“We’ve been thinking a lot lately about this strain because of its potential to be a zoonotic disease” spread from animals to people, Adel Talaat, a microbiology researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told The Daily Beast. Talaat has been working on vaccine development for avian influenza that one day could be given to poultry.
Tag: featured
When it comes to smog, Cook County in Illinois is the worst neighbor in the country, EPA finds
“The good news is the air is getting cleaner,” said Tracey Holloway, an air quality researcher at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “But the bad news is researchers are finding there are health effects at lower levels of exposure.”
Bioacoustics is revolutionizing conservation
One of the biologists researching this issue was Zach Peery, from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Peery had been tracking the spotted owl’s decline since 2001, and he knew that a team in the state of Washington had been experimenting with ARUs to help identify northern spotted and barred owls there.
Forthcoming genetic therapies raise serious ethical questions, experts warn
Despite the advances, Professor Alta Charo, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, suspects most people will stick with having babies the old-fashioned way. “The biggest risk I see at the moment is that discussion around germline editing will continue to present such dystopian visions as realistic,” she said.
A prolific fundraiser, Rebecca Blank reshaped UW-Madison research, finances
Rebecca Blank’s influence can be seen in some unexpected places.
It’s embedded in a nationwide breast cancer database that examined how long patients could delay surgical treatments at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s noticeable in research endeavors she helped make possible. It’s found, subtly, in portraits hanging at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
Memorial service for former UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank honors her life’s work
University and government officials and community members celebrated former UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s life Saturday in just the way she planned — a sea of Wisconsin Red, German chocolate cake and plenty of Diet Coke.
A Supreme Court justice’s paragraph could mean weaker protections for voters of color
But the judge cited Gorsuch’s one-paragraph opinion and decided the case had to be thrown out. That’s because, the judge said, the Voting Rights Act does not explicitly say private groups can bring Section 2 lawsuits. Dan Tokaji, dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School, says that literal interpretation of the law doesn’t make sense.
More Doctors Can Now Prescribe Buprenorphine to Opioid Users. Will It Help?
Dr. Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, an addiction physician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has trained doctors in prescribing buprenorphine, said there were “so many health shortage concerns in rural areas” that it would be hard for health providers to meet demand, “because there aren’t enough clinicians.”
Putin One Skirmish Away From Reaching 150,000 Battlefield Losses: Ukraine
Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek that it’s difficult for one military faction to calculate its own losses—let alone tally that of an adversary.
What is red light therapy? Benefits, uses and more
“In terms of red light therapy for facial rejuvenation, we don’t really have many human studies to look at,” said Dr. Apple Bodemer, a board-certified dermatologist and associate professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “most experts say that they don’t know yet if red light therapy is effective for all its claimed uses. Most say that the studies so far show some potential,” but ultimately, more studies are needed to prove its efficacy.
What Ivanka’s Testimony May Reveal to Trump Special Counsel
Ion Meyn, an assistant professor of law at the University of Wisconsin, said that the prosecution is also likely to ask Ivanka about other key players, which could be used to impeach those who denied being a part of certain conversations that day.
Mike Lindell’s ‘No Merit’ Lawsuit Over Jan. 6 Tapes Is Doomed to Fail
Ion Meyn, an assistant professor of law at the University of Wisconsin, also told Newsweek on Friday that Lindell, as a network owner, is “not part of a protected class under the equal protection clause.”
Democracy has a customer-service problem
Think income inequality, an extortionate health-care system, and rural decay. Think, too, about the senses many people have that the sources of power—both public and private—are far away and unresponsive, and that when something goes wrong, they’re on their own. Katherine Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, has argued that this anger breeds a “politics of resentment.”
Voting Rights Act’s private right of action is in danger
“I think it’s an open question only in the sense that no court has ever felt compelled to expressly say that people whose voting rights have been violated can sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because everyone — and I do mean everyone — understood that that’s what Congress meant,” says Dan Tokaji, dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School, who has written about private individuals suing for violations of federal election laws.
