“If you’re drinking one to two drinks (per day) because it’s good for you, it doesn’t necessarily increase the length of your life,” said Dr. Patrick Remington, an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison medical school. “There’s no evidence in this large, well-designed study of a life-extending benefit.”
Category: UW Experts in the News
Humans evolved flexible arches to walk upright
“We thought originally that the spring-like arch helped to lift the body into the next step,” study co-author and University of Wisconsin-Madison biomechanical engineer Lauren Welte said in a statement. “It turns out that instead, the spring-like arch recoils to help the ankle lift the body.”
Study shows horizontal diversification helped farms, processors survive COVID-19 – Brownfield Ag News
New research by the University of Wisconsin’s Andrew Stevens at the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics shows some forms of diversification were better than others in helping agribusinesses survive the market shocks caused by COVID 19.
Biden Accuser Tara Reade Leaves U.S. for ‘Safety’ of Russia
Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek via email that Reade’s appearance at the barely-watched press conference in Moscow “is likely a stunt pulled by entrepreneurial Russian PR managers.” It may also have been a matter of personal interest for Butina, he added.
As Wisconsin continues to lose dairy farms, a national dairy group hopes to make milk more profitable
Quoted: “A lot of things obviously have changed in 15 years, including a lot of cost increases particularly for things like labor and for utilities,” said Chuck Nicholson, an ag economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So it has become harder and harder to use that old value to accurately represent what it takes to transform a pound of farm milk into a certain amount of cheese.”
The politics and economics of the debt limit standoff
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers earlier this month that the federal government could default on its debt by June 1st. We examine the political options available for Republicans and Democrats, as well as the potential economic consequences of failing to increase the debt limit. Interview with Mark Copelovitch, a professor of political science and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Why Wisconsin has so many people incarcerated for crimes they committed as youth
Susan Paskewitz on the spread of Lyme disease in Wisconsin
UW-Madison medical entomologist Susan Paskewitz explains how black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks and transmit Lyme disease to humans, are increasingly found in more areas around the state.
Wisconsin researchers develop first hearing test for Hmong community
About four years ago, Maichou Lor was living in New York completing a postdoctoral fellowship, when family members back home in Wisconsin kept telling her that her dad’s hearing was getting worse.
“He wasn’t responding to conversations even though he had a hearing aid,” said Lor, now an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I brought him in to see his doctor through the ENT clinic here at UW-Health.”
Weather station expansion seeks to aid Wisconsin farmers
Noted: Thanks to more than $3 million in grant funding, the University of Wisconsin-Madison now plans to establish 90 sites to monitor weather and soil conditions throughout the state by fall of 2026. The state currently has 14 weather stations.
Chris Kucharik, a UW-Madison agronomy professor, is overseeing the university’s effort to build the new network. He recently joined Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Morning Show” to discuss how more weather and soil reports could be used and how researchers will decide where to build the new stations.
On campus, preparing for mass shootings is part of police training and student life
It’s eerily quiet in the vacant Biotron Laboratory building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. It’s been closed for two years, but various pieces of office equipment are still scattered throughout offices and what were once state-of-the-art, climate-controlled research labs sealed with thick metal doors. That silence is about to be shattered by the UW Police Department’s annual Active Killer Training.
DNA Suggests Modern Humans Emerged From Several Groups in Africa, Not One | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine
“All humans share relatively recent common ancestry, but the story in the deeper past is more complicated than our species evolving in just a single location or in isolation,” says lead author Aaron Ragsdale, a population geneticist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, to Reuters’ Will Dunham.
More Wisconsin communities are participating in Now Mow May. Does it actually work?
Noted: Do pollinators actually benefit from an unmowed lawn?
Sometimes. It depends on the lawn, say experts from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lawns with turfgrass don’t provide as many resources for pollinators compared with a yard containing an abundance of low growing flowering plants. Adding more flowering plants, shrubs and trees to your yard can increase benefits to pollinators.
With Climate Panel as a Beacon, Global Group Takes On Misinformation
Climate change is “hard science,” said Young Mie Kim, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who serves as vice chair of a committee focused on research methodology. “So, relatively speaking, it’s easier to develop some common concepts and tool kits,” Ms. Kim said. “It’s hard to do that in social science or humanities.”
How presidential ambitions shape state education policy
Barry Burden, a professor of political science and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said while both have “general skepticism about whether public universities are serving the state well,” Walker framed his attacks on higher education around the need to improve economic efficiency at state institutions. Walker was also less focused on “meddling in the day-to-day affairs of the university in the way that DeSantis is,” in terms of imposing sweeping change on public colleges.
Durham report spurs false claim about Schiff expulsion
Kenneth Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told USA TODAY the claim is “completely fabricated.”
