How were the killings discovered?Columbus police conducted a wellness check on Spencer Tepe at around 10 a.m. on Dec. 30, after his manager at a dental practice in Athens, Ohio, reported that he had not shown up to work on that day, saying tardiness was very worrying and “out of character” for Tepe, according to a 911 call.Someone else called to request a wellness check before a distraught man who described himself as a friend of Spencer Tepe called police and said, “Oh, there’s a body. There’s a body. Oh my God.” He said he could see Spencer Tepe’s body was off the side of a bed in a pool of blood.The Franklin County Coroner’s Office deemed the killings an “apparent homicide by gunshot wounds.”Who were the Tepes?Family members said the Tepes were “extraordinary people whose lives were filled with love, joy and deep connection to others.”They have described Monique as a “joyful mother,” avid baker and “thoughtful planner.” According to their obituaries, which were issued jointly, the pair were married in 2020.Spencer Tepe got his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University in 2012 and earned his doctor of dental surgery degree in 2017, according to school records. He was a member of the American Dental Association and had been involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.They had two young children. Both were home at the time of the killings and left unharmed, as was the family dog.

    COLUMBUS, Ohio —

    An Illinois doctor indicted on murder charges in the December shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in their Columbus home pleaded not guilty to the killings in an Ohio courtroom on Friday.

    Michael David McKee, 39, appeared remotely on camera from jail for his arraignment in Franklin County, where he faced four aggravated murder counts and one count of aggravated burglary while using a firearm suppressor in connection with the Dec. 30 double homicide of Monique Tepe, 39, and Dr. Spencer Tepe, 37. He was garbed in prison attire and did not speak during the brief hearing. Defense attorney Diane Menashe waived a request for bond, at least for now.

    The mystery that first surrounded the case — which featured no forced entry, no weapon and no obvious signs of theft, additional violence or a motive — drew national attention. McKee, of Chicago, was arrested 11 days later near his workplace in Rockford, Illinois. He was returned to Ohio on Tuesday to face the charges against him.

    Who is Michael David McKee?

    McKee attended Catholic high school in Zanesville, a historic Ohio city about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east of the capital, according to the Diocese of Columbus. He enrolled at Ohio State University in September 2005 — the same semester that his future wife, then Monique Sabaturski, enrolled, university records show. Both graduated with bachelor’s degrees in June 2009. Sabaturski earned a master of education degree from Ohio State in 2011, and McKee earned his medical degree there in 2014.

    Sabaturski and McKee married in Columbus in August 2015 but were living apart by the time Monique filed to end in the marriage in May 2017, court records show. Their divorce was granted that June. McKee was living in Virginia at the time, court and address records show. He completed a two-year fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in October 2022, according to the school.

    McKee also lived in and was licensed to practice medicine in both California and in Nevada, where he was among doctors named in a personal injury lawsuit in a Las Vegas court in 2023. OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois, where McKee was working at the time of his arrest, declined to provide specific information on the dates of his employment. His Illinois medical license became active in October 2024.

    What is McKee accused of?

    An Ohio grand jury indicted McKee in the double homicide last week.

    McKee is accused of illegally entering the Tepes’ home with a firearm equipped with a silencer, shooting the Tepes — whose bodies were found in a second-floor bedroom — and leaving the property along a dark alley alongside the house.

    Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant has said that McKee was the person seen walking down that alley in video footage captured the night of the killings. She also said a gun found in his Chicago apartment was a ballistic match to evidence at the scene and that his vehicle’s movements were tracked from Columbus back to Illinois.

    A message seeking comment was left with McKee’s attorney.

    McKee is charged with two aggravated murder counts for each homicide, one for prior calculation and design and one for committing the crime, as well as facing the aggravated burglary count. If convicted, he faces a minimum of life in prison with parole eligibility after 32 years and a maximum term of life in prison without parole.

    How were the killings discovered?

    Columbus police conducted a wellness check on Spencer Tepe at around 10 a.m. on Dec. 30, after his manager at a dental practice in Athens, Ohio, reported that he had not shown up to work on that day, saying tardiness was very worrying and “out of character” for Tepe, according to a 911 call.

    Someone else called to request a wellness check before a distraught man who described himself as a friend of Spencer Tepe called police and said, “Oh, there’s a body. There’s a body. Oh my God.” He said he could see Spencer Tepe’s body was off the side of a bed in a pool of blood.

    The Franklin County Coroner’s Office deemed the killings an “apparent homicide by gunshot wounds.”

    Who were the Tepes?

    Family members said the Tepes were “extraordinary people whose lives were filled with love, joy and deep connection to others.”

    They have described Monique as a “joyful mother,” avid baker and “thoughtful planner.” According to their obituaries, which were issued jointly, the pair were married in 2020.

    Spencer Tepe got his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University in 2012 and earned his doctor of dental surgery degree in 2017, according to school records. He was a member of the American Dental Association and had been involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

    They had two young children. Both were home at the time of the killings and left unharmed, as was the family dog.

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  • Ohio State beats Minnesota 82-74 in OT with help from John Mobley Jr. and Bruce Thornton


    John Mobley Jr. scored 26 points and made five 3-pointers, Bruce Thornton had 23 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Ohio State beat Minnesota 82-74 in overtime on Tuesday night.

    Devin Royal scored five of his 16 points in overtime and Christoph Tilly finished with 11 for Ohio State (13-5, 5-3 Big Ten), which improved to 15-2 all-time against Minnesota in the Schottenstein Center. Mobley, coming off a career-high 28 points and six 3-pointers against UCLA, was 9 of 19 from the field.

    Jaylen Crocker-Johnson scored a career-high 26 points — his third straight game with 20-plus — for Minnesota (10-9, 3-5), which has lost four straight games. Cade Tyson, ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring at 20.8 points per game, finished with 15 points.

    Crocker-Johnson was fouled while making a basket with 40.2 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 67-all, but missed the ensuing free throw. Mobley missed a long 3-pointer at the other end and Minnesota guard Langston Reynolds raced the other way for a layup that rolled off the rim. The Golden Gophers had another shot at a winner but Tyson’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer did not hit the rim.

    Colin White’s steal and fast-break layup gave Ohio State a 76-71 lead in overtime. Thornton scored six points in the extra frame.

    Last season, the Buckeyes edged Minnesota 89-88 in double overtime.

    Up next

    Minnesota: Returns home to play No. 7 Nebraska on Saturday.

    Ohio State: Goes on the road to play No. 3 Michigan on Friday.

    CBS Minnesota

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  • Michigan and Ohio State take rivalry to new heights with zero-waste game day experiences

    One of the oldest and most notorious rivalries in college football is between the University of Michigan and Ohio State. On Saturday afternoon, the Wolverines will take on the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor for their annual matchup. Behind the scenes, staffers at each school will compete for a totally different title.

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  • Ohio State University launches initiative requiring that students study AI

    Columbus, Ohio — College freshmen Ashlee Croll and Brooklyn Baldwin are part of something new this fall at Ohio State University that will infuse artificial intelligence lessons into every major.  

    “As a bio major, you have to take a lot of hard science classes, math classes,” Croll told CBS News. “So, there’s going to be struggles along the way that, you know, I’m not going to be able to access a tutor all the time. So I think AI will be a little helpful in that.”

    The goal of the initiative, AI Fluency, is that students, beginning with the class of 2029, will graduate and be fluent in both their major and AI. 

    “I hope that they learn how to use it effectively for, you know, brainstorming, for organizing thoughts, but they don’t replace, sort of, their critical thought with it,” said Kevin Richards, an assistant language professor at OSU.

    Beginning this year, all freshmen are required to take a course in generative AI and multiple workshops aimed at real-world applications to help them master the technology.

    In the last decade, the number of job listings asking for AI skills has soared by 619% in the United States, according to a recent analysis from the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. In the last year alone, the number of AI-themed job postings has increased by 103%, Brookings found.  

