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May 28, 2024

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Research

The problem with the nudge effect: it can make you buy more carrots – but it can’t make you eat them

The Guardian

That’s actually worse because of the waste. True. It also raises questions about whether nudging has any effect or benefit in the long run. Now, marketing academics Evan Polman from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Sam Maglio from the University of Toronto have done some research into this and written about it in the Wall Street Journal.

The Problem With Nudging People to Make a Better Choice

Wall Street Journal

In the end, though, the main takeaway from our research is that nudges may be a great first step. But that’s all they are: a first step. Much of the hard work is what comes next.

-Evan Polman is an associate professor of marketing and Kuechenmeister-Bascom professor in business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sam J. Maglio is a professor of marketing at the University of Toronto.

Higher Education/System

Campus life

Crime and safety

Agriculture

Bird flu, raw milk debate converge

The Hill

“These claims — I’m a chemist by trade — just make no sense whatsoever on any kind of science or chemistry basis,” University of Wisconsin–Madison food science professor John Lucey told The Hill. “I’ve been doing research on dairy products and milk for 20-plus years,” Lucey added. “In my field, nobody gives credence to these fantastic claims.”

Health

Athletics

Opinion

UW Experts in the News

What to know from the latest inspection of Wisconsin’s only ICE detention center

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Gita Connolly, who works with people detained at Dodge through the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Immigrant Justice Clinic, said these documents are extremely important for people to proceed with their immigration cases. Even those who have chosen to leave the U.S. voluntarily cannot leave without their identity documents.

 

Abortion a risky campaign topic for GOP candidates, experts say

The Capital Times

These are the voters whom Republican candidates risk losing if they take a strong stance on abortion bans, according to Mariel Barnes, a political scientist at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“This presents a problem for the Republican Party and Republican candidates,” Barnes told the Cap Times. “Because they’re trying to satisfy this more extreme wing in the party that wants to restrict abortion under almost all circumstances, when it is actually very unpopular with the center of the party, and you need the center of the party to get elected.”

Can Dogs Really Get Seasonal Allergies? These Bizarre Behaviors Could Be A Sign

Inverse

Like humans, dogs can be allergic to pollens, dust mites, and mold spores, which typically shouldn’t pose a threat to the body. “You can think of allergy as an overactive immune system,” says Douglas DeBoer, a veterinarian and professor of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. “Your immune system normally is supposed to be protecting you from foreign things like bacteria and viruses. In some cases, your immune system becomes overactive and it starts responding to things in the environment that it shouldn’t be responding to.” He adds that allergies often develop in a dog’s first three years of life.

How China Pulled So Far Ahead on Industrial Policy

The New York Times

“There’s enormous economies of scale by going big as China did,” Gregory Nemet, a professor of public policy at the University of Wisconsin who has studied the global solar industry. When the investments resulted in overcapacity, suppressing the profitability of China’s companies, Beijing was willing to ride out the losses.

Damages From PFAS Lawsuits Could Surpass Asbestos, Industry Lawyers Warn

The New York Times

One challenge facing medical research lies in the sheer number of different PFAS chemicals that have now entered the environment, each of which can have slightly different health effects, said Steph Tai, associate dean at the University of Wisconsin’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and an expert in the use of science in environmental protection and litigation.

Obituaries

Carol Enid Frykenberg

Wisconsin State Journal

In 1970 she was employed by the School of Music at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, serving as Undergraduate Advisor in Music Education, and for ten years, from 1976 to 1986, also as administrator of the Summer Music Clinics for junior and senior high school students. She retired from the university in 1998.

Melvin Frank Butor

Wisconsin State Journal

The last 28 years of his career were at the UW- Madison in the Art Department becoming an Emeritus Professor.

UW-Madison Related

Google Is Playing a Dangerous Game With AI Search

The Atlantic

But this is still a chatbot. In just a week, Google users have pointed out all kinds of inaccuracies with the new AI tool. It has reportedly asserted that dogs have played in the NFL and that President Andrew Johnson had 14 degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.