UW In The News

What makes Wisconsin swing?

A few months after majorities of Wisconsin voters re-elected Democrat Tammy Baldwin to the US Senate with a 10-point cushion but only sent Republican Governor Scott Walker packing by a razor-thin margin, the Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez announced that the city of Milwaukee will host the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

With vaccine misinformation, libraries walk a fine line

Quoted: There’s this underlying recognition,” said Bob Drechsel, an expert in media law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “that it’s extraordinarily important and unavoidable that librarians have a great deal of discretion to make decisions about what they think is in the best interest of their collections and their patrons.”

BBC – Future – Are we close to solving the puzzle of consciousness?

Quoted: “With a dog, who behaves quite a lot like us, who is in a body which is not too different from ours, and who has a brain that is not too different from ours, it’s much more plausible that it sees things and hears things very much like we do, than to say that it is completely ‘dark inside’, so to speak,” says Giulio Tononi, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But when it comes down to a lobster, all bets are off.”

Fifty Years After Apollo 11, the Moon Is More Important Than Ever

Quoted: It’s valued at roughly $5 billion per metric ton or more, according to Gerald Kulcinski, director of the Fusion Technology Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a former member of the NASA Advisory Council. (Gold’s value is roughly $42 million per metric ton.)

Badgers take powerful message to Congress during UW-Madison Day in Washington DC

More than 120 University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni, students, and friends, from across the country gathered in Washington, DC, to let their voices be heard as part of the third annual UW–Madison Day.

Thai Election Mess Pits Thaksin Against Coup-Prone Generals

Quoted: “If the military can come to terms with the fact that despite all of their efforts they still can’t win, or if there’s a clear resistance, maybe they would stop,” said David Streckfuss, a scholar of Southeast Asian politics and honorary fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  “But I don’t have much hope for that.”

Feng Shui Tips for a Harmonious Life

For the last 15 years, Wei Dong, a professor in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has taken students to China on an international study abroad program that examines the concepts of feng shui.

Report: New Solar, Wind Could Replace Coal While Cutting Costs

Quoted: Greg Nemet, professor of public affairs and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said this report makes clear what people in the industry already know about the cost-effectiveness of coal.

Here’s how many trees are required to cool a city street

That’s why researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, decided to start measuring. They strapped some sensors to a bike, and sent an able-bodied person around the city of Madison to test temperatures at regular intervals along blocks with varying levels of tree cover. They published their results Monday in the journal PNAS.

Throw Shade at Climate Change By Planting More Trees

And, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, they play a big role in keeping towns and cities cool.

Cottage Cheese Is the New Greek Yogurt

Quoted: “It’s a pretty straightforward cheese to make,” says John Lucey, a professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Even so, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. It begins with creating the curd, the lumpy matter found in cottage cheese.

The NCAA women’s hockey trophy is coming home to Wisconsin

The No. 1 Wisconsin women’s hockey team won its fifth national championship Sunday with a 2-0 win over No. 2 Minnesota.

Wisconsin dairy farmers lean on creativity, innovation

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Victor Cabrera wants to help farmers make better decisions through his project called Dairy Brain , which would collect and integrate data from all parts of the farm operation, then use artificial intelligence to analyze the findings and help farmers make smarter management decisions.

Most styrofoam isn’t recycled. Here’s how 3 startups aim to fix that

Andrea Hicks, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison published a recent study that looked at the environmental impact of polystyrene through its life cycle.

Why the Peace Corps director thinks UW-Madison tops all schools in producing volunteers

Seventy-five Badgers — more than any other U.S. university — are currently serving a 27-month stint in developing countries promoting peace through community integration.

Report: Climate Change Brings Rising Temperatures, Extreme Weather To Great Lakes States

The Environmental Law & Policy Center commissioned the study by researchers from several universities, including Daniel Vimont, director of the Nelson Institute Center For Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Debunking the Capitalist Cowboy

Business schools fetishize entrepreneurial innovation, but their most prominent heroes succeeded because they manipulated corporate law, not because of personal brilliance. –Nan Enstad is the Robinson Edwards Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and author of Cigarettes, Inc.: An Intimate History of Corporate Imperialism.

What Is the World to Do About Gene-Editing?

Quoted: This can be seen in what the University of Wisconsin bioethicist Alta Charo, an author of the 2017 NASEM report, both observes and endorses as the “yellow light” approach to regulating “technology [that] innovates faster than the regulatory system can adapt.”

Climate change is taking a toll on the $20 billion ski industry

Tonight’s spring equinox “supermoon,” explained in one chart

Quoted: A supermoon is when these two cycles match up and we have a full moon that’s near its perigee. The result is that the full “super” moon appears slightly larger and slightly brighter in the sky. This occurs about one in every 14 full moons, Jim Lattis, an astronomer at the University of Wisconsin Madison, notes.

The return of internet nationalism

Quoted: According to Paul Barford, an internet topology expert at the University of Wisconsin who worked on the Internet Atlas, Russia’s plan is almost certainly part of an attempt to defend itself against what he calls a “cyber cold war.”

UW-Madison scientists make key discovery on protein that’s a major focus of cancer research

New work by two University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers provides crucial insight into a major medical mystery: how a protein that normally protects cells from tumors is induced to abandon its mission.

UW scientists discover pathway behind common cancer gene

UW-Madison researchers have discovered one way a gene that usually protects against tumors can, when mutated, spur cancers of the breast, ovaries, lung and bladder.

Muslim Students Host Vigil for New Zealand Victims

Devastated, yet motivated to come together, Muslim University of Wisconsin students Mouna Algahaithi and Ali Khan hosted a vigil just 12 hours later with the Muslim Student Association at the Multicultural Student Center, where the staff were more than willing to provide space and services. The Assistant Director of Leadership and Involvement, Maria Ahmad, assisted in inviting University Health Services mental health counselors, as well. Over 50 staff, students, and community members from various religious backgrounds gathered to honor the fallen victims.

When America’s Love of the Open Frontier Hit a Wall

The first person to articulate the frontier thesis was a University of Wisconsin historian who was little regarded at the time, Frederick Jackson Turner.

Exposing Baby to Foods Early May Help Prevent Allergies

“There’s no reason to restrict early introduction to allergenic foods,” said a co-author of a new clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Dr. Frank Greer. He’s a professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Would You Give Your Kidney to a Stranger?

“She will donate her kidney. It will fly somewhere else in the country. Then that patient’s donor will have a kidney go on a plane to somewhere else,” UW Health transplant surgeon Dr. Josh Mezrich explained to “To the Best of Our Knowledge” host Anne Strainchamps.

Governors vs. senators: Hickenlooper, Inslee will test old theory

“In 2016, the Democrats had one of the most experienced candidates ever. That failed,” said Barry  Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist who has written about the advantages governors hold in presidential races. “That might cause the party to rethink the value of experience, and especially Washington experience.”

Wisconsin Farmers Expected To Take On More Debt Despite Improved Income

But Steven Deller, agricultural and applied economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it won’t offset the 17.8 percent decline in farm income last year.

Insects could be an untapped source of new antibiotic drugs

“The insects are doing the searching for us,” added co-author of the study, Cameron Currie, a bacteriologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.