    “It’s a thing that really helps you do your job better,” Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, the popular app that teaches foreign languages, told CBS News. “…Having something in your resume that says something about AI would give you an advantage, because a lot of our work is being done this way.”

    Von Ahn says AI hasn’t replaced any full-time positions at Duolingo. However, he explains that it took the company more than a decade to create its first 100 courses. By using AI, it has created nearly 150 new ones in the last year alone.

    “It allows us to go faster and it allows us to create, you know, high-quality content just at a much higher pace,” von Ahn said. 

    Many Americans remain skeptical of AI. In a new survey of U.S. adults released by the Pew Research Center on Wednesday, 53% of respondents said they believed that AI will worsen people’s ability to think creatively.

    OSU is hoping that threading AI into its curriculum will help its students’ resumes stand out. Baldwin is tentatively optimistic it will give her an advantage when she enters the workforce.

    “There’s a lot I didn’t know about before taking this class,” Baldwin said. “And if there’s other college students that haven’t been offered a class like this, and haven’t been told about these new AI tools, then maybe have a leg up in that sense.”

    Meg Oliver

    Meg Oliver is a correspondent for CBS News based in New York City. Oliver is a veteran journalist with more than two decades of reporting and anchoring experience.

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  • Ohio State University initiative requires students study AI



    Ohio State University initiative requires students study AI – CBS News










































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    Beginning this year, all Ohio State University freshmen are required to take a course in generative AI and multiple workshops aimed at real-world applications to help them master the technology. Meg Oliver reports.

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  • Ted Carter to unveil 10-year plan for Ohio State University. Here’s what to know

    After 20 months at the helm, Ohio State University President Ted Carter is finally ready to unveil his long-term plans for the university.

    The president will deliver his second State of the University address Sept. 17 at noon, where he is scheduled to reveal the 10-year strategic plan he’s been teasing since the early days of his tenure, which began Jan. 1, 2024.

    Carter laid out the decade-long framework for the university’s future, titled “Education for Citizenship 2035,” at his investiture in November 2024, where he announced that Ohio State will be “the future of higher education.”

    Soon, the community will at last know what that future has in store.

    President Ted Carter gives a report during the Ohio State University Board of Trustees meeting at the Longaberger Alumni House on Aug. 20, 2025.

    Where can I watch the State of the University Address?

    Students, faculty, staff and members of the public are invited to view Carter’s remarks via livestream.

    The address will begin at noon Sept. 17, and the livestream can be accessed on the university’s website.

    What do we know about Carter’s 10-year plan so far?

    During Carter’s first State of the University address in April 2024, the president said he was waiting to finalize a long-term plan until he received feedback from the Ohio State community.

    At his November 2024 investiture, Carter announced Education for Citizenship 2035, which he said he’d been crafting over the previous 11 months of his presidency through listening sessions, workshops and a study of Ohio State’s history and traditions.

    Carter also said the framework would be further fleshed out over the following six months, with Education for Citizenship set to officially launch July 1.

    Named after the university’s motto and influenced by its status as a land-grant institution, Carter said the framework will revolve around a three-part mission — educate the next generation, build a top-tier culture and advance research and creativity.

    Carter said those goals will be accomplished through six dynamic and interconnected themes: academics, research and creative expression, talent and culture, operations, health care and athletics.

    At his investiture, Carter said some of the key strategic priorities apart of his 10-year plan will include student academic success, more internship opportunities, better connections to Ohio State’s alumni network, college affordability and accessibility and artificial intelligence.

    The university has recently revealed some developments that seem to be in pursuit of those goals.

    In June, Ohio State announced it would be launching an AI Fluency initiative for the current fall semester, whereby AI education became embedded into every undergraduate student’s core curriculum.

    Earlier this week, the university revealed “Buckeye Bridge,” a program that allows low-to-middle-income Ohioans who earn an associate degree from Columbus State Community College to qualify for an Ohio State bachelor’s degree at no cost. The program is set to launch in 2026.

    Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OSU President Carter to share 10-year plan at State of University address

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  • Local city warns of invasive pests causing damage to plants

    A local city is warning people of box tree moths and caterpillars that have impacted many landscapes this summer.

    [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

    The City of Centerville issued the warning on both social media and its city website.

    They said that both the box tree moth and caterpillar, both non-native pests, could wipe out “key foundational shrubs.”

    As previously reported by News Center 7, box tree moths caused significant damage to gardens in Kettering.

    TRENDING STORIES:

    The Ohio State University said that the box tree moth and caterpillar were first detected in southwest Ohio in 2023.

    “They can quickly defoliate boxwoods and will strip bark once they run out of leaves to eat,” Ohio State said.

    The city of Centerville posted this information on its website:

    How to identify the box tree moth:

    • Moths: Look for moths that have two distinctive white dots marked on their front wings. Moths with light-colored wings are more common than those with dark-colored wings.

    • Caterpillars: You would see distinctive green to greenish-yellow caterpillars with black stripes and black dots on boxwoods. There are no native caterpillars that defoliate boxwoods. Small, disorganized collections of silk may be found within the defoliation.

    What should you do:

    1. Do not make preventative insecticide applications to boxwoods. Only perform insecticide applications if a boxwood is identified to have a box tree caterpillar infestation or boxwoods in proximity have a confirmed infestation of the box tree caterpillar.

    2. Monitor your boxwoods as the box tree moth and caterpillar can appear anywhere. Be aware of what to look for.

    4. You can also contact a private horticulture professional to evaluate your boxwood and provide possible treatment options.

    April through October is the active season for box tree moths, making it crucial for gardeners to be vigilant during these months.

    Gardeners experiencing similar issues are encouraged to visit their local garden center for sprays to eliminate the pests.

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  • Study examines link between underwater landslides and tsunamis

    Study examines link between underwater landslides and tsunamis

    Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have calculated a way to determine the speed of past underwater landslides, a new study has found. 

    Researchers from The Ohio State University studied the remains of an underwater landslide just off the coast of Oregon – dubbed the 44-N Slide – that is part of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ). 

    Stretching from Vancouver Island in Canada to Cape Mendocino in Northern California, the CSZ is a dipping fault line that has been the source of some of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. These quakes can result in underwater (also known as submarine) landslides, which can lead to tsunamis. 

    Now, using properties measured from distortions in the seafloor near the 44-N Slide, researchers have developed a novel approach for analyzing the risk that underwater landslides may trigger deadly tsunamis. 

    Previous research showed that large blocks from the 44-N Slide dropped down 1,200 meters at a 13-degree slope, and slid 10 kilometers horizontally before it finally came to a standstill. The researchers in this study investigated the shape and volume of the rock structures in the area where it was deposited, creating what’s called a “deformation zone.”  

    Their findings showed that the 44-N Slide was estimated to be moving at 60 meters per second during its fall, and impacted the seafloor with so much force that it created a 275-meter thick and 10-kilometer-long region of contorted and deformed seafloor sediment. Because of its velocity, it also likely could have been “tsunamigenic,” meaning it was powerful enough to have generated a huge tsunami on its own, though it’s unclear if that particular instance did.

    Researchers are unsure when the 44-N Slide might have occurred.

    “Just like on land, submarine landslides happen when giant masses of rock and sediment fall,” said Derek Sawyer, co-author of the study and an associate professor of earth sciences at The Ohio State University. “They can be really dangerous to people if they create tsunamis, which is why we want to understand how, when and why they form.”

    The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

    Despite being a relatively common occurrence, known instances of tsunamigenic slides have been extremely limited. Moreover, discerning the type of underwater landslide and whether that event could cause such a disaster can be a challenging task – mainly because researchers are only able to interpret how fast these landslides travel from the deposits they leave behind, said Sawyer.  

