UW In The News

Save the Planet, Eat a Bug

The practice of ethical entomophagy started haphazardly. In 1974, Gene DeFoliart, who was the chair of entomology at the University of Wisconsin, was asked by a colleague to recommend someone who could talk about edible insects as part of a symposium on unconventional protein sources

Headed away to school? Here’s what students with health issues need to know about insurance

Many schools require students to have health insurance and offer university-sponsored plans, said Jake Baggott, a past president of the American College Health Association and an associate vice chancellor of student affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He said that while some university health programs are equipped to deal with more complex medical issues or diagnostics, others are not. Students need to be clear on the details, such as whether their policy covers off-campus care.

Why Is Pluto Not a Planet?

The New Horizons flyby found evidence that Pluto—little Pluto!—might even have an ocean beneath its surface. “The name doesn’t matter,” Sanjay Limaye, a planetary scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, told me. “It doesn’t matter what we call it, as long as we can explore it and learn from it.” Regardless of what we decide here on Earth, Pluto will still be there, doing its thing, blissfully unaware that some aliens a few rocks down are mesmerized by its existence.

UW-Madison to send $28.6 million in federal pandemic aid to students this year

Automatic payments hit students’ bank accounts this week, university officials said.

Hurricanes Get Names. What About Heat Waves?

Another issue is that the people who are most at risk, such as homeless people, older people living alone or people living in poverty, are often the ones who are the hardest to reach, said Richard C. Keller, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who focuses on the global history of the environment. For them, naming a heat wave may have limited, if any, impact, but it could raise overall awareness within a community, and prompt people to check in those who are more vulnerable.

U.S. Tennis Association Adds Quiet Rooms, More Mental Health Resources Ahead of U.S. Open

Dr. Claudia Reardon, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine’s psychiatry department, is working with USTA on the initiative. She also provided a comment in the statement, saying, “We are working to create an environment that supports overall mental well-being.”

A native plant designer?s memoir reflects on a life in the field

The topography of the Midwest was always in his DNA — he grew up a farm boy in southwestern Iowa — but it wasn’t until he arrived at the University of Wisconsin at Madison as a graduate student that he began to see what was lost and how to revive it in some measure.

How Warming Is Affecting Northern Storms Like Henri

That’s probably because of complicating factors in the Atlantic Ocean basin, according to James Kossin, a senior scientist with the analytics firm the Climate Service and a researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who has studied the poleward migration of hurricanes.

Q&A: did the climate crisis fuel Henri and the Tennessee flooding?

The Atlantic has been several degrees warmer than normal over the past week, feeding the intensity of Henri as it barreled towards Rhode Island. Ocean temperatures “are very anomalous right now”, said James Kossin, a hurricane expert at the University of Wisconsin. “There’s a likely human fingerprint on that.”

Evidence mounts that people with breakthrough infections can spread Delta easily

“We’re the first to demonstrate, as far as I’m aware, that infectious virus can be cultured from the fully vaccinated infections,” says Kasen Riemersma, a virologist at University of Wisconsin who is one of the authors of the study.

As California burns, some ecologists say it’s time to rethink forest management

Yet despite a universal desire to avoid more destruction, experts aren’t always in agreement about what should be done before a blaze ignites. Forest management has long been touted as essential to fighting wildfires, with one new set of studies led by the University of Wisconsin and the U.S. Forest Service concluding that there is strong scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of thinning dense forests and reducing fuels through prescribed burns.

‘You are not a horse’: FDA tells Americans stop taking dewormer for Covid

“It is a far cry from an in-vitro lab replication to helping humans,” Dr Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection prevention at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital, told the Associated Press.

Arizona ‘bracing for impact’ of Trump-driven election report

Other election experts have previously torn into the Arizona review as unprofessionally run, including a report from former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, a Republican, and Barry Burden, the director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

“The Cyber Ninjas review suffers from a variety of maladies: uncompetitive contracting, a lack of impartiality and partisan balance, a faulty ballot review process, inconsistency in procedures, an unacceptably high level of error built into the process, and insufficient security,” Grayson and Burden wrote in their June report. “Because it lacks the essential elements of a bona fide post-election analysis, the review currently underway in Maricopa County will not produce findings that should be trusted.”

The Daddy Longlegs Genome Was Sequenced, And Researchers Made A Daddy Shortlegs

“If you watch a daddy longlegs move, it will effectively walk on just three pairs of its legs,” said Guilherme Gainett, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The remaining pair of legs, he adds, wave around in the air, probing the arachnid’s surroundings.