Carla Vigue gives back to Native community as UW tribal relations director
Growing up on the Oneida Indian Reservation, just outside of Green Bay, Carla Vigue fondly remembers the close relationships she formed with the tribe’s leadership.
Camel antibodies could help pioneer future medicine
Every four months, pathologist Aaron LeBeau scoops into a net one of the five nurse sharks he keeps in his University of Wisconsin lab. Then he carefully administers a shot to the animal, much like a pediatrician giving a kid a vaccine. The shot will immunize the shark against a human cancer, perhaps, or an infectious disease, such as Covid-19. A couple of weeks later, after the animal’s immune system has had time to react, LeBeau collects a small vial of shark blood.
Inflammation of the body may explain depression in the brain
“Activation of these inflammatory pathways in the body and brain is one of the ways through which depressive symptoms can be produced,” said Charles Raison, a professor of human psychology, human ecology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Covid-19 pandemic: Celebrities may have helped shape anti-vaccine opinions, study finds
The study doesn’t get into exactly why celebrity tweets would have such an impact on people’s attitudes about the vaccine. Dr. Ellen Selkie, who has conducted research on influence at the intersection of social media, celebrity and public health outcomes, said celebrities are influential because they attract a lot of attention.
Slamming the Door on Scholarship
“It’s a significant rupture,” said Theodore P. Gerber, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and director of its Wisconsin Russia Project. “It seems like there’s not going to be a happy ending any time soon.”
Sexual attacks against teen girls increased in 2021, CDC report found
“We really don’t have that robust evidence-based, supportive, trauma-informed education at scale in the United States. And at this particular time in history, it is especially needed given what we’re seeing,” said LB Klein, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Such a curriculum would be included in what’s known as comprehensive sex education.
Wagner’s Ammo Problem Could Cost Them Bakhmut Amid Massive Losses
The contention of Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is that Prigozhin is “going all in now” due to the number of mercenaries within his group being “decimated” in cities like Bakhmut and otherwise.
In New York, 2 Teens’ Deaths Underscore Dangers of ‘Subway Surfing’
In an increasingly digital world, the blurring of lines between screen and reality can normalize risky behavior, said Dr. Megan Moreno, interim chair of the department of pediatrics and principal investigator of the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team at the University of Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin’s supreme court race, a super-rich beer family calls the shots
“It’s escalating rapidly,” said Barry Burden, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin – Madison. “If $15m, $20m, $25m is spent on this race it’s more than you see in governor’s races in some states.”
Wisconsin Supreme Court race holds high stakes for abortion, redistricting and 2024
“This seat is crucial to the balance of the court, and the court is crucial to the balance of the state,” said Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of its Elections Research Center.
How to let go of a grudge
Grudges exist on a spectrum, says Robert Enright, a professor in the department of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin Madison and a founding board member of the International Forgiveness Institute. Some grievances don’t impact your daily life, but you remember them nonetheless. These surface-level grudges are easier to relinquish, Enright says. Others take root in the soul and can grow into hatred.
Mother Nature Has the Best Climate-Fixing Technology
Gregory Nemet, a co-author of the “State of Carbon Dioxide Removal” report and a public policy professor at University of Wisconsin at Madison, told me that pretty much all successful CO2 removal to date has come from natural climate solutions like protecting forests, planting trees and better managing soils. So I asked him, “Why not invest heavily in that?” To my mind, supporting and expanding the extraordinary potential of natural ecosystems to perform carbon removal is what investors and policymakers should be focusing on — not fantastical machines.
The EPA is updating the social cost of carbon to better fight climate change
I called up a philosopher to help me make sense of this. His name is Paul Kelleher. He’s a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin.
Invasive Rusty Crayfish Appear to Be Dying Off and It’s Not Clear Why
“It can be tough to get an actual population estimate because there’s so many rusty crayfish in a lake,” lead study author Danny Szydlowski, a Ph.D. researcher at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Limnology, told Newsweek.
Ex-‘Shark Tank’ guest star Matt Higgins: Ditch backup plans to succeed
In a 2016 Wharton and University of Wisconsin-Madison study, two groups of research participants were given the same assignment and the same plan for completing it. One group had a backup plan. That group performed worse, and lost motivation to see their initial goal through.
