UW In The News

Government shutdown frays America’s safety net

Quoted: “A safety net that has a frayed bottom to it makes people much less, feel more financially fragile and financially vulnerable than they already are,” J. Michael Collins, a professor at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, told ABC News.

Is It Ethical for Alcoholics to Get Liver Transplants?

Before he found out he needed a new liver, Herbert Heneman was not your typical corner-of-the-dive-bar alcoholic. Heneman, the Dickson-Bascom professor emeritus of management and human resources at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. He had a happy childhood and a very supportive family. He describes his parents as somewhat heavy drinkers, particularly his father, but he remembers no health issues, legal problems, or family crises related to alcohol.

This post is adapted from Mezrich’s new book,When Death Becomes Life: Notes From a Transplant Surgeon.

Protecting monarch butterflies’ winter home could mean moving hundreds of trees

Quoted: Rising temperatures and habitat destruction at the butterflies’ breeding sites in the United States and Canada are the major drivers of monarch declines, says Karen Oberhauser, a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

R. Kelly and the silencing of black women in history

Quoted: “It is incredibly courageous for the survivors to come forward, given the gross misogyny and disregard for black women and girls in the country and worldwide,” insists Bianca J. Baldridge, an Assistant Professor in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the forthcoming book entitled Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work.

Farms, More Productive Than Ever, Are Poisoning Drinking Water in Rural America

Some contamination comes from septic systems, he says. In parts of Kewaunee County, more than one-fifth of private wells surpassed the federal nitrate limit, according to data aggregated by the University of Wisconsin.

What it means to be a peace corps volunteer

For the second consecutive year UW-Madison tops the list of universities for sending the most Peace Corps volunteers abroad. We find out more about the program and the opportunities they offer. We’ll also talk with a former lawmaker before he departs for Senegal next month about his decision to volunteer at the age of 65. Featured: Kate Schacter.

As Cheese Surplus Hits All-Time High, Dairy Industry Is ‘Cautiously Optimistic’

Quoted: Brian Gould, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of agribusiness, expects this degree of excess to be a temporary situation.”The industry … is not alarmed to a large degree, I mean there is some concern of course if these stick around, but I haven’t seen a tremendous drop off in those cheese prices over the last six, seven months,” he said.

Blame a wobbly polar vortex for why you’re so damn cold

Quoted: “We’re gonna freeze,” John Martin, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in an interview.

How Lichens Explain (And Re-explain) the World

Tripp agrees that “we, as a community of lichen biologists, need to revisit the role of all symbionts in the lichen microcosm.” No matter how one describes Tremella and other lichen-associated fungi, it’s clear that they do affect the form and function of the lichen as a whole. How they do so is “the great unsolved problem” of lichenology, says Anne Pringle from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lunar eclipse 2019: how to watch this “supermoon” turn blood-red

Noted: 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.

Wildfires Spark Population Booms in Fungi and Bacteria

“We’re beginning to parse out the ecological drivers of response to fire,” says study co-author Thea Whitman, a soil ecologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Earth’s Tilt Could Accelerate Antarctica Ice Loss

“Really critical is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” said Stephen Meyers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the co-author of the new study. He added that extreme carbon dioxide and high-angled Earth’s tilt would be devastating for Antarctica.

Potatoes Have A Form Of ‘Depression’, But Scientists Have An Idea To Cure Them

A team of scientists meeting in 2016 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison proposed a new idea — reinventing the potato as a diploid crop, one with two, rather than four, sets of chromosomes.

How to help low-income children with autism

Quoted:That means the needs of an untold number of children aren’t being met. It also has serious ramifications for research, because it can skew estimates of autism, says Maureen Durkin, an epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: “It means that the prevalence of autism is probably even higher than we’re measuring.”

Lunar eclipse 2019: how to watch this “supermoon” turn blood-red

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.

