Author: jplucas

It’s been some eighty years since primate research began at UW–Madison, bringing with it a hornet’s nest of ethical debate. For the most part, the public ignores the vitriol, viewing the rhetoric on both sides as extreme and out of touch with our normal, everyday concerns. Meanwhile the monkeys–in Madison, thousands of them–continue to live and die in captivity. Is it high time humankind decided what we think about it? (Story excerpt. Full story unavailable online.)

Men fighting over women? Nothing new there, based on the findings of a prehistoric mass grave in southwest Germany.

Durham University-led researchers say that genetic evidence from 34 skeletons dating back to around 5000 B.C. shows the deaths were the result of a tribal war over the need for female companionship.

The team, which included researchers from University College London, University of Wisconsin and a German government body, made the conclusions based on the strontium, carbon and oxygen isotopes signatures of the skeletons’ teeth. These give vital information about the skeletons’ geological origin and diet.

At least twice as many black bears probably are roaming the forests of Wisconsin as previously thought, according to a UW-Madison study.

The state Department of Natural Resources estimates the state’s bear population at 13,000. The study concludes there are at least twice that many, although that doesn’t mean people should be afraid to go into the woods, said Timothy Van Deleen, a UW-Madison wildlife ecology professor who conducted the study with student Dave MacFarland.

MADISON, Wis., June 9 (UPI) — When forming attitudes on embryonic stem cell research, people are influenced by a number of factors, but science is not one of them, U.S. researchers say.

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison communications researchers say that scientific knowledge — for many citizens — has an almost negligible effect on how people regard the field.

Obama’s ads tended to focus on themes of change and renewal, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin’s Advertising Project. Obama personally narrated 70 percent of his TV spots. His ads used the word “change” 39 percent of the time, more than any other candidate.

In a recent study, researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Wisconsin found that the U.S. government’s goal to produce 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022, with a maximum of 15 billion from corn, would most likely increase the nitrogen flow to the Gulf by 10 to 20 percent.

Madison, Wis. – In a finding that researchers found surprising, the public’s attitudes about embryonic stem cell research appear to be shaped more by things other than an understanding of science.

Writing in a recent issue of the International Journal of Public Opinion, a team of three communications researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports that for many people, scientific knowledge has an â??almost negligibleâ? impact on how people view stem cell research.