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Category: Business/Technology

Coal demand is up. Thank data centers and industrialization.

MarketPlace

In China especially, coal is sticking around largely because demand for electricity is growing so fast, said Greg Nemet, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“And it’s been driven by very rapid uptake of electric vehicles in China, in addition, rapid uptake of using electricity for industrial heat in China and also for data centers,” he said.

What bird flu means for milk

Mother Jones

There are a handful of variables and factors that shape the financial losses of a dairy hit with an outbreak. Luckily, agriculture economist Charles Nicholson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and some colleagues created a calculator to estimate this financial impact of a bird flu outbreak. Based on Nicholson’s estimates for California, a typical farm of 1500 cattle will lose $120,000 annually. For context, this is about $10,000 more than the median household income of a dairy farmer.

Not covered: Insurers add PFAS exclusions to commercial liability policies

Wisconsin Public Radio

Steph Tai, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, said many insurers wanted to avoid paying for cleanup costs. Despite broad language, some insurance companies were ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars. Tai said that’s prompted more express exclusions, such as those for PFAS.

“I think it’s partly because a lot of insurance companies have realized how much they’ve been spending on defending companies in this litigation,” Tai said. “They just want out.”

Sandhill crane committee supports hunting, and solar farms can accommodate crops

Wisconsin Public Radio

Can large solar farms and cultivated crops coexist? Our guests says “yes.” Agrivoltaics is the convergence of agriculture and solar farms, which is the area of study of UW-Madison hydrologist and professor Steven Loheide and professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences Ankur Desai.

TikTok influencers are driving raw milk sales – Here’s why it’s still a bad idea

Men's Health

What these idealists forget is that while people used to live on more natural products, they were also pretty unhealthy. According to John A. Lucey, PhD, a professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and director of the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, it’s estimated that in 1938, pre-pasteurisation, milk-borne outbreaks constituted 25% of all disease outbreaks (related to food and water) in the United States. Now, they make up fewer than 1%.

AT&T to discontinue traditional landline service in Wisconsin by the end of 2029

Wisconsin Public Radio

“I’ve watched the markets grow from just plain phone service to hybrid computers that are in our phones, so-called smartphones through which life is now lived,” said Barry Orton, a retired telecommunications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Old fashioned copper wire-based phones, which we all used to have in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s are now a thing of the past,” he added

Partisan approach to farm bill delaying updates for Wisconsin farmers

Wisconsin Public Radio

Paul Mitchell, professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it’s fairly rare to see Congress have to pass a second extension to the farm bill. But he said the lack of cooperation between the parties has made it more difficult to reach the consensus needed to pass the large piece of legislation.

“Just like we walk up to the edge on these continuing resolutions to keep the (federal) budget going, the same thing is happening with the farm bill,” Mitchell said.

San Diegans can drink their tap water. Many pay more at the vending machine anyway.

Voice of San Diego

“These are folks who can ill afford to spend that kind of money on what is really not a necessary thing,” said Manny Teodoro, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studied the water vending machine industry in a 2022 book, “The Profits of Distrust.” “Money spent on (vended) water is money that’s not spent on healthier food, on perhaps needed medicine and healthcare.”

Raw milk has documented health risks, but if Kennedy leads HHS, its backers expect a boost

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

McAfee’s products have been linked to several outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter, according to the University of Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research. Even with on-farm testing, raw milk isn’t safe for public consumption, said Alex O’Brien, safety and quality coordinator at the Center, which is on the UW-Madison campus.

“The more people who consume it,” he said, “the higher the probability someone’s going to become ill.”

Hold up—does cheese have protein? And what kinds pack the most?

SELF

“Cheesemaking is a process of concentrating the solids originally present in milk,” Ben Ullerup Mathers, a research cheesemaker at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Dairy Research, tells SELF. “Since protein is one of the main constituents of milk solids, the further you concentrate those solids, the more protein is in the final cheese. Since hard cheeses are the lowest-moisture cheeses, they will also be the higher-protein cheeses.”

The research that aims to cheese

The Chronicle of Higher Education

On a recent Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, sample number 435 lies supine on a lab table where it surrenders to a gauntlet of measurements.

Brandon Prochaska slides a thermometer into the pizza’s abdomen, and the digits tick upward to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. He and a group of other trained professionals jot the number down.

Nobel laureates vs. RFK Jr.? Have those nerds even tasted roadkill bear meat?

USA Today

On the flip side, John Lucey, a professor of food science and the director of the Center for Dairy Research at University of Wisconsin-Madison, told The Washington Post that drinking raw milk is “a really stupid, bad idea,” adding: “It’s almost like a doctor shouldn’t wash their hands before they go into an operating room.”

Empty nesters own some prime real estate. And they don’t seem very interested in leaving it.

MarketPlace

“Homeowners are aging in place,” said Mark Eppli, director of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

That’s partly because most of them have mortgages at under 4%, but is also just a personal preference. “They get comfortable with the church they’re going to, with the drugstore they go to, the grocery store, to the bar, whatever it may be,” Eppli said.

