The number of mosquitoes caught in traps in three different locations in the area is expected to surpass the record of 500 collected in 2016, according to Susan Paskewitz, a UW-Madison entomology professor.
The UniverCity Alliance project is starting its third year trying to connect local communities to the brainpower of UW Madison. We talk to the director of the program about what they’ve accomplished and what the project will look like in this next year.
Quoted: “I think both men and women are now more accepting and open about having cosmetic procedures. They’re not so secretive about it anymore,” said Dr. Ahmed Afifi of UW’s Transformations Clinic.
Noted: Radesky and co-author Megan Moreno of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison first recommend that parents step back and think about their relationship with their phone. Instead of using it as a stress reliever, take deep breaths and go for a walk. Instead of withdrawing into a phone to avoid difficult family interactions, purposefully engage with others and potentially confront issues. Instead of losing track of time, be aware of attention hogs and notice how much time has passed when checking e-mail or social media.
“If you’re a millennial, you came of age during this boom and bust,” said J. Michael Collins, faculty director of the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ”You saw firsthand that it’s harder to get a job, pay raises, buy a house. It’s just harder to be economically independent when you can’t change jobs or get the kind of income like previous generations could.”
Quoted: Weibo Cai, an associate professor in biomedical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was present at Mirkin’s presentation, says he didn’t think the heated discussion was a “big deal” and does not recall the name-calling, he writes to The Scientist in an email. “I think they probably have had the debate multiple times before,” he adds.
Quoted: Madison, home to the state’s flagship university, has seen the brunt of the flooding so far. The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s center that specializes in studying lakes is itself flooded. “This is what climate change looks like,” Adam Hinterthuer, the center’s spokesperson, wrote in a blog post. On Twitter, the center posted maps of recent floods alongside projections for the worst expected floods later this century. They matched remarkably well.For Eric Booth, a climate scientist at the university, the whole thing is almost too much to comprehend.
Quoted: “It’s empowering to be able to help other people,” says Catalina Toma, an associate professor of communication science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “You’re viewing yourself through other people’s eyes. If you’re the kind of person who helps others and have advice that people can benefit from… That can make people feel better about themselves.”
The University of Wisconsin-Madison last week sent out contact information for experts on issues related to the annual return to school, and the range of topics covered struck us as such a good checklist we thought we’d share it with you.
Quoted: The reason Minnesota imprisons fewer people, according to Kenneth Streit, a clinical professor of law emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is because Minnesota saw in the 1970s how its prison population was projected to increase.
Quoted: “by coining and investing in the Girl Effect, the Nike Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm, “gave it authority and made it catchy,” says Kathryn Moeller, an assistant professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who is writing a book about the Girl Effect.
The event focused largely on “news you can use” for Wisconsin farmers. Andrew Stammer, for example, director of the UW Soil and Forage Analysis Laboratory located at the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station, described soil-sampling protocols for farmers who apply fertilizer in strips along the crop row.
A nascent labor organization held a brief media event last week to draw attention to a proposal once considered far-fetched: a minimum wage of $15 an hour. (Three UW experts are quoted.)
University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist Robert Fettiplace this week will receive a gold medal from the king of Norway, a share of a $1 million science prize, and take his place in the running for a future Nobel Prize.
Noted: A new paper by Dean Corbae of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ross Levine of the University of California, Berkeley, presented at this year’s Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, suggests an elegant solution to this dilemma: Regulators should push banks to become more like partnerships. Putting senior employees and executives first in line to bear losses would reduce the damage from crises by tempering their willingness to take bets with skewed risk profiles. The problem is not competition itself, but the effect of competition when bankers are playing with other people’s money.
Noted: But a study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research shows this may not be the case. The paper by Justin Sydnor, an associate professor of risk and insurance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Chenyuan Liu, who is pursuing a doctorate the University of Wisconsin-Madison, finds that at companies offering both a HDHP and a low-deductible plan, selecting the HDHP typically saves more than $500 a year. “High-deductible plans often have much lower employee premiums,” Sydnor said.
Quoted: Emily Stanley, a professor at UW-Madison’s Center for Limnology, says the potential for flooding in the Madison area is nothing new. But she and other scientists warn that climate change could make severe storms — and, by extension, flooding — more common.
“What’s different is double-digit inches of rainfall in such a short period of time,” she says. “When you add the water really, really quickly, it’s like if you eat Thanksgiving dinner in five minutes. It doesn’t feel the same as it would if you ate it over the course of a few hours.”
