UW In The News

Study: Rechargeable batteries used in laptops, cell phones harmful for soil

A new study from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Minnesota found lithium ion batteries used to power laptops and cell phones can be harmful to important microorganisms in soil.

Consumer science professor talks about new Barbies

(Video) Christie (Christine) Whelan is a professor of consumer science at UW-Madison. She talks about the Barbie’s makeover on Live at Four.

You Asked: How Can I Avoid Getting Sick?

Quoted: But if you’re really intent on sidestepping illness, meditation may be the best way to stay cold free, says Dr. Bruce Barrett, a professor of family medicine and community health at the University of Wisconsin. In his research, he’s found that mindfulness meditation can lower risk for common respiratory infections by up to 60% by combating immune system-crippling stress.

‘Fireball’ Streaks Across Southern Wisconsin Sky

A dazzling sight streaked across the skies of southern Wisconsin Monday night leaving some people confused about exactly what they saw. A bright strip of light was captured by a rooftop camera and the footage was posted to YouTube by University of Wisconsin Madison’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Based off of the video’s timestamp, the “fireball” was spotted just before 6:30 p.m.

UW anthropologist helps to unlock mystery of Homo naledi

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor John Hawks is part of a team that made one of the greatest fossil discoveries of the past half century.

Ex-Badgers QB Wilson to give Wisconsin commencement speech

MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin says Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson will return to Madison this spring to give the school’s commencement address.

Affordable care

Rose lives in a four-by-seven-foot trailer she built herself with salvaged materials, and she parks wherever she can. It’s a small space to share with an enormous red bloodhound, but Rose wouldn’t have it any other way.

Breaking the chessboard: the geopolitics of Obama’s Asia pivot

Quoted: Al McCoy, the JRW Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says what we’re witnessing is the first time in modern history the Chinese have systematically fought to capture this key ’heartland’ region, and thus unify the Eurasian landmass.

When students enroll in college, geography matters more than policy makers think

Quoted: The zip code that a child is born into oftentimes determines their life chances,” said Nick Hillman, an author of the study and assistant professor of education leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “Place matters because it reinforces existing inequalities.”

Super Bowl Ad Lessons Learned, a Year After Commercial That Went Way Wrong

Quoted: Dr. Thomas O’Guinn of the University of Wisconsin has written several books on advertising and brand promotion. He has consulted with a wide range of corporations on advertising campaigns. He worked on public service announcements for the American Cancer Society, so he knows that advertising is not always about puppies and horses.

Higher temperatures make Zika mosquito spread disease more

Noted: El Nino, a natural warming of parts of the central Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide, usually puts northeastern Brazil into a drought, as it did last year. Aedes aegypti does well in less-developed regions in droughts, because it lives in areas where poorer people store water in outdoor containers, said Jonathan Patz, director of the global health institute at the University of Wisconsin.

Priced out: Low-income students struggle to meet costs, participate in college community

Demographers forecast that more college students in the future will be low-income adults returning to school. And President Barack Obama is pushing to make college more affordable with a package of proposals that includes providing two free years of college to all high school graduates, expanding the low-income Pell grant program for older students like Atkinson, and giving bonuses to colleges that enroll and graduate significant numbers of low-income students. Meanwhile, student activists pushed for more affordable college on campuses across the country during the Million Student March in November.

For candidates, flying private is the norm

Quoted: While most Americans probably won’t see the inside of a Gulfstream, the campaign plane is a reality of early state primaries, said Ken Mayer, a presidential political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Drinking Water Travels Disparate Paths In Wisconsin Utilities

Noted: Lead also complicates water conservation. When customers use less water, that remaining in the system sits in the pipes longer, offering lead more opportunity to leach into it. “Systems can’t just go blindly into water demand reduction or conservation plans,” said Gregory Harrington, a UW-Madison professor of civil and environmental engineering. Lead’s relatively small part in the water system infrastructure highlights some of the long-term decisions ahead for water utilities — including Madison’s, which has about 900 miles of pipe, much of which is at least 50 years old. “I think the biggest decision they’re going to have to make is how to fund infrastructure over time,” Harrington said.

University of Missouri Struggles to Bridge Its Racial Divide

Quoted: Inclusion starts with ensuring that minority students are “not on campus in token amounts,” said Linda S. Greene, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who has served in various administrative roles that included diversity work.

Campus, legislative officials promote education on voter ID changes

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank outlined the university’s efforts to educate students on voter ID information in a Friday blog post.

