We get an insect update from UW-Madison entomologist PJ Liesch. Then we talk about the benefits of wetlands and efforts to protect them.
Midges, ticks and other bugs; the value of wetlands
Wisconsin Public Radio
May 22, 2025
Research
Analysis finds summers are heating up nationwide, including in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Public Radio
The analysis is largely in line with the findings of Wisconsin’s Initiative on Climate Change Impacts, according to Jonathan Patz, a professor in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“We’re seeing more nighttime warming than daytime warming, which is a problem for health,” Patz said. “Because if you don’t have cooling temperatures in the nighttime, it’s more dangerous, and there are more people at risk from heat waves.”
51 new books for summer reading in 2025
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Saving Hearts and Killing Rats: Karl Paul Link and the Discovery of Warfarin” (HenschelHAUS Publishing), by Doug Moe. University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemist led the team that transformed spoiled sweet clover hay into both lifesaving medication and deadly rat poison. In his spare time, this man with strong opinions liked to spar with authority and rivals.
Lawmakers unveil bold plan to build game-changing energy device in unexpected location: ‘An incredible opportunity for the future’
The Cool Down
A group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been working with local Realta Fusion to make fusion energy a reality, but they’re not the only ones, according to a report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Three of the 45 companies working on fusion are already based in Wisconsin, and new bills supporting the advancement of this promising clean energy technology could draw even more to the area.
Higher Education/System
UW-Platteville shooting puts gun policies back in the spotlight
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The May 19 shootings that killed two University of Wisconsin-Platteville students put campus gun policies back in the spotlight about a decade after lawmakers considered a bill loosening restrictions.
NFL, Olympics, colleges and Wisconsin high schools all play a role in a sport’s explosion
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Whereas about 5% of University of Wisconsin students play intercollegiate sports, at both Lakeland and Marian that number is more than 50%.
Campus life
UW-Madison computer science prepares to relocate, meet ‘AI moment’
The Cap Times
When he looks at Morgridge Hall, though, he’s filled with excitement. The newly built facility will soon house UW-Madison’s School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences, or CDIS.
Arpaci-Dusseau recently took over as director of the rapidly growing school. Enrollment nearly doubled from the 2018-19 academic year to about 6,200 students in 2024-2025. The school also houses the university’s two largest majors: computer sciences, followed by data science.
Arts & Humanities
Erika Meitner reads Philip Levine with Kevin Young
The New Yorker
Erika Meitner joins Kevin Young to read “What Work Is,” by Philip Levine, and her own poem “To Gather Together.” Meitner’s books include “Useful Junk” and “Holy Moly Carry Me,” which won the 2018 National Jewish Book Award in Poetry. She is currently a Mandel Institute Cultural Leadership Program Fellow, and she’s the director of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.