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Category: Research

Bacterial compounds may be as good as DEET at repelling mosquitoes

Science News

Molecules made by bacteria keep mosquitoes at bay, researchers report January 16 in Science Advances. Tests suggest the compounds also deter two other mosquito species: Anopheles gambiae, a major malaria carrier, and Culex pipiens, which can carry the West Nile virus.Though DEET is considered safe for human use and effective against mosquitoes, it doesn’t hurt to have more lines of defense against the disease-transmitting insects, says coauthor Susan Paskewitz, an entomologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

How Lichens Explain (And Re-explain) the World

The Atlantic

Tripp agrees that “we, as a community of lichen biologists, need to revisit the role of all symbionts in the lichen microcosm.” No matter how one describes Tremella and other lichen-associated fungi, it’s clear that they do affect the form and function of the lichen as a whole. How they do so is “the great unsolved problem” of lichenology, says Anne Pringle from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Can cash curb corruption in Indonesia?

The Asean Post

The first is an ongoing policy experiment conducted by researchers from the United States (US); Kweku Opoku-Agyemang from the Blum Center for Developing Economies, University of California, Berkeley; and Jeremy D. Foltz from the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Earth’s Tilt Could Accelerate Antarctica Ice Loss

Advocator

“Really critical is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” said Stephen Meyers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the co-author of the new study. He added that extreme carbon dioxide and high-angled Earth’s tilt would be devastating for Antarctica.

How to help low-income children with autism

Spectrum News

Quoted:That means the needs of an untold number of children aren’t being met. It also has serious ramifications for research, because it can skew estimates of autism, says Maureen Durkin, an epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: “It means that the prevalence of autism is probably even higher than we’re measuring.”

Antarctica ice melt has accelerated by 280% in the last 4 decades

CNN

The researchers, led by Richard Levy of New Zeland’s GNS Science and Victoria University of Wellington and Stephen Meyers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were able to recreate a broad history of the Antarctic ice sheet going back 34 million years to when the ice sheet first formed — documenting multiple cycles of ice growth and decay resulting from natural variations in the planet’s tilt.

Scientists call for action to save Antarctic ice sheet

Xinhua

Published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the study underscored just how sensitive the ice sheet is to climate change, according to Richard Levy of GNS Science and Victoria University of Wellington and Stephen Meyers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who jointly led the research team.

Ice Loss in Antarctica Has Accelerated at Alarming Rate: Study

India News

The researchers, led by Richard Levy of New Zealand’s GNS Science and Victoria University of Wellington and Stephen Meyers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were able to recreate a broad history of the Antarctic ice sheet going back 34 million years to when the ice sheet first formed — documenting multiple cycles of ice growth and decay resulting from natural variations in the planet’s tilt.

Antarctica ice melt has accelerated by 280% in 4 decades

CNN

The researchers, led by Richard Levy of New Zeland’s GNS Science and Victoria University of Wellington and Stephen Meyers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were able to recreate a broad history of the Antarctic ice sheet going back 34 million years to when the ice sheet first formed — documenting multiple cycles of ice growth and decay resulting from natural variations in the planet’s tilt.

States And Cities Have Already Shown Democrats’ Election Reforms Will Work

Huffington Post

But one 2017 paper published by four political scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that reality may be more complicated. The authors analyzed early voting in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and found that while Election Day registration tends to benefit Democrats, early voting on its own is more likely to benefit Republicans.

Women Are Asking To Be Paid What They’re Worth — So Why Aren’t They Getting It?

Bustle

More recent research has revealed that today, more women than ever are asking for what they’re worth — but they’re still not getting it. A 2016 study of 4,600 employees, conducted by the UK’s University of Warwick and the University of Wisconsin, showed that women now ask for raises at the same rate as their male peers — they’re just 25 percent less likely to receive them.

One-Pixel Views of Earth Reveal Seasonal Changes

Eos

Aronne Merrelli, an atmospheric scientist at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and his colleagues collected over 5,000 images of the sunlit side of the Earth taken in 2016 by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on board DSCOVR.

