Mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex may have fallen to trench mouth, paleontologists report Tuesday. In a look at the famous T-Rex, Sue, and her kin, a team led by Ewan Wolff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Steven Salisbury of Australiaâ??s University of Queensland.
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A new study says Sue, the Tyrannosaurus Rex on display at the Field Museum, may have died from a lowly parasite.
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison indicates and the University of Queensland, Australia, suggests that the scars on Sue’s jaw are not from a battle with another dinosaur, but from trichomonosis, a parasitic infection that still infects modern birds.
Sue, the biggest, meanest meat-eating dinosaur known to history, probably was not killed by some other monster after a battle 65 million years ago, as scientists and schoolchildren used to believe.
Instead, the Field Museum’s celebrated Tyrannosaurus rex may have died with a whimper, felled by a puny, one-celled parasite that gave her a killer sore throat. In fact, she may even have starved to death.
Quoted: Morton Gernsbacher, an autism researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the film could be destructive. “Any organisation that claims to support individuals with disabilities and those individualsâ?? families should familiarise itself with the decades of research which has investigated the deleterious effects of fear-eliciting messaging,” she says.
Did Sue the dinosaur die of a really bad sore throat?
An international team of scientists thinks so after studying holes in the jaw of the 13-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton on display at the Field Museum in Chicago.
The UW System Board of Regents has approved a new bachelor of business administration degree in entrepreneurship for UW-Whitewater.
Quoted: Milk pasteurization became standard after diseases such as scarlet fever, dysentery and tuberculosis were directly linked to the consumption of raw milk, said Barbara Ingham, a food safety extension specialist who teaches food sciences at UW-Madison.
Quoted: “Itâ??s easier to produce a vaccine that has thimerosal in it as a preservative because you can make it in large quantities, and it wonâ??t get contaminated,” said Dr. Nasia Safdar at UW-Hospital. “It will stay preserved.”
The countdown is now moving faster than an Olympic timing clock.
On Friday, the International Olympic Committee will announce which of four cities receives the bid for the 2016 summer games. Chicago is competing with Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo to land the games.
Madison police are investigating five robberies that occurred in the past few days.
Madison police said the latest incident happened Monday night at the Toppers Pizza on Regent Street.
Workers told police the robber entered the store with a pair of scissors, demanded cash and fled on foot.
Ever since some college friends decided in 2003 to follow the University of Wisconsin football team during its biennial trip to Minneapolis, Matt Schwalbach has been the group’s point person for tickets.
It was never much of a headache for Schwalbach, even when the number of tickets needed reached double digits. He’d simply call the University of Minnesota ticket office and secure a block of seats together in the Metrodome’s upper deck for about $60 apiece.
It had been so long since Minnesota fans enjoyed a true college football experience, many of them probably forgot what it was like.
For 27 years, they endured the Metrodome, with its antiseptic, cloistered environment. In many ways, it was the antithesis of the experiences that make college football unique.
“We’ve played Big Ten football,” Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi said. “We did not have a Big Ten environment.”
Pharmacy retailer CVS plans to build one of its first Madison-area stores Downtown, at the former Badger Bus depot, which is scheduled for demolition next week.
Greyhound Bus Lines will use the terminal through Sunday, and the company has not yet confirmed a new location for the intercity bus service. Demolition begins Oct. 8, Badger Coaches co-owner John Meier said.
Al Gore will be in Madison Friday, Oct. 9, to deliver the keynote address at the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) conference at the Concourse Hotel.
UW-Madison is hosting the conference (http://www.sej.org/initiatives/sej-annual-conferences/AC2009-agenda).
Until now, the fearsome reputation of Tyrannosaurus rex has been pretty solid. Seven tons. More than 40 feet long. Huge head. Powerful jaws and meat-shredding teeth.
What could possibly pose a threat to such a beast, the king of the dinosaurs?
Ewan D.S. Wolff, a vertebrate paleontologist and a veterinary student at the UW-Madison, has discovered a surprising answer. T. rex, a new study by Wolff and other researchers has shown, may have often been laid low not by deadly combat with other dinosaurs but instead by a tiny parasite.
Louise S. Schultz, age 98 of Madison, passed away Sept. 27, 2009. After moving to Madison, she worked at the Boy Scout office and then the State University Systems retiring after 25 years.
Fridayâ??s decision by the International Olympic Committee will be watched closely in Dane County, from the people who run the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau, to the people who will host events like mountain biking.
The countdown is now moving faster than an Olympic timing clock.
Friday, the International Olympic Committee will announce which of four cities receives the bid for the 2016 summer games.
I have regularly attended UW football games since 1967. In recent years, student conduct before and at games has eroded to the point that many fans are considering other activities on Saturdays.
During the recent high school band day, with a thousand or so high school students in attendance in addition to thousands of other fans, we were once again regaled by the students’ chant “eat s—, f— you.” It’s loud enough to be heard on national TV, and surely loud enough for young ears to catch. This chant occurs at every game. And as a loyal, ticket-purchasing fan, I’m offended by this student conduct.
