UW In The News

Goodness gracious, fireballs in February

Hundreds of fireballs streak across Earth’s atmosphere every day, said Jim Lattis, an astronomer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but people witness few of them. The majority fly over uninhabited areas, and many also occur during daytime when the sun’s glare makes them hard to detect.

Cross acknowledges UW needs more diversity progress

University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross says the system must do more to acknowledge and understand students of color.

Tech leaders say UW budget cuts are a ‘dark cloud’ on the state’s economy

Seven executives met for a recent roundtable discussion at Wisconsin State Journal offices, one year after they gathered for a similar exchange, to see if conditions in the area’s tech industry have improved or slid backward.

Darrell Bazzell on UW, race and 40 years in Madison

Capitol Times Editor Paul Fanlund’s interview with Darrell Bazzell, who is departing in April as UW’s vice chancellor for finance and administration to assume a similarly high-ranking post at the huge University of Texas campus in Austin.

Black History Month web series sharing stories ‘worth telling’

At 21 years old, Keven Stonewall, a Chicago Public Schools graduate, has already conducted lab research offering scientists worldwide a breakthrough in their fight to cure colon cancer.

Why You Should Never Buy Bagged Greens

Noted: Bagged greens are usually washed thoroughly (some packages boast that their contents are “triple-washed”) with a little bleach, but that unfortunately doesn’t make any difference if the produce carries disease-causing bacteria. “Listeria is a natural soil inhabitant, and spinach commonly comes in contact with the soil,” says Jeri Barak, associate professor of plant pathology and executive member of the Food Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Listeria, like Salmonella and E. coli, can’t be rinsed or washed from leaves even if the dirt is, she says.

Scientists Say Climate Change May Have Fueled Zika Outbreak

Noted: The Zika epidemic parallels the 1999 West Nile Virus outbreak in New York, according to Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both arrived during record-hot summers and involved the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which bite more frequently in hot weather.

Brazil’s sprawling favelas bear the brunt of Zika

Quoted: “It could be that Zika is causing [microcephaly] with another factor, which is definitely possible. There could be other environmental factors, there could be co-infections that cause the unfortunate microcephaly, and at this point there is just not enough evidence to say it is causing it,” said Kristin Bernard, a mosquito-borne virus researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

What Lessons Will We Learn From Zika?

Quoted: Overall, infectious disease researchers are pushing toward a more interdisciplinary approach to predict outbreaks. Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at UW-Madison, is doing research to connect the dots between climate change and global health, offering a glimpse into the ways differing scientific fields can combine to build a proactive approach to mosquito-borne disease. His research has revealed a link between dramatic climactic shifts and the occurrence of viral outbreaks.

How a Medical Mystery in Brazil Led Doctors to Zika

Quoted: “The arrival of Zika virus in Brazil is not good news,” wrote Thomas M. Yuill, an emeritus professor of veterinary science and wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Behind the Scenes at SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Competition

Noted: Badgerloop, the University of Wisconsin’s largely undergraduate team, laid claim to one of the event’s most impressive booths. Throughout the weekend, team members, who were clad in matching red-and-black polo shirts and khakis, built an Oculus Rift-like headset out of cardboard to help explain their pod’s unique technology to the steady throng around their eye-catching display.

Badgers honor Black History Month, former coach with retro jerseys

In honor of Black History Month and former Wisconsin head coach Bill Cofield, the Badgers will be wearing special throwback Adidas uniforms several times in the month of February. UW will be wearing the uniforms modeled after those worn in 1976, Cofield’s first year as head coach in Madison.

12th annual ‘Read Your Heart Out Day’ expands to 3 days

Noted: As “Read Your Heart Out Day” added more schools, they began to add more community readers. “Pastors joined The 100 Black Men and we had community representation from sororities and fraternities and high school students and athletes,” Belnavis said. “We just grew and grew and embraced the UW sports – some of our UW basketball players and football players came to join in.”

Health officials warn Zika virus spreads through blood transfusion

Quoted: “What they’re recommending is that if you traveled to a place where Zika virus is, which is an ever-changing thing, that you avoid donating blood, if you’ve traveled there within 28 days,” said Dr. Daniel Shirley, a clinical professor of infectious disease at UW Health.

Shirley said that right now there is not a test to screen for the Zika virus in donated blood.

“Each test that they run on transfusion blood is a big process to institute that across the board, and so it would take some standardization and some testing before that ever happened,” Shirley said.

Focus on Dane County: UW-Madison, Monona to collaborate on city project

A new partnership with UW-Madison promises to deliver Monona officials a wealth of information on how to improve the city’s transportation infrastructure, housing and amenities.

Who will Bucky welcome back to Camp Randall for spring commencement?

Senior class officers at University of Wisconsin-Madison didn’t choose a famous entertainer, author or politician to give the Class of 2016 commencement address May 14.

UW-Madison spent $8 million to fend off raids on faculty

The University of Wisconsin-Madison spent $8 million the last six months of 2015 fending off attempts to raid some of its most productive and accomplished faculty after international attention over state budget cuts and possible changes to tenure protections created faculty unrest.

UW-Madison team finishes third in SpaceX design competition

A UW-Madison team that designed a pod for transporting people at futuristic speed finished third in SpaceX’s first worldwide Hyperloop competition, hosted at Texas A&M University Jan. 29 and 30.

Rebecca Blank: UW-Madison spent at least $8M to retain professors after budget cuts, tenure changes

UW-Madison has spent at least $8 million since last summer to retain top professors after state legislators cut higher education funding and changed faculty tenure policies, Chancellor Rebecca Blank told the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents on Thursday.

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.