Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have collected brain scans in a first-of-its kind study on Alzheimer’s disease.
Wisconsin researchers begin data collection for national Alzheimer’s study
Wisconsin Public Radio
December 26, 2024
Research
The retro hobby that can help boost your happiness (say scientists)
BBC
“Speedcubing offers a unique combination of cognitive challenge, [alongside] social connection, and personal achievement that contributes to happiness”, says Polina Beloborodova, research associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Centre for Healthy Minds.
Archaeologists are finding dugout canoes in the American Midwest as old as the great pyramids of Egypt
Smithsonian Magazine
It might seem remarkable that she recognized the find for what it was: Dugout canoes, the world’s oldest boat type found to date, are simply hollowed-out logs. In 2018, however, Thomsen had teamed up with Sissel Schroeder, an archaeologist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to help an undergraduate student catalog Wisconsin’s extant dugout canoes. When the project began, historians believed 11 existed in collections across the state. Less than a year later, after scouring private collections, supper clubs, local museums and more, the team had counted 34.
The 10 biggest science experiments on Earth
Live Science
“We need a very big target, such as a billion tons of material, to have a fighting chance to — once in a while — catch some of them,” said Albrecht Karle, a professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Higher Education/System
What a college admissions deferral really means and what to do next
Forbes
Colleges are deferring more students than ever before, partly due to record application numbers and changing admissions policies. Schools like Clemson University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have deferred tens of thousands of early applicants in past years, reflecting a competitive and ever-evolving admissions landscape. A deferral doesn’t mean your student wasn’t good enough—it means they’re still in the running. And with the right approach, they can turn that “maybe” into a “yes.”
Public money for higher education benefits everyone. Restore funding levels.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
When UW leaders asked for $845 million, a fraction of the total amount cut from the UW budget under his watch, Assembly Speaker Vos said, “I just know that some of these numbers, where they ask for the moon, are unrealistic.”
When Vos graduated from UW-Whitewater in 1991, Wisconsin’s higher education appropriations per student were $11,028. In 2023 it was $9,277. So the “moon” was realistic when he personally benefited from taxpayer support, but is unrealistic when it is your turn to benefit?
One-on-one with Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman
WMTV - Channel 15
Jay Rothman, the president of the Universities of Wisconsin, was thrust into the spotlight this year, from pro-Palestinian protests breaking out on his campuses across the state to his controversial ask for an increase of $855 million in funding.
How Trump got more Madison college student votes than ever
The Capital Times
Thomas Pyle wants to build on the momentum College Republicans drummed up at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this semester.
UW system’s tuition waivers have helped first-generation college students the most
Wisconsin State Journal
Just more than half of the Universities of Wisconsin freshman students who benefitted from a system-funded tuition-waiver scholarship program for low-income families in 2023 were the first in their families to attend college. That’s about twice the percentage of first-generation students in the freshman class last year.
Campus life
Year in review: How many protesters arrested on campuses were actually students
Washington Examiner
The University of Wisconsin-Madison reported two clashes with law enforcement on its campus, with 34 people arrested on May 1 at Library Mall.
Extension
Tax season prep, and learning adult skills
Wisconsin Public Radio
We call it “adulting” when young people face grown-up situations. But there are actual classes that teach independent living, financial literacy and health maintenance skills. Amanda Kostman, a UW-Extension Family Living Educator, joins us to explain.
Arts & Humanities
Childcare survey, Sobriety influencer, Joyce Carol Oates
Wisconsin Public Radio
Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most prolific and eclectic authors in the US book world, and she spent some of her formative years as a master’s student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We talk to Oates about her new book, and about how her time in Wisconsin influenced her life and career.
The most Wisconsin movie moments of 2024, from ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ to ‘Wicked’
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Carrie Coon, who studied acting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and cut her acting teeth in Madison’s theater scene, stars in this acclaimed drama on Netflix about three sisters (with Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne) brought together in close quarters to take care of their dying father.
Health
Could UW Health nurses unionize in 2025? Maybe, and here’s why
The Capital Times
A union representing hundreds of UW Health nurses hopes a recent court decision overturning limits on collective bargaining will pave the way for success in their own push for recognition, which is set to go before the Wisconsin Supreme Court next year.
Athletics
Wisconsin volleyball home crowds smaller after record-setting season
Wisconsin State Journal
There was an average of 6,083 tickets scanned for Badgers home matches this season, down 2.8% from the high-water mark of 6,261 in 2023 but still the second-highest figure on record.
Opinion
Guest column: UW methamphetamine study demands balance between science, society
Badger Herald
UW scientists study how methamphetamine affects body, probe legal, medical, societal implications of drug.
UW Experts in the News
Fact Check: Wisconsin video miscaptioned as showing New Jersey drone sightings
Reuters
The video shows “a recognizable part of the western sky” including the bright star Altair that is consistent with the sky around 7 p.m. in early December, James Lattis, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison astronomy department’s Space Place, said in an email.
Lattis said the “vast majority” of the objects are satellites that are visible because they are reflecting sunlight to the observer, and “the rest of the objects are probably a mixture of satellites in higher inclination orbits and aircraft.”
UW-Madison Related
Who is Rebecca Grill? Get to know Oshkosh’s new city manager.
Oshkosh Northwestern
Grill is also a Credentialed Manager and University of Wisconsin-Madison Certified Public Manager with a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Concordia University.