UW-Madison is part of a new Wisconsin Center of Excellence in Genomics Science, created through an $8 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Campus researchers Lloyd Smith, Joshua Coon, Audrey Gasch and James Thomson are joining scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University in the center, coordinated by the Medical College. Smith, a U-W Madison professor of chemistry, is a co-director, as is Michael Olivier of the Medical College.
Quoted: UW political scientist Dave Canon says Barrett seems to be favored by many in the party. The only announced Democratic candidate so far is Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton.
The Associated Students of Madison, in partnership with the Offices of the Dean of Students, held a town hall forum Monday to gain student opinion on the use of the $1.5 million in student services funds allotted by the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates.
University of Wisconsin students voiced proposals to faculty in a public forum Monday on how the student services portion of the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates funds should be allocated.
James L. Lee, age 71, of Madison and University Park, Fla., died on July 13, 2009. Jim was a professor of counseling psychology and counselor education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 35 years.
Shawn L Emerson, age 40, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday Sept. 16, 2009. Shawn worked at a number of facilities including, the UW Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
Two of the toughest jobs in the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department in 2009-10 involve the women’s hockey team.
The Badgers are defending NCAA champions and are working on a streak of four consecutive appearances in the national title game.
Maintaining that pace puts a lot of pressure on acting head coach Tracey DeKeyser and whomever is tabbed to replace record-setting goaltender Jessie Vetter.
Q: Will a regular flu shot offer any protection against the H1N1 or swine flu virus?
A: In a word, no. Influenza viruses are notoriously shifty, changing their form each flu season in an effort to evade the human immune system. They do this by altering immune system-triggering features called antigens on the surface of the virus. That is why a new vaccine is developed each flu season. Vaccines work by exposing the immune system to deactivated virus particles, which tell the immune system how to defend against a particular virus.
Quoted: If you eliminated the smokers from the equation, non-smoking lung cancer would be the seventh- or eighth-most common cancer in the United States, said Dr. Toby Campbell, a lung cancer specialist at the UW Carbone Cancer Center and assistant professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
It’s not just about 2016.
It’s bigger than that.
If Chicago lands the 2016 Olympics this week, get ready for more than an incredible spectacle of road cycling and mountain biking in Madison and southwestern Dane County.
The objection I have over Michael Pollan and those who support him are their vilification of traditional agriculture so they can promote organic farming. They claim that products derived from traditional agriculture are unsafe because chemicals are used. Whereâ??s the proof? There is none.
If youâ??ve read Michael Pollanâ??s The Omnivoreâ??s Dilemma or In Defense of Food you might have hated him at first for ruining the way you eat. Big Macs and fried chicken are now marred by the knowledge of what they do to your body and the environment.
Overall smoking rates in Indiana and across the nation are on the decline, but not for people with psychiatric illnesses.
â??Twenty-two percent of adults have a psychiatric disorder, yet they consume 45 percent of cigarettes smoked in the U.S.,â? said Dr. Eric Heiligenstein, clinical director of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsinâ??s University Health Services in Madison.
A global team of researchers has mapped the genetic code of the worldâ??s most popular vegetable – the potato.
The Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium began work in 2006. It has 16 institutional members in Argentina, Britain, Chile, China, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Russia and the United States. Michigan State and Virginia Tech are formal members of the consortium, and some work was done at the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: Nevertheless, the Hummer brand has retained a certain appeal, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research by Marius K. Luedicke from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, Craig J. Thompson of the University of Wisconsin and Markus Giesler of York University in Toronto. “Hummer drivers believe they are defending Americaâ??s frontier lifestyle against anti-American critics,” the study notes, adding that Hummer owners employ the ideology of American foundational myths, such as the “rugged individual,” and the “boundless frontier.”
Quoted: “Thereâ??s been a ton of speculation,” said Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor. “We just havenâ??t seen much action.”
Richard Davidson, one of the worldâ??s top brain scientists, believes mental exercise, specifically meditation, can literally change our minds.
â??Our data shows mental practice can induce long-lasting changes in the brain,â? said Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The veteran president of the University of Wisconsin Foundation says he will retire at the end of 2010.
Andrew “Sandy” Wilcox has led the University of Wisconsin-Madison fundraising business for 21 years. He told the board of directors of his plans to retire Friday, saying he wanted to give the company time to find a successor.
Noted: Brendan Maher began his career at Harvard in 1960 as a lecturer in the psychology department and left in 1964 to teach at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Quoted: “There is no doubt based on an economic analysis, giving someone a kidney within about three years is a tremendously cost-effective thing to do,” said Dr. Bryan Becker, a transplant nephrologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the president of the National Kidney Foundation.
Local farmers, students and agribusiness professionals reacted to a guest lecture by controversial author Michael Pollan at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by joining together in a show of solidarity.
Their goal was to call attention to agriculture and show their pride in their profession.
Quoted: Alfonso Morales, an “open air market” specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said more and more people are trying to turn bric-a-brac – miscellaneous small articles collected for sentimental or decorative interest – into cash to cope with the harsh new reality of lost jobs, slashed hours and dwindling incomes.
