Loneliness and isolation pose significant risks for older adults, but a poll from the University of Michigan finds that having a pet may help reduce those risks and even improve overall health.

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered 58 years ago today. "An Epic Drama of Adventure and Exploration". 👌 Cinema was no longer the same.

The first space toilet has been repaired in the middle of the night (by a woman, something many of us can relate to even if we didn’t have Mission Control to call for advice). More about this technical marvel, via @katrinamillerphd.bsky.social : www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/s... #scicomm

The big Lego model doesn’t include this version of the Integrity module - so here’s a view of the one that can be built from a freely available plan and assorted parts…

Watch history now. www.youtube.com/live/Tf_UjBM...

I dunno, it looks a little small to fit four people and all their supplies for 9 days… Seriously though, most of #GenX doesn’t remember the last moon mission, even if we technically were around for it. Hope all goes well for #Artemis crew on the ground and in the air!

Over the past decade, and especially in the past year, there has been a surge in kratom-related calls to poison control centers—including calls for serious events that required hospitalization. https://ow.ly/NqR350YAQqZ

Calls to poison centers in the United States about the widely available herb kratom increased more than 1,200% between 2015 and 2025, new research has found. https://cnn.it/4sGuOHl

#goblue!

I showed this graph in class yesterday on how measles cases in the United States plummeted dramatically after the vaccine was licensed in 1963. It’s not subtle and I could not resist observing: “This stunning design in measles cases was not thanks to vitamin A. It was not due to beef tallow.”

One of the teams that I nominated from @umich.edu has just made it to the final round of this virtual tournament of science and I got to find out in real time at 4 am ET because of a cat who woke me up, and I am equal parts happy and bleary eyed and annoyed. Anyway please vote! #statmadness #goblue

THREAD Launch Day: The Altmetric Museum At Altmetric HQ we have a large and growing collection of artefacts from the vast history of our company. Countries come and go. Empires have risen and fallen. Only Altmetric remains. Today we open this museum to the public for the first time. 1/11

New global #sepsis guidelines = earlier detection, smarter antibiotic use, and better outcomes. 🫀 UM experts helped lead the first adult sepsis guideline update since 2021—changing how care begins before patients reach the hospital. 🔗 ihpi.umich.edu/news-events/...

Calling all research communicators! Join @umichstonecid.bsky.social at the Survey Research Center at the #Umich @umisr.bsky.social. We're now accepting applications for a full-time, Engagement Manager. #NowHiring #ApplyNow #MarketingJobs Learn more and apply by April 14: myumi.ch/9pdkb

was just reminded that tomorrow is april fool’s day and especially this year can we just… not, please

A new effort to help communities implement Michigan's relatively new firearm laws is gaining steam... news.umich.edu/preventing-t...

Great story from @planetdetroit.org via AP wire on rooftop and municipal solar energy efforts in southeast Michigan including Ann Arbor apnews.com/article/mich...

Congratulations to IHPI members Diane M. Harper, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., and Peter Song, Ph.D., on their election as fellows of @aaas.org - and to the other 13 @umich.edu faculty elected this year! ihpi.umich.edu/news-events/... #familymedicine #womenshealth #biostatistics #publichealth

Over the last 25 years, six people who contracted measles in the U.S. died from it. A model built by Stanford researchers predicts that if Americans could no longer get the vaccine, measles could kill about 290,000 people in the next 25 years.

Shirt by @gayguycandleco.bsky.social, necklace by @thevagabondtabby.bsky.social , hat by a friend, below-freezing temps by #puremichigan, who could ask for anything more? Oh yes! #nokings in Canton Michigan!

Apparently it's a big sportsball day for the University of Michigan? Anyhoo, if you're a fan of science, please consider supporting @umich.edu scientists in the #STATMadness virtual tournament of science by voting here: michmed.org/PYeqr Oh, and #GoBlue

Tomorrow to th’ field.

Apparently it's a big sportsball day for the University of Michigan? Anyhoo, if you're a fan of science, please consider supporting @umich.edu scientists in the #STATMadness virtual tournament of science by voting here: michmed.org/PYeqr Oh, and #GoBlue

My #scicomm career, including communicating about #mentalhealth, depends in part on the double-edged sword of social media. So it's a pleasure to be able to share news of a new toolkit developed by professionals who care deeply about young people: www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/h...

