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Author: gbump

“We Exist Within a Colossal Sphere” –The Void that Harbors the Milky Way (Weekend Feature)

The Daily Galaxy

n a 2013 observational study of the large-scale structure of the universe, University of Wisconsin-Madison astronomers Amy Barger and Ryan Keenan showed that our galaxy, in the context of the large-scale structure of the universe, resides in an enormous void—a region of space containing far fewer galaxies, stars and planets than expected. The structure of the cosmos is Swiss cheese-like in the sense that it is composed of “normal matter” in the form of voids and filaments.

Are Face Masks The New Condoms?

Forbes India

Quoted: David O’Connor, who studies viral disease at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said, “If a substantial amount of transmission occurs before people feel sick, how do you stop that? By the time people feel sick and seek care, all the testing and isolation in the world would be too little, too late.”

There’s no roadmap for teaching online, so Washington’s teachers are creating their own

The Seattle Times

Quoted: Existing research on best practices in online learning will only get educators so far. “When you are being asked to implement online learning in the way our research suggests you should, but you are being asked to do that in a 12-day period, that’s nearly impossible,” said Annalee Good, co-director of the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

UW System Administration announces 1-day-per-month furloughs through June 2021

Wisconsin State Journal

Chancellors of UW campuses, where the bulk of the System’s 39,000 employees work, are making their own decisions on whether to furlough employees. UW-Milwaukee became the first to say it will “most likely” impose a campus-wide furlough for its roughly 3,700 employees. UW-Madison, which is bracing for the largest loss among the campuses with an estimated $100 million shortfall, expects to announce details by the end of the month.

Tom Still: Wisconsin biotech companies could play key roles in long-term economic recovery from COVID-19 pandemic

Wisconsin State Journal

Shortening vaccine development, which normally has a multi-year cycle. Wisconsin has expertise in this area through its research universities and private companies such as Madison’s FluGen. Co-founders Yoshihiro Kawaoka and Gabriele Neumann are known around the world for their past anti-viral work, which is why FluGen was approached by an India-based firm, Bharat Biotech, which has developed 16 vaccines in the past, to take part in a larger vaccine development project that also involves the UW-Madison.

Donovan, Dr. Timothy Jay

Wisconsin State Journal

After medical school he started an Ear, Nose, and Throat residency at UW-Madison, and was named chief resident at UW Hospital.

Roberts, John Charles

Wisconsin State Journal

He received appointments at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the UW-Extension where he served as Extension Program Leader for Natural and Environmental Resources.

Wallace, Donna Mae

Wisconsin State Journal

Donna graduated from Madison Central High School in 1963, and spent her 42 year career as a secretary at the UW-Madison.

You’re not alone: Campus suicide prevention initiatives

Daily Cardinal

University Health Services has had a suicide prevention program called “At Risk,” since 2013 to engage the campus community in evidence-based suicide prevention strategies that use the current scientific research, clinical expertise and understanding of individuals’ needs.

A Gloomy Prediction on How Much Poverty Could Rise

New York Times

Quoted: “Poverty represents a level of deprivation that many middle- or upper-income Americans can’t even wrap their head around,” said Sarah Halpern-Meekin, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin who has conducted extensive interviews with poor parents. “The first thing that come to mind is a mother I met who was trying to manage her son’s asthma while living in an apartment that had rodents, insects and mold no matter how much she cleaned. Rising poverty rates means more families living like that.”

Thomas Miller, Hit-Making TV Producer, Is Dead at 79

The New York Times

Thomas Lee Miller was born on Aug. 31, 1940, in Milwaukee to Edward and Shirley Miller. He earned a bachelor’s degree in drama and speech in 1962 at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, then set out for Los Angeles, where he worked for the director Billy Wilder on “Irma la Douce” (1963), “The Fortune Cookie” (1966) and other films.

Pandemic carves gaps in long-term field projects

Science

Philip Townsend, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has been working to turn those measurements into easy-to-use maps. He’d planned to groundtruth his efforts by collecting leaves this season. But this spring, there will be both airborne measurements and leaf collection are on hold.

Is the coronavirus connected to climate change

The Washington Post

Quoted: Habitat fragmentation is a major problem, said Dave O’Connor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Human incursions into animal habitats — chopping down forests to build farms, venturing into parks to poach — bring us into increasing contact with animals and make us more likely to pick up their diseases.

How need for speed is driving vaccine hunt

Times of India

Among Indian companies, Bharat Biotech Ltd is reportedly partnering with University of Wisconsin-Madison and US-based FluGen to develop a vaccine while Zydus Cadila and Serum Institute, too, are working for a vaccine

The Coronavirus Brings Races To A Standstill

Wisconsin Public Radio

Furloughed employees have since returned to work, Richards said, but eight races the company was helping with have been called off this spring, including the iconic Crazylegs Classic, a fundraiser for University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletics. The 8-kilometer race draws elite college athletes and those who run reluctantly.

Coronavirus quarantine: Why you don’t have to be productive right now

USA Today

Quoted: “We can practice relaxing as we are walking, cleaning our house, doing the laundry,” says neuroscientist Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We can also practice a little self-compassion at these times, recognizing that no one is perfect and not being too hard on ourselves for failing to accomplish something in the time we had originally planned, for example.”

Republicans tried to suppress the vote in Wisconsin. It backfired.

The Guardian

Quoted: It’s more likely that Democratic turnout benefited from the party’s presidential primary being on the ballot. And at a time when Americans are spending more time consuming news at home, the controversy over whether to hold the election may have actually wound up encouraging voters, said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Trump Has a Gut Feeling About What Covid-19 Means for 2020

New York Times

Quoted: Barry Burden of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Amber Wichowsky of Marquette, co-authored “Economic discontent as a mobilizer: unemployment and voter turnout.” Burden described by email the complexity of political mobilization during an economic crisis:“Historically, unemployed individuals have voted at much lower rates than working people,” Burden said, but when unemployment “becomes widespread enough to be perceived as a communal concern rather than an individual predicament” it raises turnout.

Wildman, Joan M.

Wisconsin State Journal

She was a professor of music at the University of Wisconsin, Madison from 1978 through 2002, specializing in music theory and was formative in establishing the jazz studies program that now exists there (which is newly revived).

State may have seen COVID-19 peak without big surge, but officials say risk remains

Wisconsin State Journal

At a UW-Madison webinar Tuesday, campus epidemiologists said the outbreak could get worse again if strict measures aren’t maintained. “If (the “Safer at Home” order) is not extended or an alternative, equally effective solution is not put in place, we’re at risk for a second wave of COVID-19,” said Ajay Sethi, an associate professor of population health sciences.