UW In The News

Meat shortages may be coming at grocery stores soon. Here’s why

“We definitely can see shortage of products in the grocery stores,” said Jeff Sindelar, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences with an expertise in meat processing. If the larger processing plants continue to shut down or operate with limited capacity, certain products may be unavailable and others could get really expensive, he added.

Why Zoom Is Terrible

“Our brains are prediction generators, and when there are delays or the facial expressions are frozen or out of sync, as happens on Zoom and Skype, we perceive it as a prediction error that needs to be fixed,” said Paula Niedenthal, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who specializes in affective response. “Whether subconscious or conscious, we’re having to do more work because aspects of our predictions are not being confirmed and that can get exhausting.”

The Revolving Door Of Disease Between Humans And Animals

Charting the animal origins of human diseases like COVID-19 can be difficult and often leads to unexpected discoveries, explained Dr. Tony Goldberg, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. During a January 29, 2020 presentation at the Wednesday Nite @ the Lab lecture series on the UW-Madison campus, Goldberg recounted the growing body of research into pathogen transmission between animals and humans over the past three decades.

US marriage rates: CDC report says rate in 2018 at all-time low

Christine Whelan, Ph.D., professor in the School of Human Ecology at University of Wisconsin – Madison, told TODAY she believes that the falling importance of religion in today’s society also plays a role, evidenced in part by more unmarried couples living together.

“The idea of first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby — it could be any order you choose at this point,” she said. “For the last couple decades, we’ve seen ’choose your own adventure’ when it comes to marriage patterns.”

Oldest evidence of a moving tectonic plate found in Australia

Quoted: “This is kind of the smoking gun,” says geochemist Annie Bauer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was not part of the new study. “This is the most important evidence we can get [of early plate motion].”

Vote-By-Mail Lawsuits Have Become ‘Nuclear Arms Race’ for Both Parties Ahead of 2020 Election

Quoted: “What groups will do is say to supporters, ’Our ability to win this election is threatened by some action or inaction that the government is taking.’ That’s a way to generate energy among core supporters, even if the law doesn’t successfully change,” said Barry Burden, a professor of political science and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Wisconsin’s Rural Communities Have Few COVID-19 Cases. Some Say They Should Reopen Sooner.

Quoted: Katherine J. Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, coined the term “rural consciousness” in her 2016 book “The Politics of Resentment,” which is built on conversations she had with rural Wisconsinites over years about how they saw their communities as both overlooked and dictated to by Madison and Milwaukee.

COVID-19 Is Driving A Dramatic Greenhouse Gas Decline, But How Is Renewable Energy Faring?

Quoted: Ankur Desai, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of atmospheric sciences, said while the emission declines may be dramatic, they won’t have an immediate impact on the climate or the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

In live stream, Blank and Gard talk about navigating unprecedented disruptions at UW

Malaria Drug Led to More Deaths in Treating COVID: VA Study

At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, “I think we’re all rather underwhelmed” at what’s been seen among the few patients there who’ve tried it, said Dr. Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control and prevention.

Fox News Poll Shows Biden Leading Trump by 8 Points in Michigan and Pennsylvania

Barry Burden, a professor of political science and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek that while Trump flipped Michigan from blue to red during the 2016 election, the 2018 mid-term elections signaled a possible shift as Democrats swept the state’s Senate and gubernatorial races.

The $600 Unemployment Booster Shot, State by State

Just over half of workers in Arizona, which had a relatively high minimum benefit of $172 before the crisis, are estimated to make more on unemployment than if they were still working, according to Noah Williams, the director of Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

US Food Supply Strained Even as Farmers Keep Producing

“Seldom does a consumer go to a grocery store and want to buy a 5-pound bag of shredded cheese,” said Mark Stephenson, director of Dairy Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “They wanted maybe 1-pound bags at a time. You can’t just put 1-pound bags through a 5-pound line. Not possible. You have to have a different piece of equipment set up differently. We’ve had an industry that’s had to shuffle a great deal to move product from where it was produced before to where it needs to be today.”

Wisconsin’s absentee ballot crisis fueled by multiple failures

Quoted: Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said officials have limited time to make improvements for Wisconsin’s upcoming elections, including a special Congressional race next month and the statewide primary in August.

How a six-year-old Russian girl became YouTube’s most popular child star

Quoted: While other YouTube child performers tend to adopt the site’s popular blogging style, speaking directly to viewers as they unbox toys or shop in a mall, “Like Nastya” videos usually involve short, episodic plots. The storylines are simple enough for a three-year-old to follow. Heavy doses of sound effects, jump cuts and slapstick humour are like sugar for young audiences, said Heather Kirkorian, a professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies cognitive development and media. “It’s like ‘The Three Stooges’,” she said. “That plays really well with preschoolers.”

