michigan – Page 4 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

U.S. Manufacturers Bringing Work Home from Overseas

By Guest PostOctober 3, 2012Economyaerospace, chain, China, cultural barrier, defense, domestic soil, Economy, electronics, erosion, expert, factor, firm, global risk, India, industry, intellectual property, kenneth petersen, labor cost, language, lisa ellram, manufacturing operation, medical, michigan, oil price, overseas, political instability, problem, product quality, state university, supply, surgical supplies, time zone, tobias schoenherr, transportation cost, united states, US, wendy tate

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Increasingly, U.S. firms are moving or considering moving their manufacturing operations back to domestic soil from overseas, finds a new study co-authored by a Michigan State University supply chain expert.

Fueling the trend are rising labor costs in emerging countries, high oil prices and increasing transportation costs, global risks such as political instability and other factors, said Tobias Schoenherr.

“Going overseas is not the panacea that it was thought of just a decade or so ago,” said Schoenherr, assistant professor in MSU’s top-ranked Department of Supply Chain Management. “Companies have realized the challenges and thus are moving back to the United States.” (more…)

Foreign Policy Takes Stage, Yet Most Voters Indifferent

By Guest PostOctober 1, 2012Politicsafghanistan, americans, Barack Obama, chaos, China, diplomatic approach, egypt, embassy, foreign policy, global issue, international security, iran, libya, matt zierler, michigan, middle east, mitt romney, nuclear power, presidential campaign, russia, state university, tension, united states, us troops, violence, war, world

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Foreign policy has taken center stage in the presidential campaign as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tout their differing plans – and take aim at one another’s vision for international security.

Unfortunately, voters pay little attention to these issues when electing a president, said Matt Zierler, associate professor of international relations at Michigan State University’s James Madison College.

“Foreign policy does matter, but voters traditionally don’t pay much attention to it,” Zierler said. (more…)

Browser Plug-in Helps People Balance Their Political News Reading Habits

By Guest PostSeptember 29, 2012Politics, Technologyappalling cesspool, article, balanced view, balancer, behavior, cartoon, chrome browser, debate, democrat, Google, michigan, new jersey, online, plug in, political bias, political blog, political news, political rumor, political spectrum, presidential election, reading habit, republican, sean munson, self discovery, site, Social networking, university, US, voter, Washington, web browser

As the U.S. presidential election approaches, many voters become voracious consumers of online political news. A tool by a University of Washington researcher tracks whether all those articles really provide a balanced view of the debate – and, if not, suggests some sites that offer opinions from the other side of the political spectrum.

Balancer, a free plug-in for Google’s Chrome browser, was developed this summer by Sean Munson, a new UW assistant professor of Human Centered Design and Engineering. The tool analyzes a person’s online reading habits for a month and calculates the political bias in that behavior. It then suggests sites that represent a different point of view and continues to monitor reading behavior and offer feedback. (more…)

Know How Much You’re Texting While Driving? U-M Study Says No

By Guest PostSeptember 27, 2012Technologyalarm clock, automatic behavior, driving, frequency, habit, human behavior, joseph bayer, michigan, mobile communication, public safety, scott campbell, Technology, texting, texts, university, young adults

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Texting while driving is a serious threat to public safety, but a new University of Michigan study suggests that we might not be aware of our actions.

U-M researchers found that texting while driving is predicted by a person’s level of “habit”—more so than how much someone texts.

When people check their cell phones without thinking about it, the habit represents a type of automatic behavior, or automaticity, the researchers say. Automaticity, which was the key variable in the study, is triggered by situational cues and lacks control, awareness, intention and attention. (more…)

New Study Analyzes Why People Are Resistant to Correcting Misinformation, Offers Solutions

By Guest PostSeptember 21, 2012Scienceautism, childhood, colleen seifert, decision, erroneous belief, fiction, global warming, health care, ideology, information, michigan, misinformation, norbert schwarz, President Obama, queensland, reform, rumor, stephan lewandowsky, ullrich ecker, united states, university, vaccine, western australia

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Childhood vaccines do not cause autism. President Obama was born in the United States. Global warming is confirmed by science. And yet, many people believe claims to the contrary.

In a study appearing in the current issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest, researchers from the University of Michigan, University of Western Australia and University of Queensland examined factors that cause people to resist correcting misinformation.

Misinformation can originate from rumors but also fiction, government and politicians, and organizations, the researchers say. (more…)

Evolution is as Complicated as 1-2-3

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 2012Scienceanalysis, bacteria, bacterial evolution, biological function, citrate, citrate molecule, DNA, e coli, evolution, function, genomics, glucose, jeff barrick, michigan, module, mutation, mutational piece, organism, oxygen, potentiation, puzzle, richard lenski, state university, traditional diet, zachary blount

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A team of researchers at Michigan State University has documented the step-by-step process in which organisms evolve new functions.

The results, published in the current issue of Nature, are revealed through an in-depth, genomics-based analysis that decodes how E. coli bacteria figured out how to supplement a traditional diet of glucose with an extra course of citrate. (more…)

Late-Night Comedy Television Increases Political Discussion

By Guest PostSeptember 17, 2012Politicsbehavioral intention, comedy, daily show, david letterman, democrat, disney resort, Economy, effective, emotion, gender breakdown, image, jay leno, jon stewart, late show, michigan, nbc, nightly news, orlando, political candidate, political news, republican, television host, tonight show, university, video clip

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The jokes by late-night comedy television hosts can be just as effective as regular political news in spurring discussion among viewers, a new University of Michigan study shows.

In addition, political candidates could help their campaigns with mentions by shows like “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “Late Show with David Letterman” or “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” (more…)

Reading the Classics: It’s More than Just for Fun

By Guest PostSeptember 16, 2012Health, Scienceblood flow, brain, classic novel, cognitive complexity, critical way, english, Environment, executive function, jane austen, michigan, mri machine, natalie phillips, prejudice, pride, reading, scanner, state university, total cacophony

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Reading a classic novel such as “Pride and Prejudice” can be entertaining, but, according to new research by a Michigan State University professor, it also can provide many other benefits beyond that.

Natalie Phillips, an MSU assistant professor of English, and her team placed study participants in an MRI machine and monitored their brain flow while reading the works of Jane Austen. (more…)

Tag Archives: michigan