Noted: Henry Bunn, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has said more than once that a person would have to be “incredibly naïve” to believe the persistence hunting theory. Bunn recalls that he first heard discussion of the theory at a conference in South Africa, and he realised almost immediately that if you are going to chase an animal that is much faster than you, at some point it will run out of sight and you will have to track it. Tracking would require earth soft enough to capture footprints and terrain open enough to give prey little place to hide and disappear.
Category: Research
California ignores the science as it OKs more homes in wildfire zones, researchers say
Noted: A recent study out of the University of Wisconsin—Madison’s Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology and the U.S. Forest Service found that more than 90% of homes destroyed by fire in California are outside of urban areas.
Lake Michigan reached record high levels this summer. Is climate change the cause?
Noted: Wisconsin has experienced warmer temperatures, but is also starting to see an increase in total annual precipitation, according to Jack Williams, a University of Wisconsin-Madison geography professor and climate change expert.
One theory, Williams said, is a warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor and is more energetic, and the energy releases bigger storms.
Is California ignoring the science on wildfire-prone housing?
Quoted: “Certainly, there were areas where just everything got torched,” said Anu Kramer, co-author of the report and researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But it was not uncommon to see areas where the trees were still intact and the houses were gone.”
UW sports analytics, bracketology and solving the opioid crisis
Noted: According to the UW-Madison College of Engineering website, Albert researches “modeling and solving real-world discrete optimization problems with application to homeland security, disasters, emergency response, public services, and healthcare.”
The research on emergency response, for example, focuses on how to match the right resources with the right needs at the right time. In one aspect of this research, Albert looks at how to get the right mix of vehicles to an emergency.
Wisconsin Communities Look To Education To Improve Health
One success story experts highlighted was Algoma, a small city in Kewaunee County. In 2008, the county ranked 24th for overall health according to a University of Wisconsin-Madison Population Health Institute report.
UW Study: Electric Pulses Hidden By Hats Could Help Reverse Balding
Now, a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison think they have a promising — and discreet — solution. A device, hidden by a hat, that sends low-energy electric pulses to stimulate hair growth.
A Big Question About Prime Numbers Gets a Partial Answer
Noted: The new proof, by Will Sawin of Columbia University and Mark Shusterman of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, solves the twin primes conjecture in a smaller but still salient mathematical world. They prove the conjecture is true in the setting of finite number systems, in which you might only have a handful of numbers to work with.
Scientists create an advanced hat that could reverse balding
It’s a commonly known fact that by the age of thirty-five, two-thirds of men will experience some form of balding. That figure only increases as males age and hair thinning progressively increases.
We’re Just Starting to Learn How Fracking Harms Wildlife
Quoted: “I think the most alarming thing about all of this is what bird declines may indicate about the declining health of overall ecosystems,” says Laura Farwell, a postdoctoral research associate in the department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and lead author of the Biological Conservation study. “I know it’s a cliché, but forest interior birds truly are ‘canaries in the coal mine’ for Appalachian forests experiencing rapid loss and fragmentation.”
Limnologist discusses UW’s role as first university limnology department
Several prominent researchers pioneered field.
Billions of dollars are at stake as Wisconsin debates whether to legalize marijuana
Noted: If Wisconsin were to legalize cannabis for medical uses, there would be a net $1.1 billion positive effect, bringing in additional fees and health benefits while potentially reducing opioid overdoses, addiction and traffic fatalities over five years, according to a cost-benefit analysis by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs. If the state were to decriminalize cannabis, it would save an additional $30 million in decreased criminal justice costs.
Climate change challenges Wisconsin farmers who produce our food
Noted: Quite a few Wisconsin farmers, including Ferguson, are taking note of changing climate conditions — the same conditions that University of Wisconsin scientists are documenting and studying.
Small strips of nature in just the right places can keep plants from going extinct
To find out, Ellen Damschen, a plant ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her colleagues set up a large-scale experiment at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Historically, the land was used for farming.