Malaria drug treatment shows no benefits in hospital study

At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, “I think we’re all rather underwhelmed” at what’s been seen among the few patients there who’ve tried it, said Dr. Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control and prevention.

In The Midst Of Uncertainty, Coronavirus Stimulus Payments Hit Wisconsinites’ Bank Accounts

Quoted: “I think one of the most important things for people to be cautious about is there’s now going to be a proliferation of scams,” said Michael Collins, director of the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Trump’s coronavirus task force briefings have given the president what he loves most: a captive audience

“Every president wants to defend their legacy,” says Allison Prasch, assistant professor of rhetoric, politics and culture at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “But the way that Trump is portraying himself rhetorically demonstrates a self-obsession in ways that I think are unprecedented

Protests to reopen the economy flare as some businesses face permanent closure

Quoted: “Every day it’s shut down it becomes more costly to reopen and recover, there’s no doubt about that,” said Ian Coxhead, an applied economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Depending on how long before we can begin to reopen the economy, there will be more people and more businesses added to the rolls of those who are not going to come back to the labor force of the business world.”

Vote by Mail in Wisconsin Helped a Liberal Candidate, Upending Old Theories

Qutoed: Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is among the academics who have produced studies that found no partisan advantage to mail voting, said the Times analysis of the Wisconsin data did not align with any previous studies from states such as Colorado and Utah, which transitioned to fully vote-by-mail systems in recent years.

Deep learning takes on tumours

Sharing bioimaging data sets and deep-learning models will also be a priority for the Center for Open Bioimage Analysis, an effort funded by the US government and led by Carpenter and Kevin Eliceiri, a bioengineer at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Wisconsin Farm Groups Say New Federal Aid Will Help, Not Solve COVID-19 Problems | Wisconsin Public Radio

But Paul Mitchell, director of the Renk Agribusiness Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it won’t be easy to change the kinds of products processing facilities were built to create.

“They Should Have Done Something”: Broad Failures Fueled Wisconsin Ballot Crisis, Investigation Shows

Quoted: Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said officials have limited time to make improvements for Wisconsin’s upcoming elections, including a special Congressional race next month and the statewide primary in August.

Unemployment checks: Elizabeth Brandeis and Paul Raushenbush invented Great Depression insurance for jobless

E.B., as she was known to family and friends, wanted a career at the intersection of economics, labor and the law. She hoped to attend an elite East Coast law school, but those programs, including Harvard, where her father studied, didn’t accept women. With her father’s approval, she chose the University of Wisconsin, where the “Wisconsin Idea” — fusing academic research to solving social problems — was flourishing.

Morning Sickness During Pregnancy: What to Do and How to Cope

The good news: experts say there are practical steps you can take to help find relief, from home treatments to prescription medications. While it may be difficult to get rid of all symptoms, “this is a treatable condition and we can break the cycle and get people feeling better,” said Dr. Sumona Saha, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Are Face Masks the New Condoms?

Quoted: David O’Connor, who studies viral disease at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said: “If a substantial amount of transmission occurs before people feel sick, how do you stop that? By the time people feel sick and seek care, all the testing and isolation in the world would be too little, too late.”

Freshwater Mussels Are Dying—Which Is the Likeliest Culprit?

Quoted: Freshwater mussels are even finicky in sickness and death. Monitoring a mussel’s health is nearly impossible, said Tony Goldberg, a veterinary epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Strike Force member.

How Our Ancient Brains Are Coping in the Age of Digital Distraction

Quoted: In recent years, scientists have identified about two dozen genetic changes that might have helped make our brains not only bigger but incomparably capable. “It’s not just one quantum leap,” says University of Wisconsin-Madison paleoanthropologist John Hawks. “A lot of adaptations are at play, from metabolic regulation to neuron formation to timing of development.”

Are Face Masks The New Condoms?

Quoted: David O’Connor, who studies viral disease at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said, “If a substantial amount of transmission occurs before people feel sick, how do you stop that? By the time people feel sick and seek care, all the testing and isolation in the world would be too little, too late.”

Earth is Hit by Solar Winds that are Hotter Than They Should be, and Here’s Why

Boldrev, together with his colleagues, physics professor Cary Forest and Jan Edgal from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have explained this discrepancy in solar wind temperature. They sought the answer in the related field of plasma physics