Quoted: “If CNN did tell its readers and viewers that Davis did not comment when he was indeed one of their confidential sources, that breaks a bond of trust with the public,” said Kathleen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin. “It’s deceptive and wrong. And if it is the case, CNN needs to be as transparent as possible immediately and develop practices to ensure this never happens again.”
Noted: Story includes comments from Laura Dresser, associate director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Noah Williams, an economics professor, and Tim Smeeding, professor of public affairs and economics.
Interview with Hubbard, a researcher with UW’s Space Science and Engineering Center and expert in disaster response.
Quoted: Other research finds that hearing a word can help you see it thanks to a theory known as the feedback hypothesis. For instance, if you are looking for something, talking about it out loud could help you find it. “For tasks with a multi-step sequence, talking to yourself out loud can help you keep out distractions and remind yourself where you are,” said Gary Lupyan, a researcher and psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in the New York Times.
Quoted: So far, the most common complaint against the new rules is how broadly Facebook applies them. If you spend enough time on the ad archive, you’ll find news stories and even random events like a comedy show – but also, of course, the never-ending flood of political ads. University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Young Mie Kim studied divisive advertising in 2016. And she says Facebook’s new archive still does not address one common tactic – multiple groups coordinating to push the same agenda.
Quoted: Volker Radeloff, a forest ecologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is one of those voices. He was one of the scientists behind the 2018 study that measured growth of the WUI through a combination of census data and satellite images. He believes that certain fires are inevitable and thinks municipalities should prevent building on risky lots rather than just try to perform damage control afterwards.
Quoted: Self-driving cars already have LIDAR systems for direct imaging and could conceivably someday also be equipped with SPADs for seeing around corners. “In the near future these [laser-SPAD] sensors will be available in a format that could be handheld,” predicted Andreas Velten, the first author of Raskar’s seminal 2012 paper, who now runs an active-imaging group at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
The paper didn’t include healthier nursing home residents who are strong enough to undergo outpatient surgery, said Dr. Heather Neuman, a surgeon and associate professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. These women might fare better than those who are very ill.
Quoted: What does the economy have to do with violence? “For decades, we’ve seen poverty, unemployment, segregation and lack of economic opportunities strongly correlate with higher violent crime and murder rates,” says sociologist Emily A. Shrider, a research associate at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “Without economic options, for some people, desperate times call for desperate measures. You commit an armed robbery and maybe murder someone in the process.”
Quoted: “(Even) if we get a little bit more rain,” said University of Wisconsin assistant research scientist and hydrologist Eric Booth, “It’s still going to add to this massive water that is slowly moving through the system and creating more problems.”
Noted: UW associate professor and retail expert Hart Posen joined Wisconsin’s Morning News with his analysis. You can hear the full interview below.
In the paper, economists Dean Corbae, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Ross Levine, of the University of California at Berkeley, found that while intense competition among banks indeed spurs greater efficiency, it also tends to squeeze profit margins and encourage riskier investments.
Quoted: Jeff Smith, a University of Wisconsin professor who studies job programs, said a major quandary is that worthwhile training programs for the poor seldom yield stunningly positive results. “Work force development is very hard, and the results you see aren’t always great,” he said. “If these populations were easily employable, they would already have jobs.”
Quoted: According to Steve Vavrus, senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research, a combination of high humidity and a very slow-moving storm is what caused the huge amount of rainfall.
Quoted: Farmers will face a learning curve in figuring out how to take advantage of the insurance with the changing markets, said Brian Gould, professor of agribusiness at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Standing water could be a health threat in the wake of the flooding and rising water levels seen over the past week. Standing water in backyards, puddles, and along roads could be contaminated with chemicals such as fertilizers and even waste and debris, leading to the potential of bacteria and other viruses in the water, said UW Health infectious disease doctor Jeannina Smith.
Noted: Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, are guests on WHA radio (970 AM) at 11:45 a.m. the last Monday of each month.
Recent flooding and lake swelling may prove to be a watershed moment for University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Limnology.
Noted: Nationwide, the number of CSA farms fell from more than 12,000 in 2012 to about 7,000 in 2015, said Lydia Zepeda, a consumer science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Noted: Farmers will face a learning curve in figuring out how to take advantage of the insurance with the changing markets, said Brian Gould, professor of agribusiness at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: “There’s a lot people can do to benefit wildlife, even in a relatively small space,” said David Drake, UW-Extension wildlife specialist and UW-Madison professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. Drake will lead an “Urban Wildlife Workshop” on Sept. 15 at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee.
Quoted: “The highest state of branding is iconicity, and Harley’s an iconic brand,” said Thomas O’Guinn, a marketing professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is co-author of a highly cited 2001 research paper on communities that form around specific brands.