More transparency means nonprofits get more donations

Fast Company

That’s the key takeaway from a recent study published in Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance. Researchers from Villanova University and University of Wisconsin found that charities earning a seal of transparency from the nonprofit GuideStar gained an average of 53% more contributions one year later.

Flashing lights may protect livestock by deterring predators

Feedstuffs

In the U.S., some ranchers worry about wolf attacks on their livestock as the native predator is reintroduced to more areas, according to information from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. However, for livestock owners in Chile, wolves are not the potential threat; pumas are

Reports: Manufacturing industry optimistic about 2019 despite some concerns

Watchdog.org

In addition to federal action, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy found that more than 42,000 jobs were created between 2013 and 2016 because of the state’s Manufacturing and Agriculture Credit. The center’s study reported that more than 88 percent of tax credit recipients were small businesses, with incomes of less than $1 million.

Understanding US Annual Reports on Number of Animals in Research

Speaking of Research

Of those, 87% were reported by the private company Charles River Laboratories. Similarly, in the second highest state, Wisconsin, ~80% nonhuman primates were reported by the private company Covance Laboratories. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which houses one of the seven National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Primate Research Centers, reported the remaining ~20%.

Har Gobind Khorana: Celebrating The Nobel-Winning Pioneer Who Decoded our DNA

The Better India

Noted: After stints in Switzerland and Canada, Khorana found a research position at the Institute for Enzyme Research, a “vanguard of chemical biology” at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.

In was his decade-long stint here, he “helped to decipher how RNA encodes for the synthesis of protein,” the ground-breaking research which helped him land the Noble Prize in 1968.

In the hunt for aliens, scientists look again to the clouds of Venus

Wired UK

As for the search for life in the clouds of Venus, a paper published this autumn in the journal Astrobiology by a team led by Sanjay Limaye at the University of Wisconsin-Madison presents an argument for how and why it ought to be pursued further — now more than ever. And it hinges on data we’ve been able to uncover here on Earth. (Story also includes link to limnology site.)

From Madison to Mars: UW lab plants seeds for deep space travel

Isthmus

“Three…two…one…engine ignited, and we have liftoff of SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket and Dragon.”

On Dec. 15, 2017, Simon Gilroy listened to that countdown as he gazed across a river separating a mass of scientists from the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, Florida. He was a couple of miles from the site, but as close as you could get without being inside the rocket.

A new ‘Uber for Poop’ in Senegal is creating competition to pick up waste from people’s homes

Business Insider

Noted: Lipscomb said she and her team — Terence Johnson at the University of Notre Dame, Laura Schechter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Jean-Francois Houde at the University of Wisconsin-Madison — did not set out to oversee the system long-term. The professors worked with an NGO and handed the project off to Senegal’s government after finishing their research in 2016.

WPR’s 10 Most-Read Stories Of 2018

Wisconsin Public Radio

Noted: List includes story about research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center.

Adults living with autism spectrum disorder may face a higher risk of developing certain health issues — such as cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive problems — than the rest of the population.

 

New Weight-Loss Device Aids Rats In Losing Nearly 40% Of Their Body Fat

Forbes

University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists believe they may have come up with a way to stem the tide of obesity-related disease and illness and improve quality of life for hundreds of millions of people worldwide who suffer from weight problems. These scientists have created what they say is a safe and easily implantable weight-loss device that in lab experiments, aided rats in shedding nearly 40% of their body weight.

50 years ago, Apollo 8 astronauts orbited the moon and united a troubled Earth

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Lovell, 90, grew up in Milwaukee, graduating from Juneau High School where he met his future wife Marilyn in the cafeteria lunch line. He studied engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for two years and then earned an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He earned his pilot’s wings and was a Navy pilot and test pilot before being selected in 1962 for the space program.

UW researcher develops obesity treatment device

Spectrum News 1

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin Madison have made a small device that would attach to the lining of a person’s stomach and use electricity to stimulate the nerves that tell your brain it’s full when you eat. As a stomach moves it sends that signal and ideally makes you feel full with eating far less.