Blank said in the post that after the 2011 voter ID law was implemented, she and other administrative officials worked with legislators to ensure that students across the UW System could obtain voter ID cards.

Want to end prejudice? Watch a sitcom

Quoted: “We thought the effect might be dampened with the groups actual media exposure prior to watching the program. Typically Muslims and Arabs are shown on television as more violent and aggressive and are shown in more stereotypical ways like as terrorists,” said Sohad Murrar, the study author. Murrar is a graduate student studying social and personality psychology in at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It was particularly exciting to see this positive shift it was quite a robust effect, and we think if people’s prejudice was dampened in this case, this could be applied to other target groups.”

12 on Tuesday: Hedi Rudd

Noted: As a graduate of the UW Odyssey Project, I have been able to see up close and personal what a game changer education can be. One day, we are going to see the families of those Odyssey graduates changing the game in Madison, as they and their children go on to college. Odyssey exposes us to literature, art, history and philosophy, which is empowering. It might take time, but I believe that we are going to see some serious outcomes as a result of Odyssey and Odyssey Junior.

UW System finances still ‘relatively strong’ as reserves drop

While budget cuts are occurring on campuses across the University of Wisconsin System this year, the system’s own annual report released Monday said its financial standing “remained relatively strong” as of June 30, the end of the last fiscal year. That’s just a snapshot in time, UW System officials said, and it does not account for $250 million in state budget cuts that will come into play between this fiscal year and next.

On Campus: Inspired by popular podcasts, UW-Madison explores people behind research

Inspired by other popular podcasts that bring science to the masses, such as Radiolab from New York Public Radio, UW-Madison’s “Science Narratives” is aimed at “people who aren’t going to be interested in sitting down and reading an academic article,” said Lika Balenovich, who oversees the project.

Zika virus around a long time, yet little is known about it

Dr. Matthew Leota is a University of Wisconsin Madison Research Scientist who studies mosquito borne illnesses. He says they encountered the Zika virus while researching something else in Columbia. “I’ve been primarily working on a virus called Dengue virus and another virus called Chikungunya virus, which are transmitted by a mosquito called Aedes Aegypti, and so Aedes Aegypti is also the mosquito that is currently spreading Zika virus around the Americas, and so it was somewhat coincidentally that we came upon Zika virus working in Columbia.”

Owen Daniels aims for career in weather after football

When Owen Daniels looks to the sky as he discusses plans for life after the NFL, just know that he’s not searching for an answer.

UW Varsity Band coming to Iola

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Varsity Band will perform at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, at Iola-Scandinavia High School.

This robot changes how it looks depending on your personality

We’ve already got robot receptionists, who respond to human interactions — now we have a robot that changes how it looks depending on your personality. This robot, designed by Sean Andrist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been developed to respond to ’social gaze’ — essentially the social context in which we look at one another. The robot uses social cues, which it processes via a bespoke algorithm, to figure out what kind of personality you have and respond accordingly.

UW Students Turn To Their Wardrobe To Mark Black History Month

#blackOclock: That’s the social media tag some University of Wisconsin-Madison students are using to share pictures of themselves decked out from head to toe in the color black to celebrate the first day of Black History Month.

Middle schoolers from Wisconsin compete in Science Bowl

Some of Wisconsin’s brightest minds filled the UW Engineering Hall today. They were all there for the Wisconsin Regional Middle School Science Bowl.

Middle school students from across the state traveled to Madison for this. Organizers say the kids impress them every round.

Is Wisconsin lagging nation in support for higher ed?

While much of the nation is steadily boosting state funding for higher education, several recent reports suggest the opposite is true in Wisconsin, though the governor’s office argues that’s not the full story.

Plain Talk: Why a world-class university matters to Wisconsin

Column: The (Epic founder Judith) Faulkner story is one of a kind, to be sure. But there are hundreds like it involving smaller companies that have been formed by men and women who came here because of what the UW had to offer. That’s why it’s so troubling when the university becomes a whipping boy for politicians who profess they want to make it easier for businesses to create jobs when, in fact, one of the largest job creators is the university itself.

Science-Diversity Efforts Connect Grad Students With Mentors

Angela Byars-Winston, a counseling psychologist at the U. of Wisconsin at Madison, is involved in an ambitious training program in “culturally responsive mentoring,” funded by the NIH.

In election year, teachers tackle politics in class

Quoted: “It’s no different than, ’Why do we teach science in school?’ ” said Diana Hess, who has researched civic education and students’ discussion of controversial political issues, and is dean of the school of education at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.