Noted: The financial situation of those borrowers, while it shapes marketing choices today, is also an outcome of policy decisions made years ago. Nick Hillman, an associate professor in the school of education at the University of Wisconsin Madison, said the game is a product of failed education policies. The appeal of the game should force people to think about the kinds of outcomes the U.S. higher ed financing system creates, Hillman said.
Noted: In the paper, economists Dean Corbae, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Ross Levine, of the University of California at Berkeley, found that while intense competition among banks indeed spurs greater efficiency, it also tends to squeeze profit margins and encourage riskier investments.
A research trial was initiated in fall 2017 at the UW-Arlington Agricultural Research Station. The research team assessed the impact of delayed grain harvest on the yield and test weight of soft red winter wheat.
Noted: A recent study authored by Dr. Noah Williams, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides a state-specific example of these consequences. Williams looked at the series of increases implemented in Minnesota starting in 2014, and compared the state to neighboring Wisconsin where the minimum wage was held constant.
Noted: That is a key sign that the party is positioned to do better in the fall, said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin and director of the Elections Research Center there.
Quoted: “A summer’s worth of rain in one day,” said Stephen Vavrus, a scientist at UW-Madison’s Center for Climatic Research. “We haven’t had anything like this in memory around here. Or even beyond.”
Quoted: If the company entered this market, “Google is going to hands down beat any other player just with the sheer number of advertisers that they already have,” said Paul Hoban, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s business school. “They already have the auction mechanism built up from the display ad framework.”
“It makes the physical work of a dairy farm more manageable by a family unit,” says Douglas Reinemann, professor of biological engineering systems at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
For parents of very young children, sending your little ones off to school for the first time can be scary. But there are things you can do to prepare, said Beth Graue, chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at UW-Madison, who has been teaching since 1990.
Quoted: “A summer’s worth of rain in one day,” said Stephen Vavrus, a scientist at UW-Madison’s Center for Climatic Research. “We haven’t had anything like this in memory around here. Or even beyond.”
Quoted: “When you find a needle in a haystack, you have to start wondering if what you’re really looking at is a needlestack,” John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote in an email. “This genome shows that hybrids were nowhere near as rare as people have been assuming. They must have been really common.”
What can Dane County do to better prepare for floods in the future? For that, W-O-R-T producer Nina Kravinsky spoke with UW Madison flood expert Shane Hubbard.
Noted: “Being a highly specialized athlete means that you can identify a primary sport, you train more than eight months/year for that sport, and you have quit other sports to focus on your primary sport or have only ever played your primary sport,” said study leader David Bell of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: “I think it’s a symptom of the legislative process becoming less participatory,” said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center. “We see more examples … of bills being sprung very quickly without members knowing they’re coming, without the public knowing, and hearings being announced very quickly without lots of notice.”
Noted: With a surplus of milk available and more competition on the global market, Wisconsin farmers no longer have the option to sell more milk in order to compensate for low prices. That’s part of the reason farmers are starting to look for other ways to protect their business, said Brian Gould, professor of agribusiness at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Some studies suggest that sleep primes synapses for greater activity during wakefulness. Chiara Cirelli, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the Wisconsin Institute for Sleep and Consciousness, who is one of the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis’s originators, said of the new paper, “It is strong evidence that sleep need is related to synaptic activity.”
Quoted: “I think it’s a symptom of the legislative process becoming less participatory,” said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center. “We see more examples . of bills being sprung very quickly without members knowing they’re coming, without the public knowing, and hearings being announced very quickly without lots of notice.”
Quoted: Holly Gibbs, a UW-Madison professor of environmental studies and geography, who teaches classes on agricultural sustainability, was impressed to learn about Cohan’s efforts.”What an exciting project and how amazing that such a young student is spearheading this type of innovation,” she said.
Quoted: The ad suggests Republicans are trying to redefine Evers’ “kind demeanor and strong policy background on education,” said Mike Wagner, a UW-Madison journalism professor who studies political messaging. “Many voters don’t know much about Evers and the ad serves to try and build negative imagery in voters’ minds when they think of Evers and his greatest strength: education.”
Quoted: “I think it’s a symptom of the legislative process becoming less participatory,” said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center. “We see more examples … of bills being sprung very quickly without members knowing they’re coming, without the public knowing, and hearings being announced very quickly without lots of notice.”
Nationwide, the number of CSA farms fell from more than 12,000 in 2012 to about 7,000 in 2015, said Lydia Zepeda, a consumer science professor at UW-Madison.