    The minimum velocity needed for an underwater landslide to trigger a tsunami is still unconfirmed, Sawyer said. One piece of evidence is the Storegga Slides, a series of landslides that occurred in the Norwegian Sea over a period of thousands of years, which were estimated to have a speed of between 35-60 meters per second. It caused such massive tsunamis that some scientists believed it to be responsible for washing away the land bridge between Great Britain and the rest of Europe.

    The 1929 Grand Banks Earthquake also triggered underwater landslides and turbidity flows that moved between 15-30 meters per second, and caused tsunami waves so high that they destroyed a number of coastal communities. The underwater landslides themselves ripped apart underwater communication cables connecting the U.S. and Europe.

    “Submarine landslides can sometimes move so fast that they cause infrastructure damage to the global internet cables that line the ocean floor, as well as trigger and even amplify earthquake-caused tsunamis,” said Sawyer. 

    Nevertheless, both the Storegga Slides and the Grand Banks Earthquake served as a fount of knowledge for researchers striving to more closely examine the complexities behind these seismic-induced phenomena.

    “Because of the timing of the cable breaks, scientists could back-calculate how fast those flows were going, which was the first time we’d ever been able to do that in the marine environment,” said Sawyer. “The severity of these events, like how big the tsunami is or how dangerous it is, is tightly tied to how fast the landslide moves.”

    Deciphering how past landslides played out is vital, not only for protecting underwater cables, but also for people living on coastlines and policymakers who guide emergency response plans in response to tsunamis, said Sawyer. 

    After all, getting a better grip on the mechanics of underwater landslides could give the public time to prepare for the hazards they cause. But without better seafloor imaging technologies, past slides and threats from future ones could remain undetected, said Sawyer. 

    “We’re a long way off from really being able to predict with any degree of certainty what style of a landslide is likely to happen in the event of an earthquake,” he said. “But this type of study helps us understand the entire range of possible outcomes.”

    The techniques highlighted in the paper will also be made available to researchers interested in modeling underwater landslide deformation zones in other parts of the world. 

    This work was supported by the National Science Foundation. Other Ohio State co-authors were Ph.D student Brandi L. Lenz, now at Texas A&M University, and W. Ashley Griffith, an associate professor in earth sciences. 

    #

    Ohio State University

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  • American Families Have a Massive Food-Waste Problem

    American Families Have a Massive Food-Waste Problem

    If you have children, you probably already understand them to be very adorable food-waste machines. If you do not have children, I have five, so let me paint you a picture. On a recent Tuesday night, the post-dinner wreckage in my house was devastating. Peas were welded to the floor; my 5-year-old had decided that he was allergic to chicken and left a pile of it untouched on his plate. After working all day, making the meal in the first place, and then spending dinnertime convincing five irrational, tiny people to try their vegetables, I didn’t even have the energy to convince them to take their plates into the kitchen, let alone box up their leftovers for tomorrow. So I did exactly what I’m not supposed to do, according to the planet’s future: I threw it all out, washed the dishes, and flopped into bed, exhausted.

    Tens of millions of tons of food that leaves farms in the United States is wasted. Much of that waste happens at the industrial level, during harvesting, handling, storage, and processing, but a staggering amount of food gets wasted at home, scraped into the garbage can at the end of a meal or tossed after too long in the crisper drawer. According to a 2020 Penn State University study, almost a third of the food that American households buy is wasted.

    On the individual level, all of this waste is expensive, annoying, and gross. In the aggregate, it’s unfortunate, given that about a fifth of American families reported not having enough to eat last year. But it’s also bad for the planet. Every step of the modern food-production process generates greenhouse gases. Before they ended up in the trash, all of those slimy vegetables and uneaten hunks of chicken were grown using water and farmland and pesticides and fertilizer. They were most likely packed in plastic and paper, and then stored and transported using fossil fuels and electricity. Throwing away food means throwing away all of the resources it requires, but the problems don’t end there: As food rots in landfills and open dumps, it emits methane, a greenhouse gas much more potent than carbon dioxide. According to the United Nations, food loss and waste accounts for about 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.

    Read: Your diet is cooking the planet

    Some amount of food waste is probably inevitable, especially with young kids. “The very youngest children … are still kind of understanding what they like, with novel foods and healthy foods. We want to give them that opportunity,” Brian Roe, a farm-management professor and the director of the Food Waste Collaborative at Ohio State University, told me. “You need to waste a little bit of food while they develop palates.”

    More saliently, Roe’s research indicates that food waste is often inversely proportional to spare time: We get busy, we eat out, and our well-intended groceries head to the trash. His data show a 280 percent increase in food waste from February 2021 to February 2022, right as pandemic restrictions were loosening and people with the income to do so started eating out more. In other words, as soon as people had the option to eat without cooking, they did. “When you’ve got more kids and more craziness and a time crunch, all of a sudden, what you thought was going to be 40 minutes to prep dinners is out the window,” he told me. Thus, “those ingredients are more likely to go to waste.”

    Wasting less food starts at the grocery store: Most financially secure families simply need less food than they buy. The sustainability consultant Ashlee Piper told me that she likes to take a picture of her fridge and pantry before heading to the store, in order to avoid buying duplicates. She also recommends shopping not for your “aspirational life” but for the one you are actually living: If, realistically, you’re never going to make your own pasta or pack gourmet lunches for your kids, don’t shop for those meals. “There’s no lunchbox sheriff,” she told me. (Comforting!)

    Once you unpack the groceries, experts say to be strategic about making perishable foods highly visible, accessible, and appetizing. Julia Rockwell, a San Francisco mom and sustainability expert, recommends an “Eat Me” station, whether it’s a basket, a bowl, a tray, or a section of the refrigerator, which she says is especially helpful for teenagers, inclined as they are to “go full claws into the fridge.” A designated place for high-urgency snacks reminds them, “Here’s a yogurt that you missed, or here’s a half of a banana, or here’s the things let’s go to first,” she told me. Leftovers and soon-to-spoil foods also make great dinners or lunches for younger kids, who will be happy to snack on items that don’t necessarily go together in a traditional meal.

    If you’re cleaning out your fridge and pantry strictly according to expiration dates, stop: If a food is past its expiration date but looks and smells fine, it probably is; most of the time, expiration dates are an indicator of quality, not safety. (Deli meats and unpasteurized cheeses are notable exceptions.) Brush up on the language of food packaging—“best by” is just a suggestion, while “expiration” is the date the manufacturer has decided when quality will begin to decline. Frozen food is pretty much always safe, and packaged foods and canned goods without swelling, dents, or rust can last for years, though they may not taste as good. (You can conceal your less-than-fresh nonperishables in another meal, such as adding older ground beef from the freezer to a chili. When in doubt about, say, an older vegetable, Roe says, “coat it in panko and fry it up.”)

    Read: Expiration dates are meaningless

    And whatever you’re feeding your kids, experts repeatedly told me, you should probably be feeding them less. How many blueberries does your pickiest kid really eat at the breakfast table? And how many do you put on their plate that you wish they’d eat? The difference in this pint-size math equation is an essential factor in food-waste management for families. Jennifer Anderson, a mom and registered dietician, discourages “wishful portions.” “You know the amount you want your child to eat, so you put that much on their plate … Take that amount, cut it in half, then cut it in half again,” she told me. “A practical portion is a quarter of what you wish they would eat.”

    Since talking to Anderson, I’ve kept her advice in mind. I still spend more time than I’d like trying to convince my kids to eat yellow peppers when they’ve decided the red ones are the only acceptable type. But the math is simple: Smaller portions on their plate means fewer leftovers in the trash later, and I’ve noticed a real difference.

    And I still find myself dumping plates of picked-over food into the trash or compost. But I move on to the next meal with more grace and less guilt for having helped my kids become little stewards of a healthier planet. I want them to understand that our food comes from somewhere, and that not eating it has consequences. That doesn’t mean guilting them for not liking dragon fruit, or demanding that they clean their plate at every meal, or scaring them about climate change. It’s more like bringing them along, helping them participate in a family project with planetary implications. Wish me luck with the peppers.