Can raw milk make you sick? Officials crack down amid bird flu fears.

USA Today

Raw milk supporters say it contains more enzymes, probiotics (or the “good bacteria”), proteins and vitamins than pasteurized milk. They also say it helps prevent chronic health issues such as asthma and allergies, as well as ear and respiratory infections and fever, citing studies of European children living on farms. There’s little scientific evidence to support these claims, said John Lucey, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research and a food science professor.

“The short answer is no, there are no proven benefits,” he told USA TODAY. “You are being conned with these claims,” he said. “This is snake oil.”

Texas could become a major producer of another source of renewable energy

ABC News

Green hydrogen is forecast to meet global energy needs that will not be easily satisfied by battery, wind or solar power, Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin’s Energy Institute, told ABC News in 2021. Batteries, for example, currently can take up a lot of space and also weigh a lot, making their use an issue for air travel and long-haul trucking. Hydrogen, by contrast, doesn’t include those challenges and also stores better long-term.

Report: Wisconsin farm, food industry grows slightly behind the rest of state’s economy

Wisconsin Public Radio

“The size of the pie is getting bigger,” said Steve Deller, a UW-Madison professor of agricultural and applied economics and co-author of the report. “Agriculture’s slice of that pie is also getting a little bit bigger, but it’s not growing at the same pace as the state’s economy is growing.”

Supplementing income off the farm, Social media warning labels, Powwow music

Wisconsin Public Radio

We learn how workers in Wisconsin are looking to bolster family farm income via employment in surrounding communities. Then a pediatrics professor shares research on social media and youth. And two members from the Wisconsin band Bizhiki discuss their new album of Indigenous music.

Disposable personal income rose at a faster pace in October than the month before

MarketPlace

There are some factors that could limit spending next year: Menzie Chinn, a professor of economics and pulic affairs at the University of Wisconsin, said delinquency rates have been rising and some consumers don’t have a lot of savings to fall back on.

“Those have been largely depleted, particularly among those income groups that are, let’s say, at median or below median income,” he said.

Nanoink and printing technologies could enable electronics repairs, production in space

Phys.org

The flight path to these experiments began when a research team led by Iowa State’s Shan Jiang, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, and Hantang Qin, formerly of Iowa State who’s now an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wondered if their ink and printer technologies would work in the zero gravity of space.

Report finds Wisconsin agriculture revenue on the rise, up nearly 11 percent from 2017

Wisconsin Public Radio

An economic analysis shows Wisconsin’s agriculture industry is pulling in more revenue in recent years but employing fewer people.

The report, titled “The Contributions of Agriculture to the Wisconsin Economy,” is published every five years. The newest survey found the industry earned $116.3 billion in revenue in 2022, the latest data available. That is a 10.9 percent increase from 2017. However, the numbers are nuanced, Steve Deller and Jeff Hadachek, co-authors of the report out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

An AI pressure test

Politico

Health providers now have a new way to test artificial intelligence applications. The Healthcare AI Challenge creates a virtual testing ground for new AI systems, where providers can better understand how a program would work in real-world scenarios.

The program comes from a collaboration among Mass General Brigham, Emory Healthcare, the radiology department at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the University of Washington School of Medicine’s radiology department and the American College of Radiology. More partners are expected to join in the future.

Holiday budgets by city (2024)

WalletHub

“For many consumers, overspending happens when they feel time crunched or make snap decisions in response to discounts or limited offers,” said Amber M. Epp, an associate professor of marketing at the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Consumers can save money in the traditional ways by making budgets and lists this time of year, but also by comparison shopping and seeking out discounts for items already on their lists rather than impulse buying when presented with sales.”

Best credit cards for November 2024

WalletHub

“The market’s best credit cards are often indicative of the health of the economy, because their use can give insights into consumer perceptions and acceptability of interest rates, consumer spending habits as well as consumer debt,” said Cynthia Jasper, a professor of Civil Society and Community Studies, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Coca-Cola causes controversy with AI-made ad

NBC News

Neeraj Arora, the chair of marketing research and education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the reason why the company faced backlash for this specific advertisement, and not for “Masterpiece” last year, could be because many consumers recognize Christmas as an integral part of the company’s brand, and AI technology acts as a disruption.

“Your holidays are a time of connection, time of community, time to connect with family, and that’s sort of a big part of what the holidays are about,” Arora said. “But then you throw AI into the mix that is not a fit, that is not a fit with holiday timing, but also, to some degree, also Coke, what the brand means to people.”

For decades, installing E.V. chargers didn’t pay off for retailers. Now it does.

The New York Times

Now, new studies say retailers’ charging efforts may well be paying off: One peer-reviewed study by researchers at Boston University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison published this year looked at the impact of nearly 1,600 Tesla Supercharger stations in more than 800 U.S. counties and found a 4 percent increase in monthly visits for retailers within 200 meters of chargers after they were installed. The effects were most pronounced for retailers within 150 meters. The researchers also found a 5 percent increase in spending.

