A popular late-night swimming spot in Lake Mendota near Memorial Union could pose a health risk due to blue-green algae, which appears to have sickened one person after an early morning swim last week, the Madison-Dane County Health Department said Tuesday.
Kirsti Sorsa, environmental technical services supervisor for the department, said the possible presence of the algae in a location frequented by nighttime swimmers “certainly could be ” a potentially serious situation.
Quoted: Phil Pellitteri, a University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist.
Our governors are primarily interested in big businesses because it is far easier to collect taxes from them than from small and medium-size firms. The problem is that this has become the deciding factor for governors when they determine which enterprises to support in their region’s development.
This is not just theory. In his soon-to-be-published book, “Representation through Taxation,” Scott Gehlbach, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, gives a detailed analysis of this phenomenon in the Pskov region during the late 1990s. Rather than channeling resources into sectors in which the region enjoys a relative advantage, such as tourism and transportation, the Pskov governor focused on alcohol production. Gehlbach writes that this was not simply because of the steady demand for alcohol, but because it is easier to collect taxes from this sector.
Quoted: James Stein, a cardiologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Quoted: Steven C. Slater, the scientific program manager for the Great Lakes Bio-Energy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: Dean A. Kowalski, a professor at the University of Wisconsin and author of the book â??The Philosophy of the X-Files.â?
Quoted: Douglas Harris, an economist at the University of Wisconsin, found that when more than half the students were low-income, only 1.1 percent of schools consistently performed at a â??highâ? level (defined as two years of scores in the top third of the U.S. Department of Educationâ??s national achievement database in two grades and in two subjects: English and math). By contrast, 24.2 percent of schools that are majority middle-class met Harrisâ??s standard.
Quoted: Stephen Malpezzi, a professor of real estate and urban land economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mentions projections by University of Wisconsin Extension professors Edward V. Jesse and Steve Deller.
Quoted: UW-Madison professor of wildlife ecology Timothy Van Deelen.
Quoted: John Ralph at the University of Wisconsin in Madison thinks the work is exciting. He points out that there have been previous attempts to convert lignin into liquid fuels. “That said, the yields of monomers [in the new reaction] are striking,” he says.
Quoted: Dr. F. Javier Nieto of the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and director of SHOW.
Quoted: Calvin DeWitt, professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin.
Quoted: Dr. Richard Brown of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Susan Crowley, prevention services director of the Pace Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which works to reduce high-risk drinking and targets policy issues relating to alcohol.
Quoted: Dr. Georgiana Wilton, an associate scientist at the University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine in Madison.
Northern Wisconsin may see some tree species fade with global warming, while southern species may be slow to fill the gap. That according to UW-Madison professor of forest ecology David Mladenoff, who says species like Blasam Fir, Spruce, and Jack Pine are likely to decline as the climate warms.
The financial impacts of invasive species in the Great Lakes region could be felt for years to come.
A study from the University of Notre Dame and University of Wyoming estimates invasive species will cost Great Lakes states $200 million a year. Dr. Phil Moy with the UW Sea Grant Institute says those numbers may be a little conservative. He says officials in Wisconsin have come up with numbers close to that just for the effects of zebra mussels on water intake pipes.
Quoted: Dr. Justin Sattin, a neurologist at UW Hospital who specializes in strokes.
Q. Which saves more gas: driving with the windows closed and the air-conditioning on, or AC off and windows open?
A. That depends on conditions.
“Today’s cars are designed to be very aerodynamic,” said Glenn Bower, a senior scientist at the Engine Research Center at UW-Madison. “They ‘cut’ through the air at moderate speeds. At lower speed, stopping and starting dominate the vehicle’s energy consumption, while at highway speed (45 to 65 mph), most of the power is lost to the air we drive through.”
Quoted: Dr. Justin Sattin, a neurologist at UW Hospital who specializes in strokes.
Quoted: Ellen Zweibel, an astrophysicist at the University of Wisconsinâ??Madison.
A gathering of more than 100 concerned citizens adamantly voiced their opposition to military action in Iran at a town hall meeting Tuesday.