JOB ALERT🚨 We are hiring a new research coordinator in the lab. Please apply if you are interested in psychopathology and personality reproach. Information about the position is here: careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2... Feel free to ask any questions here, in DM, or email.

Great new story from @tarahaelle.bsky.social :

In a new op-ed in Kevin MD, LDI Fellow Molly Candon of @pennmedicine.bsky.social and @umich.edu's Daniel Clauw argue that health insurance plans should incentivize chronic pain patients to use non-drug treatments as an important next step in combating the opioid crisis. Read it here: bit.ly/3Px38pB

Let’s hope @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social was watching @jeopardyofficial.bsky.social tonight, eh @kenjennings.bsky.social ?

On this night 61 years ago in Ann Arbor… heritage.umich.edu/stories/the-...

The cash aid program for pregnant moms and babies, Rx Kids, is available in 39 Michigan communities. Find out where.

Need a distraction? Come to Ann Arbor to learn about University of Michigan medical history at our museum exhibit, which just got extended another four months! michmed.org/museum

Every pandemic is followed by amnesia. But Covid’s is very different www.statnews.com/2026/03/24/c... via @statnews.com

The CDC reports that Michigan has "High" COVID levels. They characterize the data as "limited," but MI only usually has 6 sites reporting and w/good geographic representation. We estimate 1 in 41 actively infectious, or about a 46% chance of exposure in a room of 25 people.

Our data on the top health concerns of middle-aged and older adults, which found that health-related costs were paramount, are featured in this new @kffhealthnews.org story that @usatoday.com picked up over the weekend. www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

Featuring comments from @ihpidirector.bsky.social and University of Michigan poll data…

Reposting with the US version of the UK hashtag - though hello to all in Plymouth, England from one of the many Plymouths in the US… #wildflowerhourusa

The #wildflower season is kicking off in Michigan with the first blooms of Harbinger of Spring, one of the woodland ephemerals. I snapped this Sunday at Miller Woods, a 10-acre patch of old growth forest in Plymouth Michigan open to the public. #wildflowerhour

This article is 9 years old. The history in it covers 50 years before that. And yet it’s a perfect thing to read right now. www.politico.com/magazine/sto...

Heads up Ypsilanti & rest of Washtenaw/Western Wayne counties in Michigan: we now have a fourth suspected case of measles, and new locations where members of public were exposed, including Washtenaw Community College. Get the latest #publichealth update at www.washtenaw.org/1963/Health-...

The population of monarch butterflies in Mexico increased 64% this winter, compared with the same period in 2025, offering a glimmer of hope for an insect considered at risk of extinction. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

About 9% of those who were enrolled in ACA plans last year dropped health insurance altogether, and an additional 17% are at risk of doing so because they can’t afford their new premiums. www.cnbc.com/2026/03/19/a...

Join us Tuesday, March 24th at 9:00 AM with Sumit Agarwal, MD, MPH, PhD! 📆 Register for this Seminar: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... 📨 Subscribe to our ListServ: chear.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=... 🌐 More Events: chear.org/events @ihpidirector.bsky.social @umich.edu

Few people with #bipolardisorder speak openly of their diagnosis or treatment - and far fewer speak to reporters about it. That makes it hard to get attention for the fact that help is available, and treatment works. Kudos to this young man. And to his @umich.edu psychiatrist!

Michiganders, do NOT be fooled by this photo. Do not be tempted to put your shovels and ice-melt back in the garage, to wash your parka, to put your sweaters in the chest, or to take the scraper out of your car. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. See also: @brittlestar.com’s Sucker Punch Spring video.

In this @TheAtlantic.com Q&A, U-M President Domenico Grasso unpacks the ways the university is ensuring its research leads to positive change far beyond campus, including through multidisciplinary collaboration, community partnerships and celebrating public intellectualism. myumi.ch/e3bkn

Michigan should invest in primary care doctors to ease a severe shortage of physicians that has led to long wait times, higher costs and missed care, a new report says.

Finally #spring!

The VA lost about 700 social workers and 500 psychologists and psychiatrists over the course of 2025 — a significant change for an agency that was adding mental health staffers nearly every month leading up to Trump’s return to office. Read more: https://propub.li/4rBUJOV