Fight to Vote: Election data reveals the 2020 election was a remarkable success

“It is basically an indicator of the success of the election,” said Barry Burden, the director of the elections research center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Election administrators managed to pull it off and support a record number of voters.”

Tommy Thompson explains why he got vaccinated – and why you should, too

When I had an opportunity to become vaccinated against COVID-19 last spring, I didn’t hesitate. The vaccine clearly was the best way for me to protect myself and the people I care about from death or hospitalization due to COVID. I was also eager to do my part to help our society beat back this insidious disease.

Family of Anthony Huber, killed by Kyle Rittenhouse, files suit against city of Kenosha

Steven Howard Wright, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, said the challenge for plaintiffs will be to prove an active conspiracy between the city, law enforcement and White militia members. “They are swinging for the entire community, which will make it a lot harder to sell,” he said. Because there is not a specific “smoking gun” to prove the conspiracy, he said he expects plaintiffs’ attorneys to ask the court “for the widest degree of discovery” to show that both departments had significant race problems long before the Blake incident.

How to Get Smarter: Start With the Brain Itself

“If we can make these things less and less invasive while making sure we are engaging the nerves, we can start to move beyond just doing this for people who have injury or ailments,” says Justin Williams, a Darpa-funded neuro-engineer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is studying how nerve stimulation can impact learning.

Chris Cuomo’s ethical troubles at CNN highlight rise of ‘info-tainment’

“I am shocked it’s gotten this far without him even receiving a suspension,” said Kathleen Bartzen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

It’s been a brutally hot summer. Experts say this is just a glimpse of the future.

“Climate scientists were predicting exactly these kinds of things, that there would be an enhanced threat of these types of extreme events brought on by increased warming,” said Jonathan Martin, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s very distressing. These are not encouraging signs for our immediate future.

Live Murder Hornet sighted in the US for the first time in 2021

James Crall, assistant professor of entymology at the University of Wisconsin, told the Harvard Gazette last year: “If they do become established, then the honeybees will experience strong evolutionary pressures over the next years as they adapt to this new ecological interaction.”

Metabolism in adulthood does not slow as commonly believed, study finds

In a commentary published with the new study, Timothy Rhoads and Rozalyn Anderson, who work in geriatrics at the University of Wisconsin, said the findings also may have implications for the study of age-related diseases.

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine study for children under 12 starting at UW Health

Bill Gates Pledges $1.5 Billion for Infrastructure Bill’s New Climate Projects

Gregory Nemet, a University of Wisconsin professor who has written a book about recent innovation in solar power, said the policy shift will put pressure on government officials who will have to sort through complex market dynamics while managing demands from companies seeking profits and lawmakers pushing for home-state handouts.

Does mask wearing harm children’s development? Experts weigh in

“There are sensitive periods in early childhood development in which language development and emotional development are really rapidly developing for the first few years of life,” said Ashley Ruba, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Child Emotion Lab.

UW School of Medicine to begin enrolling children ages 6 months to 11 years for Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial

Vaccinating children as young as 6 months of age against COVID-19 may become the new front in the global pandemic fight, if the vaccines prove to be safe and effective.

One such trial by the American pharmaceutical company Moderna will begin enrolling children 6 months through 11 years old on Friday at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. UW will be one of 75 to 100 sites in the U.S. and Canada for the trial, which has been named the KidCOVE study.

Fact check: 8 million ‘excess’ Biden votes weren’t counted in 2020

“Keshel is promoting a bizarre and unfounded conspiracy about the 2020 election,” Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in an email.

Wisconsin to set fall wolf limit after runaway spring hunt

The DNR’s most recent estimate of wolves in Wisconsin, during the winter of 2019-20, put the population at about 1,000. The department’s goal is 350 wolves statewide. But conservationists maintain the February hunt was devastating to the state’s wolf population since it was held during the animal’s mating season. A University of Wisconsin study released last month also estimated another 100 wolves were killed by poachers after the animals lost their endangered species protection.

Delta Forces Hospitals Across U.S. to Ration Scarce ICU Beds

Truly stopping transmission would require about 90% vaccination, impossible to achieve, because children under 12 aren’t eligible for a shot, said Ajay Sethi, an associate professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin.

Studying poverty through a child’s eyes

Researchers studying how poverty and adversity affect children’s development often track how negative experiences — be they poverty itself or factors such as having an incarcerated parent — affect decision-making, stress levels or aspects of brain function. But Seth Pollak, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, says that most of these efforts miss a crucial but long-overlooked component: children’s perceptions of their experiences.

Pollak spoke with Knowable Magazine about the importance of studying individual differences in experience.