Can chickens fly? Here are some interesting facts about the bird
The lifespan of a chicken varies. The average lifespan of a hen is between six and eight years, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During three to four of those years, the hens will produce eggs.
Russia Removes Nuclear Munitions From Belgorod Amid Conflict: Ukraine
Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, agrees with Sokov, and told Newsweek in an email that it’s “strange” Russia did not previously remove such munitions considering the facility’s proximity to the borde
What do fathers need to be successful?
Recent research from UW-Madison surveyed dozens of fathers and more than 30 community partners to learn what fathers in Wisconsin need. Interview with Margaret Kerr, an assistant professor of human development and Family Studies at UW-Madison.
Bank Runs Trash Long-Held Assumption on Deposits
“The current environment of declining deposits and runs on banks raises questions about whether most deposit amounts are sustainable, especially uninsured deposits, reducing deposit-franchise value,” said Tom Linsmeier, an accounting professor at the University of Wisconsin and a former Financial Accounting Standards Board member.
No Mow May: More Americans are letting their lawns go wild each spring. Join them!
As opposed to turf grass and its related weeds, “our native plants, which are adapted to drought, which are adapted to extreme weather events, they have the ability, with deep roots, to deal with deluges of water,” said Liz Anna Kozik, a University of Wisconsin–Madison Ph.D. student in environment and resources.
Possible Antidote to World’s Deadliest Mushroom Discovered
“It’s a spectacularly cool paper,” Anne Pringle, a mycologist who studies death caps at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and did not contribute to the findings, tells the New York Times’ Alla Katsnelson. “They do this amazing amount of work and end with this hypothesis that they’ve found an antidote.”
Radar captures a living cloud hovering over Ohio, photos show. ‘They’re baaaaaack’
Though midges are “astonishingly abundant,” and form “humming clouds” that annoy many across the upper Midwest — and other parts of the northern hemisphere — they are harmless, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Artificial intelligence could be the answer of moms’ mental overload
Research by Allison Daminger, an assistant professor of sociology at the UW-Madison, has found through extensive interviews with couples that men and women tend to share responsibility for research and decision-making, while women do more noticing (this will need doing soon) and monitoring (is anyone actually doing this?). And women tend to have more household responsibilities overall. As a result, women do more cognitive labor.
Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds Marsy’s law constitutional amendment for crime victims
Quoted: “As long as (the ballot language) doesn’t say the opposite of what the amendment accomplishes, then it’s sufficient under this standard,” said Dustin Brown, an attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School. “This decision gives the Legislature very broad authority to present constitutional amendments to the people, and it very much limits the degree of oversight that courts can exercise over that process.”
Understanding immigration after Title 42
Following the end of the pandemic-era Title 42 border policy, the number of migrants trying to enter the United States illegally have dropped by roughly half. We examine the new immigration policies and enforcement in Mexico and the United States and how that is affecting migration patterns. Interview with Erin Barbato, director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Survey: Value of Wisconsin farmland continues to climb in 2023
A report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension found the average price of agricultural land sold in the state last year was $5,551 per acre. That’s 11 percent higher than in 2021 and nearly 24 percent higher than in 2020.
Heather Schlesser, the Extension agriculture educator who prepared the report, said the sustained increases trace back to the cash farmers received from federal COVID-19 assistance programs. She said at the same time, many farmers decided it was the right time to sell land.
“It’s all about give and take, supply and demand,” she said. “There’s not a lot of ag land out there. So if there’s more money out there and there’s less land, the farmers that are selling are going to want more for it. So I think that started driving it.”
Insect update: Return of the spongy moth and No Mow May
Spongy moths are returning in full force this year. An entomologist tells us why. Plus, we learn how much No Mow May is actually helping our pollinators. Interview with Patrick (PJ) Liesch, manager of the UW-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab.
Activities to Help Fight Depression and Improve Your Mood
“The idea is that just like physical exercise builds muscle, we can build our mental muscles to become more aware and calm in the faces of challenges and stress,” explains Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry and founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In Search of an Antidote for Poisonous Mushrooms
“It’s a spectacularly cool paper,” said Anne Pringle, a mycologist and geneticist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who has studied death caps for 20 years. “They do this amazing amount of work and end with this hypothesis that they’ve found an antidote.”
Madison ranks 5th lowest in women’s business ownership, study finds
The new findings come as no surprise to Tessa Conroy, an assistant professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who studies economic development and has written about this gender gap.
“Wisconsin tends to rank relatively low on several measures of business ownership and entrepreneurship,” including overall business ownership and business ownership among people of color, Conroy said in an email.
Why Madison rents are rising so fast and won’t slow down
The resulting rent increases are economics 101, said Kurt Paulsen, a professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When demand exceeds supply, prices go up.