    This story is part of the Atlantic Planet series supported by HHMI’s Science and Educational Media Group.

    Alexandra Frost

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  • How to watch today’s Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Ohio State Buckeyes NCAA football game

    How to watch today’s Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Ohio State Buckeyes NCAA football game

    drew-allar-penn-state.jpg
    Drew Allar #15 of the Penn State Nittany Lions is seen during the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium on September 16, 2023 in Champaign, Illinois. 

    Michael Hickey/Getty Images


    Kalen King is “looking forward” to facing Marvin Harrison Jr. when the Penn State Nittany Lions face the Ohio State Buckeyes. With Big 10 and playoff implications on the line, Penn State’s star cornerback knows that stopping Harrison, OSU’s superstar receiver and the top wide receiver of the 2024 NFL Draft class, is the key to securing the win.

    One of the biggest matchups of Week 8 of the 2023 NCAA college football season, both teams come into Saturday’s game undefeated. Penn State has one of the best defenses playing this season, but they haven’t faced a true test yet. OSU has been riddled with injuries all season and has relied heavily on Harrison. A generational talent and the son of former Indianapolis Colts WR Marvin Harrison Sr., OSU’s star receiver is up for the challenge.

    The Buckeyes have won six-straight against the Nittany Lions, and are 10-1 in the teams’ last 11 meetings. This rivalry runs deep and these are two terrific teams squaring off in what is sure to be an epic dogfight. We’re looking forward to it.

    When is the Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Ohio State Buckeyes football game

    The Nittany Lions take on the Buckeyes on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 at 12: 00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT). You can watch the game on Fox.

    How to watch the Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Ohio State Buckeyes football game

    Watching Penn State vs. the Ohio State Buckeyes game has never been easier, whether you’re watching on a TV or mobile device thanks to Sling TV, an easy and inexpensive way to stream the game on Fox.

    Fox is included in many cable TV packages. Don’t have a cable TV package? One of the most cost-effective ways to get the channel is through a subscription to Sling TV. The streamer offers access to NFL Network, local NBC, Fox and ABC affiliates (where available) and ESPN with its Orange + Blue Tier plan. Also worth noting: Sling TV comes with 50 hours of cloud-based DVR recording space included, perfect for recording all the season’s top NFL and college football matchups.

    That plan normally costs $60 per month, but the streamer is currently offering a 50% off promotion for your first month, so you’ll pay just $30. You can learn more by tapping the button below.

    Top features of Sling TV Orange + Blue tier:

    • There are 46 channels to watch in total, including local NBC, FOX and ABC affiliates (where available).
    • You get access to most local NFL games and nationally broadcast games at the lowest price.
    • All subscription tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage.

    Upgrade to Sling TV’s Sports Extra package

    Sling TV has a new offering for the 2023 NCAA college football season and the  2023 NFL Season called Sports Extra. The new package is designed for NFL and college football fans, with access to NFL Redzone, ESPN, NFL, SEC, ACC, PAC 12, Big10 and Longhorn Networks.

    There’s a great preseason deal on Sling TV Sports Extra going on right now: You can get four months of Sling TV Orange + Blue + Sports Extra for $219. It’s the most cost effective way to stream most college football and NFL games this year.

    More ways to watch: Penn State vs. Ohio State game: FuboTV

    You can also catch the game on FuboTV. FuboTV is a sports-centric streaming service that offers access to almost every NFL and college football game of the season. Packages include CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, NFL Network, NFL RedZone and more, so you’ll be able to watch more than just today’s games.

    To watch college football without cable, start a seven-day free trial of Fubo. You can begin watching immediately on your TV, phone, tablet or computer. 

    In addition to college football,  FuboTV offers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international soccer games. FuboTV starts at $75 per month for the Pro tier (includes NFL Network); the $100 per month Ultimate tier includes NFL RedZone.

    Top features of FuboTV:

    • The Pro tier includes 169 channels, including NFL Network; the Ultimate tier includes 289 channels, including NFL RedZone.
    • FuboTV includes all the channels you’ll need to watch live sports, including CBS (not available through Sling TV).
    • All tiers come with 1,000 hours of DVR recording.

    Stream college football games on Hulu + Live TV

    You can watch every college football game with Hulu + Live TV. The bundle features access to 90 channels, including both Fox and FS1. Unlimited DVR storage is also included. Watch every game on every network with Hulu + Live TV, plus you can personalize your viewing experience and Hulu will offer curated recommendations based on the teams and playmakers you follow.

    Hulu + Live TV comes bundled with ESPN+ and Disney+ for $77 per month.

    Watch local college football live with a digital HDTV antenna

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    Amazon


    If you’re cutting the cord between yourself and your cable company, you’re not alone, but you are in luck. You can still watch college football on TV with the assist of affordable indoor antenna, which pulls in local over-the-air HDYC channels such as CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and PBS.  Here’s the kicker: There’s no monthly charge.

    First-floor apartment dwellers, or anyone living in partially blocked-off area (those near mountains, for example), a digital TV antenna may not pick up a good signal – or any signal at all. But for many homes, a digital TV antenna provides a seriously inexpensive way to watch college football without paying a staggering monthly fee.  ndoor TV antennas can also provide some much-needed TV backup if a storm knocks out your cable (or your cable company gets in a squabble with a network).

    This amplified HDTV antenna, claims to have a 50-mile range and offers 36 channels. It’s rated 4.0 stars by Amazon reviewers.

    Said one Amazon customer, “When the price of this antenna dropped to $50 it was competitively priced with what you would find on the shelves at your local Radio Shack. If you’re considering this product, you’re probably already questioning your cable television bill and are looking around for a cheap way to get the Big 3 plus Fox and PBS. This antenna delivered that for us right out of the box.”

    More teams to follow during the 2023 college football season

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    Getty Images


    Important dates for the 2023 college football season:

    • The 13-week 2023 college football season runs from Aug. 27 through Dec. 9.
    • Two semifinal games, the Rose Bowl Game and the Allstate Sugar Bowl, are scheduled for New Year’s Day (Monday, January 1, 2024).
    • The College Football Playoff National Championship is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2024 at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX.

    The Georgia Bulldogs want to run it back. The Georgia Bulldogs became just the fifth program towin back-to-back national championships when they beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 33-18 in 2022. Since 1936, no college team has won three-in-a-row. The Bulldogs are hoping to change all that. Head coach Kirby Smart has focused on leadership skills for his players, stating the team’s biggest opponent is “complacency.” Coming into Week 8, the Bulldogs are undefeated. Three-peat? Anything’s possible with this squad.

    Were Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes a fluke ? Coach Prime made headlines during the offseason. Only ten scholarship players from the Buffaloes’ 2022-season roster remain on the team after Sanders took advantage of transfer portal rules to revamp the team’s roster. Prime’s in his first season as the Buffaloes coach and he’ll hope to work the same magic on the Buffaloes program as he did in his successful three years at Jackson State. 4-3 coming into Week 8 after a humbling loss to Stanford, the Buffaloes have been criticized for having too much swagger. If anyone remembers Sanders’ NFL and MLB careers, one knows you can never have too much swagger. This is the team to watch this season, winning or losing.

    How will all the college football shake ups shake out? In July 2022, UCLA and USC finally agreed on something. The frenemy rivals would both leave the Pac-12 in favor of the Big Ten in 2024. This summer, Colorado announced it would return to the Big 12. Since then, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah have announced an exodus from the Pac-12 to the Big-12 at the end of the 2023 season. Washington and Oregon State are also ditching the Pac-12 for the Big 10 at the same time. 

    The school shuffling won’t affect the 2023 season much, but expect journalists to talk about it to no end. With the Pac-12 currently down to just four teams for the 2024 season, the demise of the Pac-12 is sure to be one of the biggest stories of the season.

