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Category: Top Stories

Scientists Propose Craft to Search Venus for Life

Yahoo News

But for all the planet’s seemingly inhospitable traits, “Venus has had plenty of time to evolve life on its own,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist Sanjay Limaye, who led the new study, in a press release. Limaye points to models that suggest Venus could have sustained a habitable climate with liquid water on its surface for as long as 2 billion years. “That’s much longer than is believed to have occurred on Mars,” says Limaye.

Smiles Hide Many Messages—Some Unfriendly

Wall Street Journal

“Different smiles have different impacts on people’s bodies,” said Jared D. Martin, a doctoral student who led the study in the lab of University of Wisconsin–Madison psychology professor Paula Niedenthal. Along with poker players, psychologists have long known that our facial expressions can betray our emotions. But no one has demonstrated exactly how this works, Mr. Martin said.

New Evidence Suggests Possible Life on Venus

Popular Mechanics

But for all the planet’s seemingly inhospitable traits, “Venus has had plenty of time to evolve life on its own,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist Sanjay Limaye, who led the new study, in a press release. Limaye points to models that suggest Venus could have sustained a habitable climate with liquid water on its surface for as long as 2 billion years. “That’s much longer than is believed to have occurred on Mars,” says Limaye.

Colleges Make It Easier for Older Students

Wall Street Journal

Similarly, in the University of Wisconsin’s Flexible Option program, “there are no courses, credit hours or semesters,” says Aaron Brower, provost and vice chancellor University of Wisconsin-Extension. Rather than enroll in courses worth a certain number of credit hours, students pass assessments showing mastery of key skills or competencies.

74 years later, a pilot who crashed in France returns home

AP

The effort to find Fazekas Sr. began in 2014, when University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers succeeded in returning the remains of another soldier to his family. That inspired them to reach out to Department of Defense officials the next year to propose a partnership to find the missing. It would become the university’s Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project.

Group of UW researchers spend all year in Antarctica

CH 58- Milwaukee

The two scientists arrived at the South Pole on November 1 and are part of a team of researchers from UW-Madison working at IceCube all year long. Associate Director of the program Albrecht Karle says the goal of IceCube is to, “Look for extremely energetic neutrinos which appear in energetic processes in the Universe.”

UW students to install solar panels in Puerto Rico

CBS 58

A group of at least 30 students from University of Wisconsin-Madison has started Solar Para Niños, a project to implement solar energy in Puerto Rico.The students plan to design and install a distributed solar system at Hogar Albergue para Niños Jesus de Nazaret, a nonprofit shelter for physically abused children located outside the city of Mayaguez.The shelter serves newborns to 11-year-olds, and currently hosts 14 children. “These are kids who have been taken from their homes who have had horrible home lives,” said Allie Stephens, a project manager from the university’s Engineers Without Borders chapter.

Faculty members at Wisconsin Stevens Point react to plan to cut 13 majors

Inside Higher Education

Many professors in Wisconsin saw their fears of a 2015 change to state tenure law realized last week. That’s when the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point announced its plan to cut 13 majors — including those in anchor humanities departments such as English and history and all three of the foreign languages offered — and, with them, faculty jobs. Tenured professors may well lose their positions.

A Secret Superpower, Right in Your Backyard

New York Times

As the verdant hills of Wakanda are secretly enriched with the fictional metal vibranium in “Black Panther,” your average backyard also has hidden superpowers: Its soil can absorb and store a significant amount of carbon from the air, unexpectedly making such green spaces an important asset in the battle against climate change.

After Michigan State sexual assault allegations, Wisconsin Athletics launches study of safety, security policies

Wisconsin State Journal

Could the sexual assault scandal that unfolded in Michigan State’s athletic department take place at the University of Wisconsin? It’s a fair question, said Walter Dickey, the Badgers’ special assistant to the athletic director. “We feel no,” Dickey said, “but we also feel a responsibility to our kids and our fans to assure them that we are managing these things in a responsible way.”

Gold for 4 former Wisconsin Badgers as U.S. beats Canada in shootout thriller in women’s hockey

Wisconsin State Journal

Captain Meghan Duggan, forward Brianna Decker and backup goaltender Alex Rigsby also were among the former Badgers players celebrating. On the other side, it was heartbreak for five former or current UW players with Canada: forwards Blayre Turnbull, Sarah Nurse and Emily Clark, defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson and backup goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens.

Legislative committee OKs pay hikes for state workers

Eau Claire Leader Telegram

Dorothy Farrar Edwards, a UW-Madison kinesiology professor who leads PROFS, a UW-Madison faculty organization, submitted written remarks to the committee calling the 4 percent increase a “much-needed boost” for UW-Madison employees but warned peer universities still pay professors and other university workers considerably more.

USA’s Granato Takes Anonymous Squad on Olympic Mission

New York Times

Granato joined the New York Rangers after the Calgary games and went on to a 13-year playing career with three NHL clubs. He turned to coaching in 2002 and worked as an assistant or head coach with three NHL teams until taking over in 2016 as head men’s hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin, where he had a standout collegiate playing career.

UW-Madison Program To Cover Four Years Of Tuition For Incoming Freshman Whose Family Income Is $56,000 Or Less

Wisconsin Public Radio

A University of Wisconsin-Madison program, Bucky’s Tuition Promise, will cover four years of tuition and segregated fees for incoming Wisconsin resident students whose families make $56,000 or less per year. We talk with the school’s director of Financial Aid to learn more.

The Gap Between The Science On Kids And Reading, And How It Is Taught

NPR

Seidenberg is a cognitive scientist and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his latest book, Language at the Speed of Sight, he points out that the “science of reading” can be a difficult concept for educators to grasp. He says it requires some basic understanding of brain research and the “mechanics” of reading, or what is often referred to as phonics.