New Study Finds Connected Habitats See Increases In Biodiversity
Researchers measured 239 plant species over 18 years as part of a habitat experiment at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, said the study’s lead author Ellen Damschen, an integrative biology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
If We Connect Fragmented Habitat, New Species Will Come, Study Shows
“Like compound interest in a bank, the number of species increases at a constant rate each year, resulting in a much larger bottom line over time in habitats that are connected by a corridor than those that are not,” lead author Ellen Damschen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says in the press release.
Ebola virus vaccine made at UW-Madison to be tested in Japan
An experimental Ebola virus vaccine made at UW-Madison will be used in a clinical trial expected to start in Japan in December, the researcher behind the vaccine said last week.
UW study shows connecting habitat fragments leads to species growth, slows extinction
A two-decade research project headed by a UW-Madison professor has shown that minor modifications to the landscape can dramatically improve the chances of plants in increasingly rare and fragmented ecosystems.
DNR Secretary Preston Cole urges return to climate change research
While climate research continued at UW-Madison, collaboration efforts stalled, said Stephen Vavrus, a UW climate scientist and co-director of WICCI. “Not having open involvement with the DNR, things definitely slowed from our end,” Vavrus said. “We’re optimistic the tide has turned.”
Renewable plastics out of corn cobs
When Pyran’s chemical engineering team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison embarked on their new project aimed at tackling the enormous problem of replacing oil to make paints and plastics, they had a feeling they would generate some interesting research, but the discovery they made surprised even them.
Growing telehealth program is working to catch blindness early
The lead on the project, Dr. Yao Liu, is a glaucoma specialist, eye surgeon and assistant professor at UW-Madison.
Wisconsin native World War II soldier buried in Monona
But he is not the only World War II soldier coming home after decades, as researchers at the University of Wisconsin have a list of Wisconsin natives they are trying to identify and bring home.
Connecting fractured habitats has long-lasting ecological benefits, study in Science finds
Few plants grow beneath the timber trees’ dense canopy. Spongy mats of pine needles, up to a foot thick, cover the forest floor. “I might see zero species in the understory,” said study author Ellen Damschen, an ecosystem ecologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “Maybe one or two.
Flexible Wearable Reverses Baldness With Gentle Electric Pulses IEEE Spectrum
Why waste the energy used to tilt one’s head or digest food? University of Wisconsin-Madison engineer Xudong Wang is an expert at harvesting the body’s mechanical energy to power devices, such as an electric bandage that accelerates healing and a stomach implant that subdues hunger.
New Series Of Bills Aims To Combat Suicide In Wisconsin
Another proposal focuses on guns. A study from University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers found suicides made up almost three quarters of all gun deaths in the state from 2000 to 2014.
Apparent new rise in autism may not reflect true prevalence
Diagnoses of those two conditions increase with maternal education, points out Maureen Durkin, professor of population health sciences and pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Durkin was not involved in the study but wrote an editorial accompanying the work3.
Can you teach kids kindness? New curriculum hopes to reverse trend of bullying in schools
Now, a team of psychologists at the University of Wisconsin think they have a way to help reverse the trend.
Big Question About Primes Proved in Small Number Systems
The new proof, by Will Sawin of Columbia University and Mark Shusterman of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, solves the twin primes conjecture in a smaller but still salient mathematical world.
UW-Madison scientist earns ‘genius’ grant as she seeks 125,000-year-old clues about climate change
A scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is looking back at least 125,000 years to try to figure out how climate change might impact humanity’s future.
Andrea Dutton and her work have been recognized with a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, otherwise known as a ‘genius’ grant.
ESTHER CEPEDA: Why your children’s school lunches matter
Noted: Last week I was primed for a conversation with Jennifer Gaddis, the author of “The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools.” I had just eaten a lukewarm cheeseburger (the cheese was totally unmelted) and then moved on to the accompanying banana, since I couldn’t stomach the wilted iceberg lettuce that was called “salad” or the soggy, undercooked fries that came with the “meal.”