If ChatGPT Can Replace What We Teach, We Should Teach Something Else
If AI that doesn’t really understand medicine (or much of anything else) can pass the test for being a doctor, then we need to change what we teach doctors—and everyone else. – David Williamson Shaffer is the Sears Bascom Professor of Learning Analytics and the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Data Philosopher at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
Animals with love lives more complicated than yours
Male Neopyrochroa flabellata beetles are attracted to a chemical called cantharidin. “Males eat the stuff like candy,” said Dan Young, a professor of entomology at the University of Wisconsin Madison. “They then sequester it away in their bodies, and they then transfer it to females when they copulate.”
It’s Time We Talked About Our Bambi Problem
In the forests of Wisconsin and Michigan, research suggests, expanding whitetail populations are responsible for at least 40 percent of the change observed in forest structure. “It’s rare in ecology to find one factor that accounts for so much change,” says Donald Waller, a retired professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who has studied white-tailed deer for over 20 years.
‘Stakes are monstrous’: Wisconsin judicial race is 2023’s key election
“The stakes are monstrous,” said Barry Burden, the director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. “There’s a confluence of factors that have come together, intentionally or not to make this a terribly important race for the future of the state.”
Childbirth Is Deadlier for Black Families Even When They’re Rich, Expansive Study Finds
“It’s not race, it’s racism,” said Tiffany L. Green, an economist focused on public health and obstetrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The data are quite clear that this isn’t about biology. This is about the environments where we live, where we work, where we play, where we sleep.”
In dire need of more space, UW-Madison Engineering gets System’s top priority
UW-Madison will aggressively seek a new College of Engineering building as its top priority in the upcoming state budget cycle as growth stagnates and faculty compete with one another for coveted and increasingly limited lab space.
UW-Madison expands tuition promise for low-income students to cover room, board and other college costs
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is expanding its tuition promise program to cover not only tuition for some low-income students, but nearly all other college costs that can derail progress toward a degree, such as room and board.
FTC cracking down on wellness industry marketing
“It’s very much tapping into our insecurities that we are not well enough. And it taps into our hope that we could be better,” said Christine Whelan, a professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Why Ben & Jerry’s is chunky, and Häagen-Dazs is smooth : Planet Money
SMITH: That economist I met at that big conference, the person who first noticed something amiss in the freezer section, is named Christopher Sullivan. He’s a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
How Moore v. Harper at the Supreme Court could become moot
And the flip-flopping in state court rulings that could come out of the North Carolina Supreme Court’s rehearing for this case could become more common in other parts of the country, explains Robert Yablon, an associate professor of law who helps lead the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative.
Immunocompromised worry they’re getting left behind again
“With no mitigating measures in place and now no #Evusheld, immunocompromised patients are at even higher risk. Better meds must arise to make this world safe for all,” tweeted University of Wisconsin-Madison anesthesiology associate professor Bill Hartman.
UW-Madison exhibit has ‘something new to say’ about race and art
When incoming museum director Amy Gilman first saw “Emancipation Group” on display at the Chazen Museum of Art in 2017, she reacted like many visitors: She stopped in her tracks.
Samsung exec says he wouldn’t give a smartphone to his daughter until she was 11
Deciding whether or not a child is ready to own a smartphone should be based on their own development rather than a specific age, according to Megan Morena, a pediatrics professor at the University of Wisconsin.
Northeast U.S. Latest to Experience Polar Vortex Temperatures
“I wish I had a clear answer,” said Steve Vavrus, a climate scientist at the University of Wisconsin. With Jennifer Francis, now at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts, Dr. Vavrus wrote a seminal 2012 paper that presented the idea that Arctic warming was affecting the polar vortex. “Unfortunately the state of things is still ambiguous,” he said.
Madagascar’s sacred trees face existential threats in a changing world
“That’s one of the most amazing things about the Malagasy baobabs,” says Nisa Karimi, a botanist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “One species occurs all across continental Africa, and then you get to Madagascar, and you have six.”