“It’s a story of too many people chasing too few units,” he said. “And like any region, we face a real choice: Either we build lots of housing where people want to live, or we don’t build a lot of housing.”
Cityscapes Create Cloud Cover, Satellite Images Reveal
The detailed nighttime cloud trends are significant and striking, said Aaron Alexander, a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison studying water resource engineering in urban landscapes who was not involved in the research. Measurements of turbulence are difficult to collect at night, when the winds are calm and temperatures are cool, using physical monitoring devices, Alexander said.
Does Therapy Really Work? Let’s Unpack That.
“I think the evidence is fairly clear that psychotherapy is remarkably effective,” says Bruce Wampold, a prominent researcher in the field who is an emeritus professor of counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
NASA Image Shows Powerful Cyclone That Injured 700 People
“The science on how hurricanes will change in the future is fairly complex and not entirely settled, but a few things are generally accepted: 1) there might not be more hurricanes overall, but those that do form will tend to be more intense both in terms of the strength of their winds and the amount of rainfall that they produce; 2) because of this intensification and also due to some potential changes in the directions that storms tend to move, it is probable that there will be more Category 4 and 5 storms hitting the U.S.,” Daniel B. Wright, a civil and environmental engineer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Hydroclimate Extremes Research Group, told Newsweek in November.
Is AI the Answer to Moms’ Mental Overload?
Research by Allison Daminger, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has found through extensive interviews with couples that men and women tend to share responsibility for research and decision-making, while women do more noticing (this will need doing soon) and monitoring (is anyone actually doing this?). And women tend to have more household responsibilities overall. As a result, women do more cognitive labor.
Madison preparing for big leap in air quality monitoring
“This would make Madison the most monitored community in Wisconsin with regard to particulate matter,” said Tim Bertram, a professor of chemistry at UW-Madison and a member of the project’s leadership team.
Opposition wins big in Thailand election after years of military rule
Tyrell Haberkorn, a University of Wisconsin Thai studies scholar, said there is a chance street protests could be trigged again if Move Forward meets the same fate as its predecessor.
Covid Public Health Emergency ends: What is free and what will you pay for now
“During the pandemic almost everything Covid related, whether it was vaccines or testing or treatment was all covered by the government. Basically, it was all subsidized that starts to go away. Now, what’s covered depends on who your insurer is, or if you have insurance,” said Dr. Jeff Pothof, chief quality officer at UW Health.
‘You’ll always be a mother’: Navigating Mother’s Day after loss
UW Health psychologist Dr. Shilagh Mirgain said Mother’s Day can be an emotional trigger for many.
“Almost in anyone’s life, there are going to be years where Mother’s Day is really challenging,” Mirgain said.
UW Health expert gives advice on how to cope with a challenging Mother’s Day
Shilagh Mirgain, a health psychologist for UW Health, says reframing how you view the day may help you still enjoy it and work through those hard feelings.
“Reframing the focus of this holiday can be an effective way to celebrate all the positive attributes of motherhood you may not have experienced yourself as a child or missed out on as an adult,” she said.
Understanding the Writers Guild of America strike and its impact
We talk with Michael Childers, a professor in the UW-Madison School for Workers and Department of Labor Education, and an entertainment reporter about the latest in the second week of a massive Hollywood writers strike.
Over 30 million birds will land in Wisconsin beginning Friday; here’s what to know
Bird expert and University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Stanley Temple said most of the birds that will make Wisconsin home on Friday were in Missouri or Arkansas on Thursday afternoon.
“There are so many factors that go into predicting where they will land, like wind and route, but it’s very likely they will be in Wisconsin by Friday morning,” Temple said.
Buildings continue to rise in Milwaukee while its finances dry up. What explains a tale of 2 cities?
The potential Milwaukee and Milwaukee County sales taxes that could be implemented under the Assembly bill would not be without consequences, said Andrew Reschovsky, professor emeritus of public affairs and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“You don’t pay attention if you have plenty of money,” he said of the increased prices that come with a sales tax. “But if you’re having trouble getting through the month, those extra pennies can make a big difference.”
Money available for nonprofits to address maternal and infant health disparities
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health has money to give away. Now it needs applicants.
The school is inviting nonprofit health organizations to apply for grants “to provide better care and address root causes of maternal and infant health disparities.” Awards will be made for a maximum of $1.15 million for up to two years. Applicants must propose working with community partners.
Teens should be trained before entering the world of social media, APA says
“So many of the issues that are happening right now, this generation of teens really thinks about how it’s going to impact them,” said Dr. Megan Moreno, a pediatrician at UW Health, and the co-director of the American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence for Social Media and Mental Health.