Is raw milk safe? Science has a clear answer

Popular Science

Boiling is an even more aggressive form of heating than pasteurization, which was developed to kill pathogens while minimizing changes to milk’s flavor and composition, says John Lucey, a food science professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and director of the university’s Center for Dairy Research. “Boiling is a very substantial heat treatment whereas pasteurization is much gentler,” he notes.

Microsoft to use diesel-fired generators as backup power for data centers

Wisconsin Public Radio

Production of renewable diesel from plant oils has increased in recent years amid wide use in transportation fuel, according to Mary Blanchard, associate director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

“It generally meets a 50 percent greenhouse gas reduction compared to petroleum-based diesel fuel,” Blanchard said, noting some companies claim even higher emissions reductions.

Study committee considers draft legislation to hunt sandhill cranes, aid corn growers

Wisconsin Public Radio

In Wisconsin, only 17 percent of 2,769 people surveyed last December support a hunting season on sandhill cranes. That’s according to a study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and funded by the International Crane Foundation. The organization has said crop damage by cranes should be solved by other means, saying a hunt wouldn’t have any significant benefit for farmers.

Tom Still: Economic outlook post-election: Winners, losers and lots of unknown

Wisconsin State Journal

Patent law “march-in” rights: Some say the federal government should be allowed to appropriate products patented by universities and developed with private money if the underlying research received any federal funding and if the products are deemed unreasonably priced. In patent law-speak, that’s called “march-in” rights. It would be a major departure from the bipartisan 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which was silent on what constitutes “reasonable” price and which has been credited with spurring innovation at major universities nationwide.

Wisconsin could lose out under Trump term targeting climate, clean energy policies

Wisconsin Public Radio

Efforts to combat climate change and shift to renewable energy have accelerated under policies and regulations put in place by President Joe Biden’s administration. Even so, it hasn’t been enough to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to Greg Nemet, energy expert and public affairs professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We’re on track, but we need to really start pushing harder to get the adoption of electric vehicles, solar panels, wind power, heat pumps and all those things at a faster rate,” Nemet said. “I think what we’re looking at now is probably almost definitely slowing down.”

Morgan Edwards, assistant professor of public affairs at UW-Madison, said the slowing of emissions reductions may not be immediately evident in Wisconsin as much as they will in the long run. “We’re locking in long-term climate impacts that we’re going to see for decades to come,” Edwards said. “That’s things like more extreme weather events, warmer winters, more irregular farming seasons, which is a big deal across the country, but (also) in this state where we have a lot of agriculture.”

Report: One-third of Wisconsin hospitals operated in the red last year

Wisconsin Public Radio

Stuart Craig, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Business who studies health care spending, said hospital’s operating margins are also “a function of their choices.” He points out that most hospitals are nonprofit entities, so they should be motivated to keep patient costs as low as possible and invest any profit back into their facilities.

“Hospitals will often defend high commercial (insurance) reimbursement rates by saying, ‘Well, we lose money on all these Medicare patients,’” Craig said. “But those are choices that they’re making to set their cost structure. Like, if you looked at hospitals that operate in markets that are mostly Medicare patients, they just set a lower cost structure and stay open.”

Social Security advocates call for stronger support to live up to FDR’s vision

Wisconsin Examiner

Another myth is that Social Security won’t be there for younger workers. J. Michael Collins, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs and the leader of the UW Retirement and Disability Research Consortium, said he hears that often from his students at UW.

In the worst case scenario, however, the shortfall would cut benefits to 72 cents on the dollar, he said.

Immigrants provide important economic contributions in Wisconsin, report says

Wisconsin Public Radio

“There’s an undercount in the Latinx population, and, in particular, the undocumented population,” said Armando Ibarra, a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School for Workers. “This population of folks is hesitant to interact with folks that represent the federal government or the state government, because of their precarious immigration status.”

Black Males in Engineering: An innovative form of education

Badger Herald

Founder of the Black Males in Engineering project, Brian A. Burt, is leading research into how Black men are often excluded from science, technology, engineering and mathematics — or STEM — industries. Through BME, Burt hopes to emphasize that Black mens’ journeys throughout STEM need to be aided by many people throughout their lives.

Research suggests women farmers may improve local economies

Wisconsin Public Radio

New research has found that communities with more women-owned or -operated farms have higher rates of business creation, lower poverty rates and a longer average life expectancy.

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Steven Deller is a co-author of the research first published in January. Deller and colleagues argue that the reduction in rural poverty is particularly important.

Invest in solar and honor pioneering UW scientist, Farrington Daniels | Steve Kokette

Wisconsin State Journal

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, UW-Madison was an international leader in the first renewable energy to produce electricity for the public — hydropower. During some of those years, the Wisconsin River was known as the hardest working river in the world because it produced so much electricity.