But the public-school culinary experience isn’t what makes Gaddis’ new book important. It is required reading for anyone who wants this part of our students’ school day to be nourishing — not only for the kids, but for the women who feed them.
“So much of the work of feeding children is gendered — the majority of workers in food service, especially frontline food service, are women,” Gaddis told me. “Whether it’s happening at school or in the homes of the millions of students who take lunch from home to school, feeding students is typically done by women.”
There Is Such Thing as a Free (School) Lunch
School’s back in session, and every day, 30 million kids head to the cafeteria to chow down. On this episode of Bite, Tom returns to the lunchroom at his elementary school alma mater and finds that the grey mystery meat he remembers has been replaced by tasty, fresh offerings that are free to every student. And he catches up with Jennifer Gaddis, author of the book The Labor of Lunch, who explains the economic forces that figure into school food, from “lunch shaming” to fair wages for cafeteria workers.
Researchers find new ways to improve moods in dementia patients, caregivers
Researchers within UW’s School of Pharmacy, in association with Generation Connect, found that music, videos and photos on tablets improved the mood of dementia patients and their caregivers.
Reversing Hair Loss Could Soon Be as Easy as Wearing a Hat After Scientists Develop Simple New Tech
Few things on earth strike fear into the hearts of men more profoundly than hair loss. But reversing baldness could someday be as easy as wearing a hat, thanks to a noninvasive, low-cost hair-growth-stimulating technology developed by engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Baldness Treatment: Scientists Develop Wearable Tech That Triggers Hair Growth
But an effective baldness treatment may not come in the form of a drug or topical cream. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed a wearable technology that works to prevent hair loss.
Scalp-zapping cap could reverse male balding, researchers say
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that attaching a patch that delivers electric stimulation to rats and mice resulted in increased hair growth and density when compared with treating them with minoxidil lotion (the hair growth ingredient found in Rogaine).
Cap that zaps your scalp could reverse male balding
It’s a phenomenon known as the triboelectric effect and can result in faster hair re-growth than being hooked up to a machine for several hours a day. The team, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tested it out on the backs of shaved lab rats and found that when they moved it caused the flexible patch to bend and stretch.
This Anti-baldness Hat Is Powered by the User’s Movements
To address this widespread problem, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison detailed in an issue of ACS Nano how they came up with a noninvasive approach.
Scientist wins $100,000 grant to study how climate change affects forest fires
Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Monica Turner, explained, “With the Camp Monaco Prize there are three main objectives that we have. One is to extend some of our work that uses state of the art computer simulation models to predict what might happen in the future under alternative scenarios: climate warming, precipitation patterns…things like that.”
This device can regrow hair by delivering electric pulses
“I think this will be a very practical solution to hair regeneration,” said one of the researchers Xudong Wang, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US.
hair loss:This Electric Baseball Cap Will Shock Your Bald Head Until Your Hair Fully Grows Back
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed an electric patch they say could reverse the effects of balding in men, especially when fitted into a custom-designed baseball cap. It’s only about a millimetre thick, allowing the patch to stick to the scalp, and then effectively shock some life back into it.
The (Not So) Secret Lives Of City-Dwelling Coyotes And Foxes
Led by wildlife ecologist David Drake at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, these researchers have observed behavior that suggests the critters may be more prone to peaceful coexistence than are their highly competitive peers in the state’s hinterlands.
Scientists invented an electric baseball hat to reverse male baldness
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and Shenzhen University actually developed the electrical stimulation device not the hat. What’s amazing about it is that it’s small enough to fit inside a regular baseball hat, doesn’t use batteries, and actually works.
Hillary Clinton way off, again, on Wisconsin voter ID
The University of Wisconsin conducted a study that could be what Clinton relied on for the low end of the range. It involved a survey of 293 registered voters who didn’t vote in Dane and Milwaukee counties in the 2016 election.