Concerned that the Bush administration is actively pursuing plans to take military action in Iran, members of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Madison Area Peace Coalition, and several other groups put together a panel of five local experts on U.S. policy on Iran with the goal of educating the audience and organizing a proactive, vocal anti-war group.
Quoted: Joe Elder, a UW-Madison sociology professor born in Iran, and Majid Sarmadi, a UW human ecology professor.
Five weeks after Madison resident Joel Marino’s death, the man who would be charged with his murder had become so volatile, his demeanor so out of character and worrisome to friends and family, that local authorities were called to check on him.
What transpired immediately following that call on Friday, March 7, put 20-year-old Adam Peterson face to face with law enforcement and mental health professionals in a local hospital through much of the following week. His stay was prompted by a psychological evaluation that determined further attention was necessary.
Quoted: UW-Madison professor of psychiatry Ronald Diamond, medical director of the Mental Health Center of Dane County.
Quoted: Bill Wendorff, dairy professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and cheddar judge for the American Cheese Society.
In two years, NASA plans to begin the new space program that will send human astronauts to Mars. It won’t be easy, and technical issues aren’t the only challenges. The US Congress and President George W. Bush want NASA to begin work on the new Constellation Program now.
Yet NASA cannot expand its 18,000-member workforce, and its employees cannot devote their full attention to Constellation until the final shuttle mission is complete in 2010.
It’s a conundrum for NASA administrator Michael Griffin, and for advice he has turned to the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) and its human capital committee. Gerald Kulcinski, University of Wisconsin-Madison associate dean for research and Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering, is chair of the committee.
Rising temperatures and increased dehydration linked to global warming will boost kidney stone rates in the United States and around the world, new research suggests.
Kristina Penniston, a registered dietician and associate scientist in the department of urology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, called the new research “illuminating and provocative.”
Some people â??smellâ? better to female mosquitoes than others.
If youâ??ve hiked the Rocky Mountains with a group in early July â?? and particularly in July 2008 â?? youâ??ve probably noticed this phenomenon. The mosquitoes seem to be singling out one or two people in your group.
Susan Paskewitz, a professor of entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says itâ??s no rural myth.
Quoted: Jerry Kaufman, professor emeritus of urban and regional planning at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Quoted: Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist.
Quoted: Promotional prices can vary widely, but in two or three years they’ll even out, said Barry Orton, professor of telecommunications at the University of WIsconsin-Madison.
It was just after he moved to Madison in 2005 that Jordan Ellenberg signed on as a script consultant with the television show “Numb3rs,” which airs Fridays on CBS.
Ellenberg, 36, who is an energetic and engaging associate professor of mathematics at UW-Madison, likes “Numb3rs” because the hero is an energetic and engaging math professor who helps his cop brother solve crimes.
Quoted: Michael Scott, a University of Wisconsin law professor who co-authored a 1992 book on police shootings, said the “vast majority” of officers never fire their weapon in their career.
Q: Someone told me you should be sure to eat enough salt when you’re visiting a hot climate. Is this true?
A: “True enough, but most people consume more than enough salt (sodium chloride) in a normal diet, and hence do not need supplementation,” said Dr. Richard Reich, a clinical associate professor and infectious disease specialist at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
Quoted: James Stein, a CIMT expert at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Column by Robert Booth Fowler, emeritus political science professor.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said the crush of Democratic candidates reflect anti-Republican sentiment and the number of open seats.
JANESVILLE â?? It’s not easy being a small animal veterinarian.
A sweet kitty can become a hissing, screaming furball requiring two leather-gloved doctors to give it a vaccination.
But what if the patient is 10 times the size of the doctor with four hooves and a dirty tail made for clubbing?
The number of graduates entering the large animal and general practice veterinarian fields in Wisconsin has declined, said Dr. Nigel Cook, head of the Food Animal Production Medicine group at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.
Quoted: Laura Dresser, a labor economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Isthmus, a Madison weekly newspaper, is considering layoffs to cut costs in the wake of the advertising-draining technological revolution that is shaking the news industry.