    The Alabama Crimson Tide came into the 2023 season ranked No. 4. Saban and company aren’t comfortable with the demotion. Still not the dominant Bama team fans have come to rely on, the Tide are hoping to be a major threat to the Bulldogs scoring that three-peat. Ohio State has arguably one of the best receiver rooms in college football led by the dazzling Marvin Harrison Jr.  The Buckeyes are undefeated coming into Week 8 and the Alabama Crimson Tide are just one game behind them. As the season progresses, the race for the national championship is still very much alive.

    Related content on CBS Essentials

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  • Listen to the Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Matchup on October 21

    Listen to the Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Matchup on October 21

    The No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions are headed to Columbus, OH, to take on the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes on October 21 at 12:00pm ET.

    You can listen to every snap live from Ohio Stadium on the SiriusXM App and in car radios with your choice of the home or away feed.

    Stream the Ohio State Buckeyes broadcast (Ch. 82)

    Stream the Penn State Nittany Lions broadcast (Ch. 958)

    Home: Ohio State Buckeyes

    Leading Ohio State is QB Kyle McCord, who leads the Big Ten with a quarterback efficiency rating of 165.9 and an average of 275.2 passing yards per game.

    Tight end Cade Stover has been turning heads with 23 catches for 359 yards and three touchdowns this year. He’s ranked third in the nation among tight ends for receiving yards per game and fourth in receptions.

    Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has been setting the field ablaze with four 100-yard receiving games in 2023. He’s closing in on a career record, needing just three more to tie David Boston‘s mark from 1996-98.

    On the defensive side, Ohio State holds its own, ranking seventh nationally in total defense, allowing just 263.5 yards per game.

    Away: Penn State Nittany Lions

    In 2023, QB Drew Allar has thrown over 150 passes without a single interception. Allar’s completed 65.2% of his passes, accumulating 1,254 yards and 12 touchdowns, while also contributing three rushing scores.

    But the Nittany Lions don’t stop at their quarterback; they’ve got a running back trio of dynamic sophomores Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, along with redshirt senior Treyson Potts. Each of them has surpassed the 1,200 career rushing yards mark, a feat achieved by only seven FBS teams in the nation.

    Defensively, Penn State leads the nation in total defense, passing defense, passing efficiency defense, first downs allowed, and sacks per game.

    Ohio State Buckeyes Home Feed:

    SiriusXM channel 82 in your vehicle

    Channel 82 on the SiriusXM App

    Penn State Nittany Lions Away Feed:

    SiriusXM channel 196 in your vehicle

    Channel 958 on the SiriusXM App

    Want to listen to more games? Throughout the 2023 College Football season, SiriusXM listeners get access to dozens of game broadcasts each week involving teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, and other conferences — plus Army, Navy, HBCU football and more. For more information about SiriusXM’s college football offerings, click here.


    Matthew Fanizza

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  • ‘Daily Show’ Gives Republicans Scathing Reminder Of Jim Jordan’s Past

    ‘Daily Show’ Gives Republicans Scathing Reminder Of Jim Jordan’s Past

    Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) secured a new endorsement for his bid to become House speaker on Wednesday ― but it’s not exactly a ringing one.

    “The Daily Show” released a video comparing allegations from Jordan’s past to ugly crimes committed by one of his predecessors.

    That led “The Daily Show” to the scathing conclusion that Jordan is “not as bad as a pedophile” in its new video:

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  • Ex-Ohio State Wrestler Eviscerates GOP Rep.’s ‘Fighter’ Praise For Jim Jordan

    Ex-Ohio State Wrestler Eviscerates GOP Rep.’s ‘Fighter’ Praise For Jim Jordan

    Former Ohio State University wrestler Will Knight on Tuesday tore down the characterization of speaker nominee Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as a “fighter.” (Watch the video below.)

    Fellow Trumper Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) used the term in a speech nominating Jordan before he failed to get enough votes for the speaker’s gavel.

    The glowing reference to his time on the “wrestling mat” drew audible gasps in the House, presumably because Jordan’s stint as an assistant coach at Ohio State included accusations that he overlooked the allegations of sexual abuse of team members by school doctor Richard Strauss.

    Knight was one of the athletes who said he was molested, and he wasn’t impressed by Stefanik’s praise for the Ohio congressman, which CNN’s Abby Phillip replayed for him.

    “The funny thing is that when people always call Jim Jordan a fighter, and I always wonder who he’s fighting for,” Knight said. ”Because he had a real opportunity to fight for us and the people that he coached and the people that he recruited at the Ohio State. And all he’s done is turn his back on us, so I don’t know what the fighter thing is. I know he used to be a fighter, I know he used to be a good wrestler, but he’s not a good fighter for anyone else that I know of.”

    Jordan fell short on the first ballot of his bid to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as speaker amid continued Republican dithering. A second vote has been slated for Wednesday.

    Knight complimented Jordan for believing in him and giving him a chance as a walk-on back in 1992. He said that while Jordan was also a staunch conservative back then, they could agree to disagree.

    But that’s not the man who’s seeking to snag the speakership, he said. “There’s people who believe in the BS that he’s spewing,” Knight added.

    “It’s just disappointing because he still has an opportunity to do right by us,” Knight said, per Mediaite. “He had an opportunity to help us out, to help us remedy this thing with Ohio State. And he chose not to do it with hundreds of athletes that he was associated with, that as a coach, you’re just supposed to help protect and mentor into manhood.”

    Jordan has denied any knowledge of the abuse.

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  • Physicists demonstrate powerful physics phenomenon

    Physicists demonstrate powerful physics phenomenon

    Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a new breakthrough, researchers have used a novel technique to confirm a previously undetected physics phenomenon that could be used to improve data storage in the next generation of computer devices. 

    Spintronic memories, like those used in some high-tech computers and satellites, use magnetic states generated by an electron’s intrinsic angular momentum to store and read information. Depending on its physical motion, an electron’s spin produces a magnetic current. Known as the “spin Hall effect,” this has key applications for magnetic materials across many different fields, ranging from low power electronics to fundamental quantum mechanics. 

    More recently, scientists have found that electrons are also capable of generating electricity through a second kind of movement: orbital angular momentum, similar to how Earth revolves around the sun. This is known as the “orbital Hall effect,” said Roland Kawakami, co-author of the study and a professor in physics at The Ohio State University. 

    Theorists predicted that by using light transition metals – materials that have weak spin Hall currents – magnetic currents generated by the orbital Hall effect would be easier to spot flowing alongside them. Until now, directly detecting such a thing has been a challenge, but the study, led by Igor Lyalin, a graduate student in physics, and published today in the journal Physical Review Letters, showed a method to observe the effect.

    “Over the decades, there’s been a continuous discovery of various Hall effects,‘’ said Kawakami. “But the idea of these orbital currents is really a brand new one. The difficulty is that they are mixed with spin currents in typical heavy metals and it’s difficult to tell them apart.” 

    Instead, Kawakami’s team demonstrated the orbital Hall effect by reflecting polarized light, in this case, a laser, onto various thin films of the light metal chromium to probe the metal’s atoms for a potential build-up of orbital angular momentum. After nearly a year of painstaking measurements, researchers were able to detect a clear magneto-optical signal which showed that electrons gathered at one end of the film exhibited strong orbital Hall effect characteristics. 

    This successful detection could have huge consequences for future spintronics applications, said Kawakami.

    “The concept of spintronics has been around for about 25 years or so, and while it’s been really good for various memory applications, now people are trying to go further,” he said. “Now, one of the field’s biggest goals is to reduce the amount of energy consumed because that’s the limiting factor for jacking up performance.”

    Lowering the total amount of energy needed for future magnetic materials to operate well could potentially enable lower power consumption, higher speeds and higher reliability, as well as help to extend the technology’s lifespan. Utilizing orbital currents instead of spin currents could possibly save both time and money in the long term, said Kawakami. 

    Noting that this research opens up a way to learn more about how these strange physics phenomena arise in other kinds of metals, the researchers say they want to continue delving into the complex connection between spin Hall effects and orbital Hall effects.

