Skip to main content

Category: Top Stories

PEOPLE Program Opens Milwaukee Office

Madison365

Eighth graders throughout Milwaukee joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison Precollege Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) alongside alumni for a ribbon cutting ceremony in celebration of the Milwaukee Office Grand Opening.

Ancient poop is helping archaeologists understand a midwestern city’s demise

Popular Science

“In the ancient world, there were other places people could have moved that were more resource-rich,” says Sissel Schroeder, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and co-author of the study. “In the modern world, we’re experiencing the same pressures but it’s becoming more difficult to find resource-rich areas that aren’t already occupied by humans.”

Discovery sheds light on mystery of ancient Native American city’s downfall

The Independent

“When we see correlations with climate, some archaeologists don’t think climate has anything to do with it, but it’s difficult to sustain that argument when the evidence of significant changes in the climate show people are facing new challenges,” said Professor Sissel Schroeder, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Climate Change May Have Caused Collapse of Cahokia, America’s First City

Newsweek

“Cultures can be very resilient in face of climate change but resilience doesn’t necessarily mean there is no change,” said study co-author Sissel Schroeder, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in a statement. “There can be cultural reorganization or decisions to relocate or migrate. We may see similar pressures today but fewer options to move.”

Tony Evers to propose $150 million boost for UW System in state budget

Gov. Tony Evers will propose a $150 million boost for the University of Wisconsin System in his first two-year budget, including funding to continue a tuition freeze implemented by former Gov. Scott Walker, a pay raise for UW employees, a provision to allow Dreamers to pay in-sate tuition and a study to determine the feasibility of creating a student loan refinancing authority.

The Polar Vortex: Hard Facts About Cold Weather

The New York Times

Many colleges across the Midwest have canceled classes during the cold snap, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the University of South Dakota and Kent State University.

Classes cancelled due to extreme cold

Daily Cardinal

The university’s decision to close came from the latest weather forecast, noting it would impact safety of students, faculty and staff, according to UW-Madison’s News and Media Relations Director Meredith McGlone.

Where Sloths Find These Branches, Their Family Trees Expand

The New York Times

For almost ten years, Jonathan Pauli and M. Zachariah Peery, professors at the University of Wisconsin, and their colleagues have been tracking a group of sloths in Costa Rica. The animals are equipped with radio collars that transmit their location five or six times a month, so the team knows where each sloth’s usual territory is.

Bacteria In Worms Make A Mosquito Repellent That May Be Better Than DEET

National Public Radio

A study published Wednesday in Science Advances by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers has found that a compound derived from these bacteria is three times more potent than DEET in repelling mosquitoes. More research must be done to demonstrate its safety, but this bacterial chemical could play an important role in the fight against mosquito-borne illness.

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.

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.

Ongoing shutdown means scrambled travel plans, collaboration for higher ed researchers

Inside Higher Education

The ongoing federal shutdown is already creating headaches for scientists by hindering research planning and putting an abrupt halt to travel for some academics. But its worst effects will materialize in the coming weeks, should a stalemate between the White House, Republicans and congressional Democrats continue, researchers and university leaders said.

50-million-year cooling trend is reversed

Eco-Business

“We can use the past as a yardstick to understand the future, which is so different from anything we have experienced in our lifetime,” said John Williams, a palaeo-ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US.

The biggest science stories of 2018: From the edge of the solar system to crises on Earth – The Washington Post

Washington Post

It was the year we left the heliosphere for the second time ever, and the year we got closer to the sun than ever. A year of biomedical breakthroughs and deadly disease outbreaks. It was a year in which humanity broke some crucial climate records (and not in a good way). IceCube is among the year’s top science stories, though Washington Post does not mention UW–Madison.

What We Learned in 2018: Science

New York Times

One team of scientists visualized the threat communication systems within plants that help them fight back when under attack. Others presented the tantalizing suggestion of plant consciousness using anesthetic gas. And in rain forests, some plants’ fruits seem to send careful messages to specific animals, in order to spread their seeds.