More than 2,000 people from 34 countries will compete in a five-day virtual design challenge to find innovative solutions to challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams will try to engineer solutions for problems ranging from how to protect front-line healthcare workers and their families to minimizing transmission of the virus to addressing shortages of critical healthcare and medical equipment to ensuring that people have accurate information to help them make informed decisions.
Recent news from The Johns Hopkins University
This section contains regularly updated highlights of the news from around The Johns Hopkins University. Links to the complete news reports from the nine schools, the Applied Physics Laboratory and other centers and institutes are to the left, as are links to help news media contact the Johns Hopkins communications offices.
ADVISORY: Johns Hopkins Expert Available to Discuss Use of Robots to Combat COVID-19
In a new Science Robotics editorial published today, experts discuss the potential use of robots to combat COVID-19 by decreasing risks posed to humans, safely resuming halted manufacturing and making teleoperations more efficient. Much of the work required in combatting COVID-19 requires “dull, dirty, and extremely dangerous tasks for human workers but suitable to robots,” the editorial authors say, and they point to potential uses such as disinfecting operating rooms, taking temperatures at ports of entry, delivering medications and more.
Russell (Russ) Taylor, Director of the Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics at The Johns Hopkins University, and an author on the editorial, is available to talk about the future of robotics and COVID-19.
ADVISORY: Johns Hopkins University Upgrades COVID-19 Tracking Map With Local U.S. Data
The Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 tracking map, which has become a vital worldwide resource, is launching an updated dashboard to report coronavirus cases for every city and county in the United States.
ADVISORY: Johns Hopkins University Experts to Brief Capitol Hill on Coronavirus
Johns Hopkins University experts in public health, infectious disease, and emergency preparedness will offer a briefing this Friday for Capitol Hill officials seeking facts and perspective on COVID-19 and the new coronavirus as it spreads worldwide.
More Pavement, More Problems
Think your daily coffee, boutique gym membership and airport lounge access cost a lot? There may be an additional, hidden cost to those luxuries of urban living, says a new Johns Hopkins University study: more flooding.
For every percentage point increase in roads, parking lots and other impervious surfaces that prevent water from flowing into the ground, annual floods increase on average by 3.3%, the researchers found.
Little Tissue, Big Mission: Beating Heart Tissues to Ride Aboard The ISS
Launching no earlier than March 6 at 11:50 PM EST, the Johns Hopkins University will send heart muscle tissues, contained in a specially-designed tissue chip the size of a small cellphone, up to the microgravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS) for one month of observation.
ADVISORY: Experts Available to Discuss Democratic Campaign for President
Two political science professors are available to discuss the Democratic primary contest as voters in 14 Super Tuesday states cast ballots that could either settle which candidate emerges as the favorite to win the nomination or signal a protracted party battle.
Slithering Snakes on a 2-D Plane
Snakes live in diverse environments ranging from unbearably hot deserts to lush tropical forests, where they slither up trees, rocks and shrubbery every day. By studying how these serpents move, Johns Hopkins engineers have created a snake robot that can nimbly and stably climb large steps.
ADVISORY: Experts Available to Discuss Role of Antibiotic Resistance in Pandemic Risk
Researchers investigating the drug prescription response to a “superbug” enzyme that renders bacteria resistant to antibiotics are available to discuss why such resistance is posing a growing risk during pandemics such as the current coronavirus.
ADVISORY: Experts Available to Discuss Improving Rapid Detection of Pandemics
Scientists developing a rapid system for tackling outbreaks of avian influenza at their origins in Thailand are available to discuss their project and how it could potentially help improve responses to other pandemic threats such as coronavirus.
ADVISORY: JHU Experts Distill Coronavirus Facts in Web Event
Today a panel of Johns Hopkins University experts convened to offer facts on the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), originating in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, a virus that is spreading across the globe and has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization and the U.S. government.
ADVISORY: Expert Available to Discuss How Racism, Xenophobia Can Spread in Tandem with Coronavirus
A sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University is available to discuss how the racist and xenophobic treatment of people of Chinese ancestry often escalates during outbreaks of disease such as the current coronavirus that began in China and is spreading worldwide.
What’s in Your Water?
Mixing drinking water with chlorine, the United States’ most common method of disinfecting drinking water, creates previously unidentified toxic byproducts, says Carsten Prasse from Johns Hopkins University and his collaborators from the University of California, Berkeley and Switzerland.
MEDIA ADVISORY: 500 Baltimore City Public Schools Students to Compete in Robotics Contest at JHU
More than 500 elementary, middle, and high school Baltimore City Public Schools students will compete in the Hopkins Robotics Cup, the Baltimore City VEX and VEX IQ Robotics League championship event.
JHU Humanities Program for Community College Students to Expand
A summer program that gives area community college students an opportunity to bolster their academic confidence while conducting humanities research at Johns Hopkins University will expand with a new $1.8 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
ADVISORY: Expert Available to Discuss Tracking of Coronavirus
A co-director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering is available to discuss the center’s website, launched today to track the international spread of coronavirus in real time. The data visualizations are all available for download.
ADVISORY: Expert Available to Discuss Roots of Trump Impeachment
Three decades ago Johns Hopkins University political scientist Benjamin Ginsberg warned in his book, Politics By Other Means, that party loyalty was beginning to trump a higher sense of national duty among elected leaders. The trend, he wrote, would one day “undermine the governing capacities of the nation’s institutions, diminishing the ability of America’s government to manage domestic and foreign affairs, and contributing to the erosion of the nation’s international political and economic standing.”
MEDIA ADVISORY: Report Builds Framework For ‘Digital Political Ethics’
With the 2020 elections looming and amid continuing concerns over social media’s role in U.S. politics, Johns Hopkins University has an expert ready to discuss a comprehensive new report recommending how candidates, tech platforms and regulators can ensure that digital political campaigns promote and protect fair elections.