    Co-authors were Sanaz Alikhah and Peter M. Oppeneer of Uppsala University and Marco Berritta of both Uppsala University and the University of Exeter. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing and the K. and A. Wallenberg Foundation.

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    Ohio State University

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  • LeBron James’ Son Bryce Receives Offer To Play For This NCAA Men’s Basketball Team

    LeBron James’ Son Bryce Receives Offer To Play For This NCAA Men’s Basketball Team

    Bryce James, son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, has an opportunity to play college basketball in his father’s home state.

    The 16-year-old, in a social media post to X (formerly Twitter), wrote that he’s “blessed” to receive an offer to play NCAA Division I men’s basketball for Ohio State University.

    The NBA great’s youngest son wrote “#GoBuckeyes” alongside the post in a reference to the nickname of the team, which last made the Final Four in 2012.

    The announcement arrives after Bryce ― a 6-foot-6-inch small forward for Notre Dame High School ― made an unofficial visit to Ohio State’s Columbus campus as he witnessed the school’s victory over Maryland during a college football game Saturday, ESPN reported.

    Bryce, a four-star recruit in ESPN’s 2025 class, dropped by the university along with Dezhon Hall, a 6-foot-3-inch point guard and four-star recruit in the class of 2026. Hall shared clips of the two posing for photos as they each rocked Buckeyes uniforms.

    The Ohio State news comes after Bryce received an offer from Duquesne University last year.

    The Duquesne Dukes have a number of ties to LeBron including their head coach. Keith Dambrot, who coached LeBron in high school, CBS News noted.

    Dru Joyce III, the Dukes’ associate head coach, also was LeBron’s teammate when the two played for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.

    Bryce visited Ohio State one year after his brother, Bronny James, made a stop at the university, according to ESPN.

    Bronny, who wound up signing to play with the University of Southern California, suffered a cardiac arrest during a practice in July caused by congenital heart defect.

    His father told reporters last week that his son is “doing extremely well” as he recovers from the health episode.

    “He has began his rehab process to get back on the floor this season with his teammates and USC,” said James, who also referred to his son’s “successful surgery” following the cardiac arrest.

    “He’s on the up-and-up. Definitely a whirlwind and a lot of emotions for our family this summer. But the best thing we have is each other. And we stuck behind each other and gave Bronny strength throughout the whole process.”

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  • Kevin McCarthy’s Defeat Could Cost Republicans the House

    Kevin McCarthy’s Defeat Could Cost Republicans the House

    Few Americans are shedding tears for Kevin McCarthy. The former House speaker engendered little public sympathy as he tried, and ultimately failed, to wrangle a narrow and fractured Republican majority into a functioning governing body. His ouster on Tuesday has, in the short term, paralyzed Congress and increased the likelihood of a prolonged government shutdown in the coming weeks.

    Republicans are only now beginning to contemplate the significant political ramifications of tossing McCarthy. Retaining their narrow majority in the House next year was already going to be a challenge. But the GOP will now have to defend its four-seat advantage without a leader who, for all of McCarthy’s political shortcomings, was widely recognized as its best fundraiser, candidate recruiter, and campaign strategist. “They just took out our best player,” a rueful Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma told me on Thursday, referring to the eight renegade Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy.

    Cole, the chair of the Rules Committee and a 22-year veteran of the House, was a McCarthy loyalist to the end. He could become his successor if neither of the declared GOP candidates, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Representative Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chair, are able to secure the votes needed to become speaker. Cole has declined offers to run for the job himself—he told me the chances that the gavel lands in his hands are “very low, and if I have anything to say about it, zero”—but as someone with good relationships across the party, he’s seen as a solid backup.

    For now, Cole is, like other McCarthy allies, still seething at the unprecedented vote to overthrow the speaker and is backing efforts to change the House rules so that whoever replaces McCarthy does not face the same ever-present threat. “We put sharp knives in the hands of children, and they used them,” Cole said.

    Read: Kevin McCarthy’s brief speakership meets its end

    In an hour-long phone interview, he told me that the hard-liners’ revolt against McCarthy could “very easily” cost the GOP its majority next year. “I think these guys materially hurt our chances to hold the majority,” Cole said. “That’s just the reality.”

    McCarthy is neither a policy wonk nor a brilliant legislator. But his strengths  were underappreciated, Cole said. Committees he controlled raised more than half a billion dollars for the House Republican majority in recent years. McCarthy has also played a leading role in persuading promising Republicans to run for pivotal House seats. “This guy was by far the best political speaker that I’ve seen,” he told me. (Democrats and more than a few Republicans would dispute that assertion, pointing to the fact that Republicans won a much slimmer majority under McCarthy’s leadership in 2022 than they were expected to.)

    “This is going to cost us candidates,” Cole said, and “God knows how much money.” The spectacle of an internal leadership war bringing the House to a halt also undercuts the GOP’s credibility as a governing party, he lamented. “They just messed up the House. They had no exit plan, no alternative strategy, no alternative candidate.”

    Both Jordan and Scalise are more conservative than McCarthy, as is a third potential candidate, Representative Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, who heads the Republican Study Committee, the GOP’s largest bloc of conservative members. None of them, however, can match McCarthy’s fundraising prowess. Cole told me he’s “leaning pretty strongly” toward Scalise, the second-ranking House Republican. Donald Trump has endorsed Jordan, but Scalise is nevertheless considered the favorite to win the party’s nomination for speaker in a secret ballot based on his years in the leadership and because he’s more palatable to Republicans in swing districts. The internal vote, expected next week, will test how much sway the former president has in a leadership battle that typically plays out more in private than in public. (GOP lawmakers reportedly recoiled at plans for Fox News to host a televised debate between the candidates, who normally make their pitches behind closed doors.)

    Scalise is well-liked within his party, but he’s undergoing treatment for blood cancer, which Cole acknowledged was a concern for some Republicans. “People are worried,” he said. “They’re worried that we’re going to put him in a job where he hurts himself.” In 2017, Scalise underwent several months of rehab after being shot by a would-be assassin targeting Republican lawmakers at a baseball practice.

    Jordan is by far the more bombastic of the two. A former college-wrestling champion, he helped found the House Freedom Caucus and made his name as a conservative foe of former Speaker (and fellow Ohioan) John Boehner. Jordan’s antagonism toward the leadership alienated many rank-and-file Republicans then, but he struck something of a truce with McCarthy, his onetime rival. McCarthy didn’t stand in the way of Jordan’s promotion to become the top Republican on first the House Oversight Committee and then on the Judiciary Committee, a perch from which he’s launched aggressive investigations into President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Jordan returned the favor by backing McCarthy’s bid to become speaker, sticking by him during all 15 rounds of voting in January and during this week’s revolt.

    Peter Wehner: Kevin McCarthy got what he deserved

    Scalise would likely have an easier time than Jordan winning the 218 Republican votes needed to secure the speakership in the public House floor vote. Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the effort to topple McCarthy, has said he would support either candidate. Jordan’s close ties to Trump and his disdain for bipartisan compromise could make him a problem for politically vulnerable Republicans, particularly those from New York and California who represent districts that Biden carried in 2020. His nomination would also likely revive questions about his handling of allegations of sexual misconduct against a wrestling-team physician at the Ohio State University when Jordan served as a coach. Jordan has denied wrongdoing, but former student athletes have said he knew about the physician’s abuse and failed to report it.

    The scandal could haunt Republicans come election time if Jordan is the speaker, but the issue animating the leadership race is whether to, as Cole put it, “take away the knives” and restrict the procedural tool, known as the “motion to vacate,” that Gaetz used to remove McCarthy. “We’ve driven out three speakers now with this weapon,” Cole said. Boehner resigned in 2015 after it became clear that he might lose the speakership in a floor vote, and his successor, Paul Ryan, was under increasing pressure from his right flank when he chose to retire three years later.