Earth’s Tilt May Exacerbate a Melting Antarctic

“Really critical is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” said study co-author Stephen Meyers, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Severe wildfires spark population boom in fungi and bacteria

“We’re beginning to parse out the ecological drivers of response to fire,” says study co-author Thea Whitman, a soil ecologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

A Surgeon Reflects On Death, Life And The ‘Incredible Gift’ Of Organ Transplant

Noted: Mezrich is an associate professor in the division of multiorgan transplantation at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. He reflects on his experiences as a transplant surgeon and shares stories from the operating room in his book, When Death Becomes Life.

Antarctica ice melt has accelerated by 280% in the last 4 decades

The researchers, led by Richard Levy of New Zeland’s GNS Science and Victoria University of Wellington and Stephen Meyers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were able to recreate a broad history of the Antarctic ice sheet going back 34 million years to when the ice sheet first formed — documenting multiple cycles of ice growth and decay resulting from natural variations in the planet’s tilt.

Ice Loss in Antarctica Has Accelerated at Alarming Rate: Study

The researchers, led by Richard Levy of New Zealand’s GNS Science and Victoria University of Wellington and Stephen Meyers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were able to recreate a broad history of the Antarctic ice sheet going back 34 million years to when the ice sheet first formed — documenting multiple cycles of ice growth and decay resulting from natural variations in the planet’s tilt.

Earth’s axial cycles impact the rise and fall of Antarctic sea ice

A new study has revealed that variations in the Earth’s axial tilt are linked to dramatic shifts in the the Antarctic Ice Sheet. A research team led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison has matched the planet’s celestial motions with the geologic record of Antarctica’s ice.

Gene-Editing Tool CRISPR Repurposed to Develop Better Antibiotics

Quoted: “What we need to do is to figure out new weaknesses in these bacteria,” said Jason Peters, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US.

Why Would Paul Manafort Share Polling Data with Russia?

Noted: In her analysis of five million paid, issue-based Facebook ads—which covered such hot-button issues as gun rights, abortion, gay rights, immigration, terrorism, and race—during a six-week period of the 2016 Presidential campaign, the University of Wisconsin professor Young Mie Kim discovered that “the most highly targeted states—especially Pennsylvania and Wisconsin—generally overlap with the battleground states with razor thin margins.

The power of ‘Om’

Noted: The Nimhans researchers are not alone in their interests. Richard Davidson, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Healthy Minds, is studying Tibetan Buddhist monks to understand how long-term meditation affects the brain.

America’s love-hate relationship with Marie Kondo and our clutter

Quoted: “Products give you a lot of value in different ways,” said Liad Weiss, an assistant professor of marketing and consumer psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. “There is the practical element but also the emotional attachment.”

Women Are Asking To Be Paid What They’re Worth — So Why Aren’t They Getting It?

More recent research has revealed that today, more women than ever are asking for what they’re worth — but they’re still not getting it. A 2016 study of 4,600 employees, conducted by the UK’s University of Warwick and the University of Wisconsin, showed that women now ask for raises at the same rate as their male peers — they’re just 25 percent less likely to receive them.

One-Pixel Views of Earth Reveal Seasonal Changes

Aronne Merrelli, an atmospheric scientist at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and his colleagues collected over 5,000 images of the sunlit side of the Earth taken in 2016 by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on board DSCOVR.

How we know the oldest person who ever lived wasn’t faking her age

Quoted: ”A biological method of age verification doesn’t really exist yet, says Craig Atwood, a gerontologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When it comes to identity theft, you could do whole-genome sequencing of someone at birth and at death.

How exercise may reduce risk of inflammation, depression

Quoted: Charles Raison, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that exercise can provide a transient “hit” to the immune system that triggers other regulatory cytokines to dampen down the response, which may be one of the reasons exercise is such a powerful tool for improved health.

Ask Amy: Mom is giving her toddler melatonin; is this safe?

Quoted: Regarding the use of melatonin with young children, I shared your question with Dipesh Navsaria, a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin.