Deciphering the cost of home insurance from one place to another is almost impossible. But two professors — Benjamin Keys of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Philip Mulder at the University of Wisconsin — found a workaround. They obtained data showing how much millions of American households pay to mortgage service companies, which typically includes insurance. Then they deducted payments for mortgages, property taxes and other fees, leaving them with an estimate of home insurance premiums.
Author: rueckert
Feds pull plug on Russia ‘bot farm’ that spread social media lies
Dietram Scheufele is a professor of science communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies misinformation. The number of bots taken offline by the FBI operation is small compared to the myriad fake accounts on social media, he said. But he felt encouraged that the feds were going after the roots of AI-generated misinformation instead of flagging doctored videos. “I feel heartened,” the German native said. “We’ve seen tons of activities that are putting bandages on symptoms but haven’t really addressed the root cause – removing the tumor.”
Taiwan Shifts on Immigration as Birth Rate Falls
“This is the government’s instinctive policy in an aging society because caring for the elderly is a rigid need,” Yi Fuxian, a demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek about the eased regulations.
How Long Is Milk Good After the Sell-By Date? | How Long Milk Lasts
There are a lot of factors that affect how long milk is good for after the sell-by date. The biggest is whether the milk has been through pasteurization, which John A. Lucey, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research in Madison, defines as “the process of heating every particle of milk or milk product in properly designed and operated equipment to any of the specified pasteurization time/temperature combinations designed to destroy all human pathogens” in a 2015 paper published in the journal Nutrition Today.
Ferret study shows avian influenza strain found in US cows carries low risk of airborne transmission
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that the strain of avian influenza found in U.S. cows is not easily transmitted through the air among ferrets, but it does have some capability of spreading this way.
Bird flu makes step in evolving toward human spread
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, and two Japanese universities studied how H5N1 has evolved since the March outbreak by infecting humanized mice and ferrets in experiments funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Amid attack on affirmative action, race-conscious scholarships are latest targets – The Washington Post
The University of Wisconsin system is removing race as a factor in more than 160 scholarships, grants, fellowships, study abroad and hiring programs, according to the system’s director of media relations, Mark Pitsch. Individual universities, he said, are also discussing scholarship criteria with donors who funded specific awards to ensure they comply with the court’s ruling.
Prosecution for Waupun prisoner deaths shows depth of correctional woes
Column authored by Steven Wright, a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he directs the Constitutional Litigation, Appeals, and Sentencing Project.
As heat levels climb, so do power bills. Here’s how you can keep costs down
Emma Corrado tries to be conscious of her electricity usage, both as an aspiring biosystems engineer with a focus on natural resources and a self-proclaimed “broke college student” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But on the tail of a record-breaking heatwave that swept the Midwest and Northeast, she’s finding it difficult to keep costs down.
New research uncovers troubling ‘triple threat’ facing the world’s oceans: ‘The impacts of this have already been seen and felt’
Andrea Dutton, a climate scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, compares the situation to the end of the Permian period 252 million years ago, when similar environmental changes led to Earth’s largest known extinction event. “Oceans aren’t just a nice backdrop for your selfies in summer; we rely upon them for our lives. It’s very important to recognize this,” Dutton said.
Not Everyone Has an Inner Voice Streaming Through Their Head
Most of us have an “inner voice,” and we tend to assume everybody does, but recent evidence suggests that people vary widely in the extent to which they experience inner speech, from an almost constant patter to a virtual absence of self-talk. “Until you start asking the right questions you don’t know there’s even variation,” says Gary Lupyan, a cognitive scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “People are really surprised because they’d assumed everyone is like them.”
June sizzled to a 13th straight monthly heat record
“Our world is in crisis,” said University of Wisconsin climate scientist Andrea Dutton. “Perhaps you are feeling that crisis today — those who live in the path of Beryl are experiencing a hurricane that is fueled by an extremely warm ocean that has given rise to a new era of tropical storms that can intensify rapidly into deadly and costly major hurricanes. Even if you are not in crisis today, each temperature record we set means that it is more likely that climate change will bring crisis to your doorstep or to your loved ones.”
Meet the Nigerian doctor who opened her own emergency room in Houston at the age of 32
Dr. Ikyaator was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States when she was 8 years old. She attended the University of Georgia and graduated with a bachelor’s in Nutrition Science in 2005. She subsequently gained a full academic scholarship to study medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Republicans and Democrats lay groundwork for election results fights
“Litigation seems to now be a fixture of each party’s political and electoral strategies,” said Miriam Seifter, an attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Infant mortality rate rose in wake of Texas abortion ban, study shows
But the results did not come as a surprise to Tiffany Green, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economist and population health scientist who studies the consequences of racial inequities on reproductive health. She said the results were in line with earlier research on racial disparities in infant mortality rates due to state differences in Medicaid funding for abortions. Many of the people getting abortions are vulnerable to pregnancy complications, said Green, who was not part of the research.
Ag, enviro rules in jeopardy after SCOTUS decision
Even some of USDA’s discretionary spending could be challenged, explained said Steph Tai, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Bringing Back Local Milk, Ice Cream, and Cheese
As the ballooning demand continues to shape market forces, the shift towards fewer, larger farms is inevitable, says Charles Nicholson, associate professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. With smaller-scale dairies harder hit by labor shortages and fluctuating milk prices, “this long-term trend would be hard to change with public policy or private initiatives [alone],” he says.
Sanders criticizes Biden’s debate performance, defends his record
Sanders’s rally is part of a weeklong campaign swing in the Badger State. The Daily Cardinal, the University of Wisconsin’s student paper, provided audio of the Stevens Point event.
How ‘Rural Studies’ Is Thinking About the Heartland
Another scholar who disagreed with Mr. Frank’s diagnosis was Kathy Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But like Mr. Frank, she was interested in the question of how social class shaped politics, and thought that the way to get an accurate picture was through fieldwork. Over five years, starting in 2007, she visited 27 small towns in Wisconsin.
The World of Luxury Fruit: Does a $156 Melon Taste Sweeter?
Some of the fruits have long been given as gifts, especially in Japan and Korea. That trend is catching on in the United States, as is the taste for flawless berries and melons that travelers may have tried overseas, produce experts said. And as the luxury goods industry has grown, so too has the interest in luxury fruit, said Soyeon Shim, a scholar of consumer and financial behavior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The market has become much more global,” she said. Ms. Shim added, “you can buy anything you want.”
The Big Winners of This Supreme Court Term
In a famous 1974 paper titled “Why the Haves Come Out Ahead,” the University of Wisconsin law professor Marc Galanter argued that litigation systematically favors repeat players with the wherewithal to take fullest advantage of the courts. Key to his argument was the point that courts are “reactive”: They only do something when someone asks them to. That favors “the claimant with the information, ability to surmount cost barriers, and skill to navigate restrictive procedural requirements.” And most repeat players, Galanter said, tend to be “larger, richer and more powerful” than single-shotters.
Black Americans’ Responses To Trump’s Notion Of ‘Black Jobs’
Inequitable access to high-quality education plays a role in systematically routing young Black Americans into a narrow set of jobs. “Although our schools should be preparing all students for well-paid satisfying work, far too many of our Black and Brown students are relegated to poorly resourced schools,” says Gloria Ladson-Billings, the Kellner Family Distinguished Professor Emerita of Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Biden’s voter registration executive order is targeted by GOP
“It’s a nudge encouraging federal agencies to do more to help people register,” says Dan Tokaji, an election law expert, who serves as dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School. “Until recently, the complaints were really the federal government wasn’t doing enough, not that they were doing too much to advance voter registration.”
Wetlands may be the key to saving the Mekong River
But those habitats are often understudied. While the stretch of river in northern Cambodia has been designated a Ramsar site—a wetlands area of international importance—little research has assessed the ecological damage to the flooded forest there. “What we have is basically interviews with people,” says Ian Baird, a geographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has studied fisheries across the border in Laos for several decades.
How Multi-Omics Is Empowering The Discovery Of Cancer Biomarkers
A 2023 study from a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison demonstrated the promise of fragmentomics. Researchers used machine learning to identify patterns in fragments of circulating tumor DNA, which is genetic material that cancerous tumors shed into the bloodstream as they grow. The researchers trained an algorithm to not only detect cancer in blood samples but also to identify the specific type of cancer present.
East Palestine train derailment polluted 16 states, study says
When it began to rain in various places, the pollutants were pushed from the air and deposited on the ground. The National Atmospheric Deposition Program, at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, collects these ground depositions weekly across 260 sites across North America. David Gay, who serves as coordinator of the program, routinely analyzes the data to monitor air pollutants. “If you have a lot of pollution in the atmosphere, you get a lot of wet deposition pollution at the ground,” Gay said.
How Black Librarians Helped Create Generations of Black Literature
“She was a connector,” said Ethelene Whitmire, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of a 2014 biography of Andrews, who retired from the library system in 1966. “She wasn’t there to take credit, but to work behind the scenes.”
Chemicals from East Palestine derailment spread to 16 US states, data shows
Researchers expected to find some evidence of the burn 50 miles from the site, and the high levels of contamination in the samples across the vast range that it was spread was “very surprising” said David Gay, a University of Wisconsin researcher and lead author.
‘Once-in-a-Career Moment’ as Vet Realizes Rescue Kitten Is Super Rare
On June 7, Cinder found his forever home with a family deeply involved in animal care. The family’s daughter is studying veterinary medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, ensuring that Cinder will continue to receive excellent care.
See the Photos of the Rare Cicada Emergence
That slight overlap does not necessarily mean the two broods will breed with one another. “Is there a possibility of interactions and hybridization? That could occur—but given the long life cycles, it’s really hard to study,” PJ Liesch, the director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, tells TIME.
Study on tween screen use shows link between parents and kids
The study caught the attention of Megan Moreno, professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and co-director of the American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. Moreno, whose expertise is in the field of adolescent health and digital media, says she has been troubled by the widespread message — “almost to the edge of moral panic” — that social media use is causing adverse mental health outcomes for adolescents. “That has been a narrative I’ve been really interested in because I’ve really been wanting to see: Where is that evidence?” she says. “And it hasn’t been there.”
A Bird-Flu Pandemic in People? Here’s What It Might Look Like.
Crucially, no forms of the bird flu virus seem to have spread efficiently from person to person. That is no guarantee that H5N1 will not acquire that ability, said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist and bird flu expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.“ I think the virus is clearly changing its property, because we never saw outbreaks in cows,” Dr. Kawaoka said.
Supermassive Black Hole’s ‘Wind’ Shapes Surrounding Galaxy
A team of astronomers, including from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Arizona, analyzed years of observations of a quasar—bright cores of a galaxy thought to be powered by a supermassive black hole—to find unexpected changes in the gases surrounding a black hole.
Opinion | Debating Covid’s Origins: A Lab or a Market?
Understanding the origin of Covid-19 is crucial for improving future pandemic responses. I strongly disagree with Dr. Alina Chan’s opinion piece. The overwhelming majority of scientific evidence points to a natural origin, like all pandemics in history.
Marta M. Gaglia
Madison, Wis.
The writer is an associate professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Ecological Restoration Began with the Wild and Wonderful Gardens of Early Female Botanists
Leopold was the author of Sand County Almanac, a pretty famous environmental text, and he was involved in the University of Wisconsin Madison Prairie Restoration Project in the 1930s.
The US is losing wetlands at an accelerating rate − here’s how the private sector can help protect these valuable resources
Wetlands aren’t the most eye-catching ecosystems. They include swamps, bogs, fens and other places where soil is covered by water most of the time. But they perform a huge range of valuable services, from soaking up floodwaters to filtering out pollutants and providing habitat for thousands of species of mammals, fish, reptiles, insects and birds.
–Professor of Law and Associate Dean, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Supermassive Black Hole’s ‘Wind’ Shapes Surrounding Galaxy
A team of astronomers, including from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Arizona, analyzed years of observations of a quasar—bright cores of a galaxy thought to be powered by a supermassive black hole—to find unexpected changes in the gases surrounding a black hole.
Women Are America’s Safety Net
In November 2020, in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, Calarco, who is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, told the writer Anne Helen Petersen, “Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.”
Japan and South Korea Have a Serious Population Problem
“It’s too late for Japan, and it’s even worse for South Korea and China,” Yi Fuxian, a demographer and researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek.
Feds nab felons on social media by tracking gun videos, pics, chats
“A lot of people don’t realize how exposed they are,” says John P. Gross, a University of Wisconsin, Madison law professor and former public defender who’s seen social media play a big part in criminal cases. “That’s all stuff the government can find and gain access to.”
Behind Evan Goldstein, the proctologist known as ‘the bottom whisperer’
He went to college at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. As a student, Goldstein sustained a painful anal fissure (which he blames on poor diet and prolonged sitting, not sexual activity).
How Members of the Chinese Diaspora Found Their Voices
“I used to think that no matter what an individual or a group does, it makes no difference,” Wang Jing, a communications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said. “But now my feeling is that, regardless of what this can achieve, I have this anger and I want to express it.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s coalition spans the political spectrum. That could have consequences in November
For her part, Zimmerman, a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discovered Kennedy on YouTube and was instantly inspired.
Groups claim manure digesters contribute to pollution in Kewaunee County
Researchers, including Brian Langolf of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, say digesters cut greenhouse gas emissions by capturing methane from manure in open lagoons. Around 36 percent of methane emissions from human activities are tied to livestock or agricultural practices, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Erin Barbato on Biden’s order limiting asylum at US border
Erin Barbato:I’m not surprised that there is a more restrictive policy that is coming across, even from Biden’s office, because it has become so politicized and there’s so much misunderstanding about the border. You know, all we do is hear “influx” and “emergency.”
10 injured following shooting in Madison
In response to the shooting, the University of Wisconsin-Madison said it will offer “sympathy and concern for those injured, along with resources and support to UW students who may have been impacted.”
Vape industry thrives in Wisconsin amid health concerns
Dr. Patrick Remington said he is worried about this trend. Remington is a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health.
10 injured in shooting at Madison apartment complex
At least 10 people were injured in a shooting early Sunday morning at a Madison apartment building near the University of Wisconsin campus.
Madison, Wisconsin, Lux apartment shooting at rooftop party injures 10
At least 10 people were injured during a shooting early Sunday morning at a rooftop party at a high-rise apartment building in downtown Madison, near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
The Exciting Soil Under Your Feet
Jo Handelsman is the Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Vilas Research Professor, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor.
Scientists Know When Humans and Neanderthals Had Sex and Swapped DNA
“This study gives us the most accurate picture showing how some Neanderthals joined into the modern human gene pool, and then what happened to their genes afterward,” John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who was not involved in the research, told Business Insider.
The biggest cropland changes were near Ogallala Aquifer, study shows
“A lot of the assumptions were that this former cropland had a lot of overlap with formal conservation programs,” Tyler Lark, an assistant scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment who co-authored the study, said in a news release. “But we saw that they’re almost entirely distinct pools.”
Carbon Removal Is Catching On, but It Needs to Go Faster
“We don’t see that policy signal yet,” said Greg Nemet, an environmental policy expert at the University of Wisconsin and another lead report author. “And we think that’s a really important lacking area that needs to be changed from a policy perspective.”
Will Power ends 2-year IndyCar drought with Road America victory
Oconomowoc native and University of Wisconsin graduate Yuven Sundaramoorthy finished a career-best ninth.
10 injured in shooting at Wisconsin rooftop party
The shooting happened near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, but university officials said no students were known to be among those injured or involved.
The truth about ‘zombie cicadas’: ‘The fungus can do some nefarious things’
P.J. Liesch, director of UW Insect Diagnostic Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained that the fungus does “really interesting things” to the cicadas it infects. “The fungus can do some nefarious things,” he told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. “It can produce some amphetamine-like compounds, which end up affecting the behavior of these infected cicadas.”
Rebuke of psychedelic treatment explained
“It’s incumbent on the large health systems to lead the way,” Cherodeep Goswami, chief information and digital officer at the University of Wisconsin Health System, told Pulse.
‘Godfathers of climate chaos’: UN chief urges global fossil-fuel advertising ban
“The problem is now urgent, and we can’t say we need to do something about it in the future, we need to take action now,” said Andrea Dutton, a climate scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “The earlier we start making big cuts to emissions, the earlier we can start making a difference.”’
AI used to predict potential new antibiotics in groundbreaking study
Anthony Gitter, a University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor of biostatistics and medical informatics who uses machine learning in biological experiments, says the “significance of the advance” in the Cell paper “was due to top-tier bioinformatics research as opposed to automated science enabled by AI”.
Conservative University of Wisconsin regent resigns after initially refusing to step down
A conservative University of Wisconsin regent who originally refused to step down even though his term was over has resigned, clearing the way for his successor named by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to take his spot.