    The Main Street Caucus, a coalition of more pragmatic and ideologically flexible Republicans, is pushing to change the rules, and a few members have said they’ll only support a candidate who promises to do so. Currently, any single lawmaker can force a vote on a motion to vacate. To raise that threshold, Republicans might need votes from Democrats, who refused to help rescue McCarthy. “I think it would get a lot of Democratic support,” Cole said. “We’d have to endure another hour of ‘I told you so.’ That’s fair enough.” Though he was critical of Democrats for voting to remove McCarthy, he said he understood why they did. “If we had the opportunity to take out [Nancy] Pelosi,” Cole said, “we probably would have done the same thing.”

    He recounted a conversation with a long-serving House Democrat, Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, who alluded to worries that dissident Democrats could use the same tactic to oust a future speaker in their party. “We have our nuts too,” Cole recalled him whispering in an elevator. (Pascrell did not respond to a request for comment.)

    The outcome of the rules debate could determine when Republicans are able to elect a speaker, reopen the House, and repair the harm they’ve done to their chances in next year’s elections. For his part, Cole is hoping that whoever they choose can quickly win a majority in a floor vote next week. And if they don’t? “Then,” he said, “it’s really a chaotic situation.”

    Russell Berman

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  • Yogurt may be the next go-to garlic breath remedy

    Yogurt may be the next go-to garlic breath remedy

    Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – It turns out yogurt may have a previously unknown benefit: eliminating garlic odors.

    A new study conducted in a lab – with follow-up human breath tests being planned – showed that whole milk plain yogurt prevented almost all of the volatile compounds responsible for garlic’s pungent scent from escaping into the air.

    Researchers tested the garlic deodorizing capacity of yogurt and its individual components of water, fat and protein to see how each stood up to the stink. Both fat and protein were effective at trapping garlic odors, leading the scientists to suggest high-protein foods may one day be formulated specifically to fight garlic breath. 

    “High protein is a very hot thing right now – generally, people want to eat more protein,” said senior study author Sheryl Barringer, professor of food science and technology at The Ohio State University. 

    “An unintended side benefit may be a high-protein formulation that could be advertised as a breath deodorizer in addition to its nutritional claims,” she said. “I was more excited about the protein’s effectiveness because consumer advice to eat a high-fat food is not going to go over well.”

    The study was published recently in the journal Molecules. 

    Barringer has a history of identifying foods that can combat garlic breath, among them apples, mint and lettuce and milk, thanks to their enzymes and fat, respectively, that snuff out the sulfur-based compounds that cause garlic’s persistent smell.

    After encountering speculation that yogurt might have a deodorizing effect, Barringer and first author Manpreet Kaur, a PhD student in her lab, decided to check it out.

    For each treatment experiment, the researchers placed equal amounts of raw garlic in glass bottles and confirmed the cluster of offending sulfur-based volatiles were released in concentrations that would be detected by the human nose. They used mass spectrometry to measure levels of the volatile molecules in gaseous form present before and after each treatment. 

    Results showed that yogurt alone reduced 99% of the major odor-producing raw garlic volatiles. When introduced separately, the fat, water and protein components of yogurt also had a deodorizing effect on raw garlic, but fat and protein performed better than water. 

    In the case of fat, a higher quantity of butter fat was more effective at deodorization. The proteins studied included different forms of whey, casein and milk proteins, all of which were effective at deodorizing garlic – likely because of their ability to trap the volatile molecules before they were emitted into the air. A casein micelle-whey protein complex performed the best.

    “We know proteins bind flavor – a lot of times that’s considered a negative, especially if a food with high protein has less flavor. In this case, it could be a positive,” Barringer said. 

    Additional experiments involving changing the pH of the yogurt to make it less acidic – from 4.4 pH to 7 pH – reduced the yogurt’s deodorization effect on the garlic. Changing the pH of water, on the other hand, did not make any difference in water’s deodorization effect. 

    “That’s telling me it goes back to those proteins, because as you change pH you change the configuration of proteins and their ability to bind. That said we definitely should be looking at these proteins,” Barringer said. “It probably depends on the protein, as well, because different proteins react differently to pH. So that may be an important thing as we look at other proteins for their garlic deodorization effect.” 

    Barringer and Kaur tested the deodorizing effect of yogurt and its separate components on fried garlic as well, and in the process, they discovered that frying garlic alone significantly reduces most of garlic’s odor-causing volatile compounds. Yogurt and its individual ingredients neutralized a lower percentage of volatile compounds of fried garlic compared to raw garlic, presumably because there were fewer volatiles to trap than were present in the raw cloves, the researchers theorized.

    The findings are a good foundation for future studies analyzing a variety of proteins that might be formulated into the perfect garlic-breath-reducing product and seeking to verify yogurt’s ability to curb actual garlic breath in people. 

    In the meantime, Barringer predicts that Greek yogurt, with a higher-protein profile than the whole milk plain yogurt used in the study, may be particularly effective at getting rid of garlic breath. Fruit-flavored yogurts will probably work, too, she said – and whatever is used, it must quickly follow ingestion of raw garlic.

    “With apples, we have always said to eat them immediately,” she said. “The same with yogurt is presumed to be the case – have your garlic and eat the yogurt right away.”

     

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    Ohio State University

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  • Ohio’s droughts are worse than often recognized, study finds

    Ohio’s droughts are worse than often recognized, study finds

    Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new type of analysis suggests that droughts in Ohio were more severe from 2000 to 2019 than standard measurements have suggested.

    Researchers at The Ohio State University developed impacts-based thresholds for drought in Ohio, looking specifically at how corn yield and streamflow were affected by various drought indicators, such as notable changes in soil moisture, crops, and even livestock losses in the state.

    The results suggest this impacts-based approach could give Ohio farmers earlier and more accurate notice when drought conditions are approaching, said Steven Quiring, co-author of the study and a professor of geography at Ohio State.

    “We want to better understand what steps should be taken so that Ohio can better prepare for and also monitor the onset of drought conditions because a lot of the best ways to respond to drought is taking action early,” said Quiring. Moreover, with a more precise early warning system, agriculture producers might be able to save time and money by implementing water restrictions, or by switching to different or more drought-resistant crops. 

    The study was published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology. 

    The Ohio State researchers compared how their method performed at predicting droughts with data from the U.S Drought Monitor (USDM). 

    The problem with the USDM is that it uses fixed drought thresholds, or guidelines that use the same parameters to measure changes in all seasons and climate regions of the country. Unfortunately, this one-size-fits-all approach can cause monitoring plans to inaccurately gauge local weather conditions and how they impact those in certain communities, Quiring said.

    By analyzing data from four drought indices commonly used in previous studies to monitor drought intensity across the United States, researchers were able to show that fixed thresholds tend to indicate milder drought conditions in Ohio than are indicated by the impacts-based thresholds identified in their study. 

    It’s why Quiring and his team want to use the impacts-based method to revamp those thresholds to better reflect drought conditions in Ohio, a move that starts by updating The Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s state drought plan. 

    To accomplish their goal, the researchers investigated how data from the four indices impacted streamflow, or how much water discharges over a designated point in a fixed period of time, and Ohio’s total corn yield, mainly because the crop covers an extensive area within the state, and nearly every county grows it. 

    Identifying agricultural drought thresholds that are specific to Ohio is important, said Quiring. Because the impacts of drought can vary from region to region, using the same drought thresholds in California as in Ohio is absurd, he said. Additionally, the types of drought that occur can differ. Ohio, for example, in particular is prone to “flash droughts” — shortages caused by warm weather that can happen quickly over a few days or weeks. 

    “These rapid-onset droughts can be particularly challenging for the agricultural community because they arrive quickly and conditions can rapidly go from normal to drier than normal,” said Quiring. “All of a sudden soil moisture is depleted, the crops are stressed and yield losses and impacts on the ecosystem occur.”  