A better whey? Researcher wants to convert cheese byproduct into eco-friendly plastic
John Lucey, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Dairy Research, wants to turn whey into the chemicals used to make plastics, adhesives and other consumer products that are currently being derived from petroleum. Just like our reliance on oil and gas, Lucey said the chemical building blocks made in oil refineries are holding us back from a greener future.
“We’ve got to replace those too unless we want to keep using fossil fuels,” he said. “These basic chemistry kinds of things, the stuff you would have learned in organic chemistry like butanol — we want to make those kinds of compounds because they can feed into the existing industry.”
Four things to know about some of the most overlooked educators in Wisconsin: child care workers
Family child care providers make an average of $7.46 an hour, while center-based teachers make an average of $12.99. Both make less than the average Wisconsinite with a high school diploma, according to research by Alejandra Ros Pilarz, an assistant professor at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She found poor wages and lack of career advancement opportunities are top reasons why 18% of family child care providers and 28% of ECE teachers plan to leave the field within a few years.
As COVID-19 emergency ends, changes will be far-reaching — and nearly invisible
“Certainly fewer people are dying than were dying in the beginning of the pandemic, but we’re still losing over 200 Americans a day,” says Prof. Tiffany Green, a health economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“I hope the average person in Wisconsin doesn’t see the ending of the emergency declaration as the ending of the pandemic,” says Prof. Ajay Sethi, a UW-Madison epidemiologist.
The spring allergy season is upon us. What steps can you take?
Dr. Mark Moss, an allergist at UW-Madison’s School of Medicine is the station master of the university’s pollen counting site, which is part of a nationwide network of such stations. He’s been the station master for 13 years, and the university has pollen counts going back into the 1990s.
“Over the past two decades, there has been two clear changes: the beginning of the season in the spring starts earlier and the end of the season in the fall goes later,” Moss said.
Political rifts end friendships, spark safety fears in Wisconsin, but civics can be healed
Guest column authored by Nathan Kalmoe, executive cirector of the Center for Communication and Civic Renewal, Michael W. Wagner, professor of Journalism and Mass Communication and faculty director of the Center for Communication and Civic Renewal, and Dhavan Shah, Maier-Bascom professor and research director of the Center for Communication and Civic Renewal, all of UW-Madison.
How Putin’s Victory Parade Speech Changed Drastically From Last Year
Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek that Putin’s Victory Day speech last year “did not meet the expectations” of pro-Ukraine War supporters who desired an immediate escalation, mobilization of civilians, and a rhetorical shift to an all-out “war” from a “special military operation.”
Emergence: What is it and how could it help solve consciousness?
“Ultimately, we want to explain under which circumstances we will see novel properties,” says Larissa Albantakis, a computational neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
As Covid Emergency Ends, Surveillance Shifts to the Sewers
“Wastewater has to get better,” said David O’Connor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “And we have to get a bit more savvy about interpreting what the wastewater data is telling us
COVID emergency not over for travelers with disabilities. Here’s why.
“This puts a lot of lower-income people at a greater disadvantage,” said Amy Gaeta, a disability rights activist and postdoctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies disability and technology and has nerve damage in one leg as well as invisible disabilities. “This is especially concerning given that so many disabled people are low-income, especially if they’re on disability welfare benefits.”
State lawmakers proposed solutions to the state’s housing crisis. Here’s what to know
These changes would cut back on delays and roadblocks that drive up prices, said Kurt Paulsen, professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Housing dies a death of a thousand cuts because every change, every delay, just adds costs,” Paulsen said.
UW-Madison can’t punish student for racist video, expert says
While students of color say the video has made them feel unsafe, campus administrators have repeatedly said the law binds them in disciplining or punishing the student. That’s true, said political science Professor Howard Schweber, an expert in constitutional law.
“The mere fact that expression is hateful, or deeply offensive, or deeply disturbing does not make it unprotected by the First Amendment,” he said. “I think the university got this one right.”
Garden Talk: Caring for native gardens in the spring
The time between spring and summer weather seems to be lessening. We talk with Susan Carpenter, a native garden specialist from the UW Arboretum, about how climate change is affecting native gardens.
UW-Madison student racist rant video goes viral, expert weighs in on what makes hate speech protected or punishable
Howard Schweber, political professor at the university, said legally, there’s not much action the school can take.
“This is not a matter of the university choosing not to take disciplinary action – they simply cannot, without running afoul with the First Amendment,” said Schweber.
Miriam Seifter on a lawsuit over Wisconsin’s abortion ban
University of Wisconsin Law School Professor Miriam Seifter explains legal arguments over the state’s 1849 law and later statutes related to abortion as hearings begin in a high-profile court case.