Why are America’s students so bad with money? Ask their teachers…
Most high-school educators have backgrounds teaching subjects other than personal finance, so it’s no surprise that research like one 2010 University of Wisconsin–Madison study shows few teachers possess the confidence to teach the subject, even though a majority are willing to learn
Is Reversing Baldness Really As Easy As Wearing a Hat?
Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed a noninvasive, low-cost hair-growth-stimulating technology unobtrusive enough to fit under a cap.
Balding reversed by tiny wearable device that zaps your head with gentle electric pulses
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a low-cost growth-stimulating technology that reverses balding.
Baseball cap that zaps your scalp could REVERSE male balding
The team, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tested it out on the back’s of shaved lab rats and found that when they moved it caused the flexible patch to bend and stretc
Growing hair on bald heads with electric tech may soon be easy
Reversing baldness could someday be as easy as wearing a hat, thanks to a noninvasive, low-cost hair-growth-stimulating technology, according to engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
WCER launches $1.5 million study of 6 Historically Black Colleges and Universities
A new partnership with the United Negro College Fund and UW-Madison’s Counseling Psychology Department will be studying internship programs at six Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) that have a high number of STEM graduates.
Labor of Lunch Discussed on America’s Work Force
Jennifer Gaddis, assistant professor at UW-Madison and author of The Labor of Lunch spoke with America’s Work Force on Sept. 17 about getting better school lunches in schools.
The Labor of Lunch
Noted: Author Jennifer Gaddis discusses her new book about The National School Lunch Program.
Fresh data documents the impact that race and income have on health of Wisconsin residents
Noted: The report was described as an enhancement of the nationwide County Health Rankings & Roadmaps compiled through a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
A hat that zaps the scalp with electricity helps reverse male balding
To overcome this hurdle, Xudong Wang at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his colleagues have developed a wireless patch that sticks to the scalp and generates electric pulses by harnessing energy from random body movements.
UW experiences delay in receiving Foxconn gift
State Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, was unsurprised by the news and cited several blunderous Foxconn promises, including the Pleasant Prairie project.
IceCube ice anisotropy could be due to birefringent polycrystals
Dmitry Chirkin from the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI), Martin Rongen from RWTH Aachen University (Aachen, Germany), and others in the IceCube Collaboration have looked into the idea that the microstructure of the ice as it has been affected by ice flow has led to the formation of a birefringent polycrystal structure, which can explain the direction-dependent differences in attenuation.
The Seeds Of Tomorrow: Defending Indigenous Mexican Corn That Could Be Our Future
The potential has also attracted the interest of American researchers, including those at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of California, Davis, and at the private company Mars Inc., who have studied the corn.
The Secret History of Fort Detrick, the CIA’s Base for Mind Control Experiments
In 1942, alarmed by reports that Japanese forces were waging germ warfare in China, the Army decided to launch a secret program to develop biological weapons. It hired a University of Wisconsin biochemist, Ira Baldwin, to run the program and asked him to find a site for a new bio-research complex.
Nuclear could be the clean energy source the world needs (opinion)
CEM is not alone in reconsidering the role nuclear energy could play. In fact, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in partnership with Idaho National Lab and the University of Wisconsin, have gone so far as to say nuclear energy is “essential” to expand energy access and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
UW-Madison research working to reverse affects of baldness
UW-Madison engineers are making strides in reversing the effects of baldness, thanks to a new “growth-stimulating” technology.
The Great Flood of 2019: A Complete Picture of a Slow-Motion Disaster
To produce a single image of this year’s flooding, The Times analyzed six months of imagery from the VIIRS satellite provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration covering January to June 2019. The extent of flooding in each image was estimated by using an open-source model produced by the University of Wisconsin and described in an academic paper, and checked against accounts of local officials in affected areas.