“We are making plans that may involve layoffs. Nothing is decided,” Isthmus Publisher Vince O’Hern said Monday. “It may involve some people taking leaves, and some people not being on staff anymore.”
Quoted: Professor James Baughman, director of the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Beets have been a hot topic on the Well blog this week as readers debate the merits of this improbable superfood.
Beets are loaded with nutrients and phytochemicals. Some readers love them, while others have said â??yuck.’â?? I confess that I have never cooked, shredded or otherwise prepared a beet in my home, but I now wonder if Iâ??m missing out. I asked one of the countryâ??s leading experts in beets, Irwin L. Goldman, professor of horticulture at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, why beets get no respect.
Quoted: UW Foundation President Sandy Wilcox, who keeps a model of the Swift boat he skippered on the credenza in his office in Wisconsin.
Quoted: Dr. Frank Greer of the University of Wisconsin, co-author of the guidelines report, which appears in the July edition of Pediatrics, the group’s medical journal.
For a talk he gave this week to a group of high-achieving high school students on the UW-Madison campus, Kevin Strang showed up dressed more casually than his audience members – running shoes, blue jeans and a polo shirt.
This is the way he likes it. “The Man wears a suit and tie, right?” he said.
Q. Why is it that gasoline (and many other fuels, I think) are priced with a dollar and cents amount, plus 9/10ths of a cent. I know this practice has been around almost forever, but when and why did it start? Who do they think they are fooling?
A. The reason those who tax use the .9 pricing is the same reason those who sell do: So it looks like a better deal, says Tom O’Guinn, executive director of the Center for Brand and Product Management.
Quoted: Phil Pellitteri, an entomologist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: Paul Moberg, a senior scientist at the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Moberg co-authored a 2007 study on Wisconsinâ??s alcohol- and drug-use patterns.
Quoted: UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin.
Quoted: Tim Van Deelen, a former DNR researcher currently an assistant professor of wildlife ecology at UW-Madison.
To a mosquito, exercise makes you far more appealing than a couch potato.
According to Susan Paskewitz, a University of Wisconsin-Madison entomology professor, mosquitoes bite the people who are easiest to find.
Carbon dioxide and lactic acid are released whenever we breathe or sweat, but the emission rates vary by person. Larger people and pregnant woman, for example, have higher levels and are more likely targets. According to Susan Peskewitz, a mosquito researcher and entomology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the scents of these compounds coupled with body heat are the biggest attractors.
Researchers Kristen Harrison of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Joanne Cantor, from University of Wisconsin, Madison, looked at the long-term effects of getting scared from a horror film or television show. They interviewed 150 college students and found that 26% had residual anxiety. Their research also showed that the images which produced the most anxiety were those that involved blood, injections or injury. Disturbing sounds were the second highest.
Cites research by Philipp Simon, food science, UW-Madison.
Quoted: Steve Melli of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professor Bassam Shakhashiri.
Column by Shawn Francis Peters, UW instructor and author of “When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children, and the Law.”
A UW-Madison scientist has discovered an edible antifreeze that can keep ice crystals from forming inside ice cream containers, a real turnoff to late night snackers who just want their fix of Rocky Road without digging through a layer of frost.
Quoted: Shanan Peters, an assistant geology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mentions a key study by University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Sara McLanahan and Julia Adams, conducted some 20 years ago, found that parenthood was perceived as significantly more stressful in the 1970s than in the 1950s; the researchers attribute part of that change to major shifts in employment patterns.
Every week thousands of academic articles heralding discoveries in medicine and science are vetted and validated before being published in no-nonsense journals with names such as “Acta Crystallographica,” “Methods in Enzymology,” or “Macromolecules”.
Like works of art, these building blocks of human knowledge vary in quality and importance. Some are trivial, or just plain wrong.
But a few will usher in major change in our lives or a seismic shift in perspective, whether the possibility of growing a new heart or liver from a tiny patch of skin, or a unified theory of the cosmos. Among those quoted: Shanan Peters, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
