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May 24, 2021

Research

Billions Of Brood X Cicadas Emerge

Posted on
WORT FM

The high-pitched buzzing of the Cicada’s mating call is one of the most familiar sounds of summer. We see, or mostly hear, small amounts of these large and noisy insects every year, but this year they are coming in the billions if not trillions. Having been underground for 17 years the phenomenon known as Brood X have been emerging from the ground on the East Coast and the Midwest shedding their exoskeletons, and performing their mating call.

Director of UW-Madison’s Insect Diagnostic Lab and insect identification and biology expert Patrick Liesch joins Friday Buzz host Jonathan Zarov to talk about this phenomenon.

Affordable driverless cars could curb public transit

Posted on
Popular Science

In a new study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin Madison asked over 800 local residents in the Madison metropolitan area to assess their attitudes towards using autonomous vehicles in the future and found that study respondents would be interested in using a driverless car about 31 percent of the time, a significant chunk more than taking the bus. Wissam Kontar, a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin Madison and lead study author, says that with growing popularity and industry investment in autonomous vehicles, that this “excitement” may be “overshadowing potential environmental impacts.”

Which processed foods are better than natural?

Posted on
BBC

Quoted: “Cows in cities were milked every day, and people would bring milk in carts back to their neighbourhoods to sell it,” says John Lucey, food science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“As cities got bigger, milk got further away and took longer to get to the consumer, which meant pathogens could multiply.”

A Brief History of Reading is Fundamental

Posted on
Book Riot

Noted: As it turns out, they have a national board of advisors to help them continually take stock of what books they’re offering (and what other resources they are creating), which includes author-illustrator Don Tate. They also signal boost the work and resources done by other groups, such as We Need Diverse Books, Embrace Race, and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Marijuana companies’ THC edibles mimicking candy favorites aimed at kids, confectionery lawsuits allege

Posted on
Fox Business

Noted: A 2018 study lead by University of Wisconsin, Madison professor of pediatrics Dr. Megan Moreno found that some companies were flouting regulations on marketing, with social media posts that appeal to teens and promote therapeutic benefits.

The study noted around 1% of social media posts appeared to directly target teens, with one post explicitly showing a young person in the promotion, with several others using well-known cartoon characters, Reuters reported.

As a congressional ban on earmarks is lifted, some Wisconsin lawmakers request millions for their districts, others nothing

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: The Second District Democrat has requested nine earmarks for road and bridge projects totaling $20 million and 30 earmarks for community projects totaling $56 million. The most expensive of these community projects is a $24 million plant research facility at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to replace a plant breeding facility that Pocan described as an “outdated World War Two building.”

Some of the other requests: $4 million to support the replacement of a 69-year-old hospital in Darlington (Lafayette County);  $2.2 million for technology and equipment for the Baraboo fire and ambulance service; $1 million for a new Madison homeless shelter; $1 million toward a new Center for Black Excellence and Culture in Madison; $2.5 million for traumatic brain injury research at UW-Madison;  $220,000 for a Reedsburg community center, $848,000 to upgrade Fitchburg’s stormwater management; and $400,000 for a machine shop and shed at the Wisconsin Cranberry Research Station in Black River Falls.

Higher Education/System

Campus life

‘I’m Here. I Made It’: UW Students Reflect On A Year Of COVID-19 On Campus

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

The last of the University of Wisconsin’s spring graduates will get their diplomas this weekend, capping off a year of unprecedented disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a sudden shift to online classes and heavy social restrictions aimed at preventing outbreaks, some students say they’ve felt trapped watching screens in their rooms — and for those returning next fall, they hope campus will feel more normal.

‘Mere luck’: Scientists reflect on fall COVID-19 surge on UW campus – say situation could have been much worse

Posted on
WISC-TV 3

“It was kind of surprising to see, because there was everything – the situation was just kind of right for it to go wrong,” said Gage Moreno, a graduate student at UW whose research contributed to the study. “I think there was just a big element of luck. It’s really hard to pinpoint exactly what went right in terms of why it didn’t spread over into the community.”

State news

Wisconsin Latinx History Collective to enrich state’s historical narrative over the next 5 years

Posted on
Madison 365

Noted: The Wisconsin Latinx history collective is an organization created in partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) and the UW–Madison Chican@ & Latin@ Studies Program and will spend the next five years documenting the history of Latinx people in the state of Wisconsin.

Officially created in January of last year, the collective began with the meeting between Arenas and four other academics, including historian and UW–Madison assistant professor Dr. Marla Ramírez Tahuado; UW–Madison Associate Professor with the School for Workers Dr. Armando Ibarra; cultural anthropologist and assistant professor of geography and Chican@ & Latin@ studies Dr. Almita Miranda; and assistant professor of Latinx Studies at Marquette University Sergio González.

Arts & Humanities

Health

Athletics

Sharif Chambliss returns to UW as an assistant on Greg Gard’s staff

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Greg Gard’s newest assistant coach has strong ties to the state of Wisconsin, to UW, to the Midwest and is considered a solid recruiter.

UW officials announced Friday that Racine native Sharif Chambliss is returning to work under Greg Gard. Chambliss played at UW in 2004-2005 after transferring from Penn State and served as UW’s video coordinator from 2010-2012.

UW says secrecy needed in AD search; open records advocate says there’s ‘no evidence’ to support that

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

UW is more than six weeks into its search for Barry Alvarez’s successor to lead the athletic department, an enterprise with an annual budget of more than $130 million. The school has been silent on whether any lessons from the failed presidential search were learned, but it is operating with a similar degree of secrecy.

UW Experts in the News

Obituaries

Bright, Robert Dean

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Bob spent over 30 years teaching for the University of Wisconsin Extension, principally in the Community, Natural Resource and Economic Development Program. He was a faculty member for the Center for Action on Poverty, the Center for Community Leadership Development and the Community Dynamic Institute. He also became director of the High School Equivalency Program for Migrant Youth and served as acting director in the Chancellor’s Office of Affirmative Action.