The president of the UW Foundation has announced he will retire at the end of 2010.
Andrew “Sandy” Wilcox has spent 21 years as head of the foundation, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s $2.5 billion endowment.
I am baffled by the criticism of Michael Pollan’s works and views. I’ve read these books and find their arguments fairly unassailable. One wonders whether the critics have even read “In Defense of Food.”
It’s pretty clear what industrialized agribusiness on the Archer Daniels Midland model has wrought.
A record number of students enrolled this fall at UW Colleges — again.
For the fifth consecutive year, more students than ever before poured into the classrooms of the state’s 13 two-year campuses.
Thirty-five people were booted from the Badgersâ?? football game Saturday in Madison, UW Police said, and 18 citations, all for alcohol-related violations, were issued.
A union attempting to organize University of Wisconsin System employees is questioning the administrationâ??s plan to hire an outside consultant to advise top executives on collective bargaining strategy.
Quoted: As far as timing of when to find the best fall colors in Dane County, expect it to be earlier than usual this year, says Laura Jull, associate professor of horticulture at UW-Madison and president of the Wisconsin Woody Plant Society. Thatâ??s due to the unusually dry weather the area experienced through late August and much of September, with no real precipitation for weeks until record rainfall on Wednesday finally broke the drought.
Last Monday saw a long-due celebration for the authorized domestic-partner health insurance benefits at UW-Madison. After years of fierce debates, Gov. Jim Doyle signed the plan into law this summer. This is also seen as a solid move to support education and promote equity.
Michael Pollan visited Madison, Wisconsin this weekend. So did I. Madison is called “The Berkeley of the Midwest” and they have what I think is the best farmersâ?? market in the U.S. As youâ??d expect, most Madisonians absolutely loved Pollan, a Berkeley professor (as well as a bestselling author and star of the film Food, Inc).
In one week we find out if we’ll play host to the 2016 Olympics.
It is a worldwide event on the grandest scale and a village of 700 has been lost in the shuffle.
It’s rare to see much commotion in the Village of Blue Mounds.
The University of Wisconsin announced a new campaign Thursday aimed at vaccinating more students against the flu.
The UW-Madison Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy and University Health Services will team up to offer flu shots at 16 locations beginning Tuesday, September 29 at Sellery Hall and running through November.
Thereâ??s a lot of talk lately about health care, but students at Wisconsinâ??s Private Colleges neednâ??t worry.
The head of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU) says between 25-30 percent of students donâ??t have health care when they start college, especially now that many arenâ??t covered by their parents who may have lost their jobs â?? and their insurance.
The talk this week at an annual gathering of college admissions officers and high school counselors included the usual topics, like how to deal with â??difficultâ? parents and the names of hot student prospects. But the conversations â?? in panel discussions, in hallways and over crab cakes â?? always seemed to circle around to one subject: the economy.
As a physician trained at UW-Madison, I understand the necessity of the scientific method touted by professor Ric Grummer in a Thursday letter critiquing Michael Pollanâ??s “In Defense of Food.” As an alumnus, I am proud of the contributions of our academic community to the disciplines of agriculture and nutrition science.
Quoted: A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, who studied the use of tire shreds, also deems the material safe. In his research, specifically on athletic fields or artificial turf, Tuncer Edil wrote, “the artificial fields are safe for humans of all ages.”
Quoted: “Health care and health care financing is very much within the jurisdiction of the committee that he sits on, so in that case he will be influential in the health care debate,” said Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist.
Noted: He left for a series of teaching posts at Wesleyan College in Delaware, Ohio; the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he became Professor of Imperial History and published his magnum opus, Britain and the Persian Gulf, 1795-1880.
As quoted in Isthmusâ?? cover story last week, author Michael Pollan resents accusations that heâ??s blaming farmers for the nationâ??s flawed food policies: “Thatâ??s just rhetoric. Iâ??m blaming the system. Iâ??m blaming a set of incentives. A system in which many farmers really feel trapped.”Last Thursday the State Journal ran a letter to the editor headlined “Beware of Pollanâ??s Attack on Farmers.” In fact, the published letter never accuses Pollan of attacking farmers; it merely defends farmers while casting aspersions on Pollanâ??s unspecified “agenda.” (Third item.)
The UW-Madison has responded to Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchardâ??s request for more information on allegations that it is violating state law by using sheep in sometimes fatal decompression experiments. As Isthmus reported (“The Decompression of the Sheep,” 8/28/09), state law 951.025 states, “No person may kill an animal by means of decompression.” After hearing from local animal-rights activists, Blanchard asked the UW to explain. His initial review suggested a statutory exemption for scientific research “would not apply to a violation of 951.025.” (Second item.)
The UW asked its students to read a controversial book about one of Wisconsinâ??s biggest industries, agriculture. On Thursday night, nearly 7,000 gathered at the Kohl Center to hear Author Michael Pollan speak about his book “In Defense of Food. “Pollan recognized not everyone agrees with his views on modern farming.”I recognize not all of you are sympathetic to my work,” he said while addressing the crowd.