    The last time severe drought caused major losses in the United States was in 2012 when a record-breaking heat wave resulted in $34.2 billion in economic losses, 123 direct deaths and a 26% decrease in total corn crop yield across the country. 

    As large areas of the country dried out, Ohio’s corn yield dropped from about 160 bushels per acre to 120 bushels per acre within a year. While such considerable losses have not happened since, according to the State Climate Office of Ohio, some areas of the state have experienced abnormally dry drought conditions this year.  

    What’s more, the researchers’ impacts-based method of drought monitoring also takes into account how climate change can worsen flash drought events.

    “One of the impacts that we found to be counterintuitive in Ohio is that with climate change, we do expect more rainfall overall, but we also expect to see more droughts because there are longer periods of time where no rain occurs,” said Quiring. 

    The results of this study suggest that following guidelines that aren’t specific to a region’s issues can end up either systematically underestimating the impacts of severe drought conditions in some locations or overestimating them in others, Quiring said. 

    While it’ll be some time before Quiring’s team can get their research incorporated into the next edition of the state drought plan, the study emphasizes that its methods could easily be applied to other regions beyond Ohio where long-term streamflow and crop yield data are readily available. Optimistically, it could help to improve drought monitoring worldwide and provide useful information to future agriculture producers and decision-makers, said Quiring. 

    “This work is actually timely because it will provide a basis for decision-making in Ohio, rather than using research that’s been done in other parts of the country,” said Quiring. “Hopefully we can give better guidance to those who are making decisions on the ground.”

    This study was supported by the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). Co-authors were Ning Zhang and Zhiying Li, who were both at Ohio State when the study was conducted. Zhang is now at the University of California, Davis and Li is at Indiana University. 

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    Ohio State University

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  • Digging deeper into how vaccines work against parasitic disease

    Digging deeper into how vaccines work against parasitic disease

    Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have established the effectiveness of vaccines they developed to prevent the disfiguring skin disease leishmaniasis in animal studies, and Phase 1 human trial planning is in motion for the most promising candidate. 

    But in new work, the research team has determined how these vaccine candidates, created using mutated disease-causing parasites, prompt molecular-level changes in host cells that have specific roles in helping generate the immune response. 

    Despite using the same CRISPR gene-editing technique to make the vaccines, the two species of Leishmania parasites on which the vaccines are based produced very different effects in the immunized host: One enables the immune response to unfold by inhibiting a host metabolite that suppresses immune activity, and the other drives up activation of a chemical pathway in a way that primes immune cells to fight pathogens. 

    “I think it’s an important finding in the sense that we show that in the big picture, yes, these vaccines are protective, but at the molecular level the mechanisms can be totally distinct,” said Abhay Satoskar, professor of pathology in The Ohio State University College of Medicine and co-leader of the research team. 

    “This is not only conceptually important, but if you can find how these things are modulating the immune response in the right direction, and identify the pathways, then perhaps those pathways could be used for developing new interventions,” said Satoskar, a senior author of two new papers describing the findings. 

    The primary vaccine was made by editing the genome of Leishmania major, which causes cutaneous leishmaniasis in tropical and subtropical regions of the Eastern Hemisphere, and a backup vaccine was made using Leishmania mexicana, a more virulent species found in South, Central and North America. 

    The study findings on the metabolic effects of the L. major and L. mexicana vaccines were published Aug. 29, 2023, in the journal iScience. 

    Leishmaniasis is prevalent in 90 countries affecting about 12 million people globally at any given time, but no licensed human vaccine yet exists and the only drug treatment for the skin lesions requires weeks of daily injections with unpleasant side effects. The more lethal visceral leishmaniasis affects organs and is fatal if left untreated. 

    In developing these live attenuated vaccines, Satoskar and colleagues applied new technology to the century-old Middle Eastern practice of leishmanization – introducing the live parasite to the skin to create a small infection that, once healed, leads to life-long immunity against further disease. 

    The researchers previously reported using CRISPR to delete centrin, the gene for a protein that supports the parasite’s physical structure, from the genomes of both L. major and L. mexicana. Experiments showed vaccinated mice remained clear of skin lesions and the number of parasites at the infection site were held at bay. 

    Digging deeper into the vaccines’ effects in these new studies, researchers inoculated mouse ears with a normal parasite, a mutated parasite vaccine or a placebo, mimicking the bite of a sand fly – in humans and animals, leishmania is transmitted through the bite of infected sand flies. 

    The team used mass spectrometry at the inoculation site to identify the most prominent metabolites – the amino acids, vitamins and other small molecules produced as a result of metabolism, the many chemical reactions that keep the body functioning. 

    Results showed the L. major vaccine promoted a pro-inflammatory metabolic response in mice by using the amino acid tryptophan to block signals from a molecule that helps suppress immunity. The L. mexicana vaccine, on the other hand, enriched a series of metabolic reactions that activated the necessary pro-inflammatory work of front-line immune cells.  

    “We took an unbiased approach to analyze the metabolites detectable at the inoculation site. There is growing interest in understanding the role immune cell metabolism plays in modulating immune function,” said Satoskar, also a professor of microbiology at Ohio State. “We also learned that by removing the centrin gene, we got rid of the parasites’ ability to manipulate metabolic pathways in a way that would impair development of protective immunity and, in fact, promoted vaccine-induced immunity. That’s important to know for a live attenuated vaccine – there is a unique case for each parasite species.” 

    Though this information is not required for regulatory approval of these vaccines, the data could prove useful to supplementing vaccination. 

    “There are only four existing drugs for leishmaniasis,” Satoskar said. “We need to know the mechanism of vaccines so the knowledge can be used to develop newer vaccines or newer drugs that target these pathways. What you learn from immunomodulation can be used for developing other therapeutic agents.”

    This research was funded by the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is a co-owner of two U.S. patents associated with the mutated Leishmania species. 

    Co-authors of both papers include Sreenivas Gannavaram and Hira Nakhasi, who co-led the L. major study, and Nazli Azodi and Hannah Markle, all of the FDA; Greta Volpedo of Ohio State; Timur Oljuskin of the USDA Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory; Shinjiro Hamano of Nagasaki University; and Greg Matlashewski of McGill University. Thalia Pacheco-Fernandez of Ohio State co-authored the L. mexicana paper and Parna Bhattacharya of FDA co-authored the L. major paper.

     

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    Ohio State University

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  • Supreme Court Lets Former Ohio State Athletes Sue Over Team Doctor’s Sexual Abuse

    Supreme Court Lets Former Ohio State Athletes Sue Over Team Doctor’s Sexual Abuse

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a decision that allows more than 230 men to sue Ohio State University over decades-old sexual abuse by a university doctor, the late Richard Strauss.

    Two cases involving the abuse were on a list of many cases the court said it would not hear. And, as is typical, the court did not comment in saying it would not hear the cases.

    They say university officials failed to stop him despite complaints raised as early as the late 1970s. Many of them allege Strauss abused them during required physicals and other medical exams at campus athletic facilities, a student health center, his home and an off-campus clinic.

    Strauss killed himself in 2005 at age 67. The university in 2018 announced an investigation into Strauss’ abuse and the university’s conduct. It has apologized to his victims and reached over $60 million in settlements with at least 296 people.

    But the university eventually sought to have the remaining unsettled cases dismissed, arguing that the time limit for the claims had long passed.

    The remaining plaintiffs have argued that they filed timely claims and that the time limit didn’t start running until the 2018 investigation into Strauss’ abuse made his conduct public. The men say that was when they first learned that the school had been aware of Strauss’ abuse and failed to protect them from him. Many also only realized then that they’d been victims of abuse since Strauss disguised his abuse as medical care, their lawyers said.

    In a statement, lawyers for the plaintiffs said they were pleased the Supreme Court decided not to hear the cases. “We look forward to returning to the trial court, having our clients’ stories heard, and gathering further evidence of OSU’s widespread cover-up of Dr. Strauss’s serial predation,” they said.

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