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August 25, 2023

Research

Voice recognition software can be duped: UW-Madison study

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Professor of electrical and computer engineering Kassem Fawaz and doctoral student Shimaa Ahmed have developed a mathematical model that could allow almost anyone to imitate the resonance of another person’s voice with a simple tube. As long as a person could nail down the frequency of a voice with a PVC pipe that, based on the algorithm, had the correct width and length, they could trick the security technology 60% of the time.

Higher Education/System

State news

Poor regulatory safeguards leave farmworkers suffocating in the face of increasing heat waves

Posted on
Associated Press

“As a physician, I believe that these deaths are almost completely preventable,” said Bill Kinsey, a physician and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Until we determine as a society the importance of a human right for people to work in healthy situations, we are going to see continued illness and death in this population.”

Wisconsin elections administrator won’t appear before Senate committee

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

“The whole thing is unusual. It’s unusual that the elections commissioners themselves would divide, three to three, on whether to reappoint the administrator,” said Barry Burden, an elections expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So there’s a kind of a legal ambiguity now that didn’t exist before. But it seems to allow Megan Wolfe to stay in her position beyond her term, something that probably wouldn’t have been possible a year ago.”

Health

Social isolation is the greatest risk factor for dying of heat stroke

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Richard Keller, professor of medical history and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said social isolation is the greatest risk factor for dying of heat stroke.

“Especially if they’re living on their own in marginal conditions without access to air conditioning and without access to a steady social network, they can often find themselves with no one to help if they find themselves in crisis,” Keller said.

You need an antibiotic, but it’s not available. How drug shortages force doctors to pick frustrating alternatives.

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“We are a nation with many resources, and yet, generic medications across the board, and things like infant formula, are resources that some of our citizens don’t have access to because we haven’t really built the policies to ensure that there would be access,” said Kari Wisinski, chief of hematology and oncology and palliative care at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Medicine.

Opinion

Letter to the editor: How does Big Ten help academics?

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

When will UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin explain to the public, alumni, faculty, staff and students how the latest expansion of what was formerly known as the Big Ten Conference will further the educational mission of the UW-Madison campus?

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