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April 15, 2025

Research

Impact of tariffs on tech prices, the promise of quantum computing, and new state historic places

Wisconsin Public Radio

President Donald Trump imposed and then last week rolled back tariffs he imposed on much of the world. But he increased tariffs on products made in China, which include most electronic devices. We talk to UW-Madison’s Beth D’Angelo about what this means for American consumers.

And then, able to solve problems exponentially faster than classical computing, quantum computing could potentially revolutionize entire industries. We learn the basics of quantum computing from Swamit Tannu, a UW-Madison assistant professor of computer sciences.

Everything we believe about kids and phones might be wrong, study finds

HuffPost

Dr. Megan Moreno, the principal investigator of the social media and adolescent health research team at the University of Wisconsin Department of Pediatrics, called the USF survey a “groundbreaking” addition to ongoing research, because too many studies do not include the possibility of there being positive outcomes to kids having phones. “It is just so rare for studies to consider both benefits and risks,” she said.

Higher Education/System

Letter to the editor: Sifting and winnowing requires evidence, shared governance requires responsibility

The Daily Cardinal

Co-authored by James H. Stein, MD and Robert Turell Professor of Cardiovascular Research at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and Chad Alan Goldberg, PhD and the Martindale-Bascom Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

UW joins other Big Ten schools in implementing fiscal controls amid federal funding cuts

The Badger Herald

The University of Wisconsin will implement fiscal controls for the remainder of the 2025 fiscal year including hiring reviews, reductions in non-essential spending and the development of 5% and 10% budget reduction scenarios for fund 101 — a fund dedicated to state tax, federal indirect cost and tuition allocation.

Campus life

Opinion

Business/Technology

What soaring uncertainty means for the U.S. economy

NBC News

Menzie Chinn, a professor of public affairs and economics at the University of Wisconsin, said, “People are maximally confused.”

To show how uncertainty plays out, Chinn gave an example of potential homebuyers: Lowering interest rates might entice them, but worries about a big drop in home prices over the next year — the kind that might arise from a recession — might scare them away.

“It’s better news, but washed out by this bad uncertainty,” Chinn said.

UW Experts in the News

Fugitive immigrant convicted in Md. murder highlighted in 2024 campaign

The Washington Post

“Many politicians, law enforcement personnel and ordinary citizens are nonetheless incensed because this person should not have been in the country and thus capable of committing a crime,” said Michael Light, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who has studied the issue. “This view that the person’s undocumented status is an aggravating factor is also likely a reason why these crimes generate such strong responses.”