Why Bad Bunny’s Grammy nominated Un Verano Sin Ti is such a big deal
“There was a particular audience consuming this and it was divided along generational lines,” said Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, a Caribbean historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who is penning an article for the Bad Bunny Enigma, an academic journal analyzing the star. “It’s really interesting how Bad Bunny became this global superstar while in conversation with things that were happening in the archipelago. He was basically making music for people in the archipelago, referencing things that only Puerto Ricans would understand.”
The EPA is updating its most important tool for cracking down on carbon emissions
The EPA uses higher dollar amounts for deaths in higher-income countries and lower dollar amounts for deaths in lower-income countries. Or, as Paul Kelleher, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin, puts it…PAUL KELLEHER: The badness of a death from climate change in India is treated as not as bad as exactly the same death if it happened at exactly the same time in the United States.
The Blurred Lines Between Goldman C.E.O.’s Day Job and His D.J. Gig
“There’s a kind of prima facie appearance of: ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours,’” said Yaron Nili, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School who specializes in corporate and securities law.
Opinion | Why I’m not worried about my students using ChatGPT
Lawrence Shapiro is a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
ChatGPT has many of my university colleagues shaking in their Birkenstocks. This artificial-intelligence tool excels at producing grammatical and even insightful essays — just what we’re hoping to see from our undergraduates.
When Americans Lost Faith in the News
So why didn’t they report what they knew? McGarr, a historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, thinks it’s because the people who covered Washington for the wire services and the major dailies had an ideology.
How New Year’s resolutions boost the wellness business
“So literally I could just buy health and wellness,” explained Christine Whalen, a professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin. “And that sounds very enticing.”
Muslim-American opinions on abortion are complex. What does Islam actually say?
The current tension between state laws and some Islamic beliefs may be setting the stage for further legal battles over abortion. Asifa Quraishi-Landes, an Islamic and constitutional law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, argues that abortion bans tread on Muslims’ First Amendment rights.
Race to vaccinate rare wild monkeys gives hope for survival
“There are people who say we shouldn’t touch nature, that we shouldn’t alter anything. But really, there are no pristine natural habitats left,” said Tony Goldberg, a disease ecologist and veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who supports vaccinating wildlife when it’s safe and practical. “People are waking up to the magnitude of the problem and realizing they have to do something.”
Spending on services is starting to cool, U.S. data indicates
That’s not such a bad thing, said Menzie Chinn, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin. “To the extent that there’s still many job openings relative to people willing to take those jobs, then we do want to see some reduction in demand for labor,” he said.
Rural Americans aren’t included in inflation figures – and for them, the cost of living may be rising faster
When the Federal Reserve convenes at the end of January 2023 to set interest rates, it will be guided by one key bit of data: the U.S. inflation rate. The problem is, that stat ignores a sizable chunk of the country – rural America. -Tessa Conroy, Development Specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Germany Says Quiet Part Out Loud About Ukraine War
Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that Baerbock’s use of the term “war” was likely more figurative than literal, shaped by the emotional atmosphere at the Council of Europe.
100-year floods: The metric behind America’s infrastructure is out of date, and thanks to climate change we’re paying the price.
“It’s kind of a mess, even in the absence of climate change,” said Daniel Wright, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin. Wright helped Madison adopt climate-conscious design guidelines and works with the magically named U.S. Office of Water Prediction. “Almost all of [the models] assume that data varies from year to year, but underlying drivers are not changing over time. Those assumptions just don’t hold.”
Direct Air Capture Could Help Pull Carbon Dioxide From the Sky
“The next decade is crucial because the amount of deployment required in the second half of the century will only be feasible if we see substantial new deployment in the next 10 years,” Gregory Nemet, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a coauthor of the report, said during a press call.
There’s a path away from toxic polarization: shared problem-solving
It is within our grasp to solve the problems facing our nation and world. To get there, we must reject the lure of polarization and dogmatic certainty and instead, seek interdependence and collaboration. The world depends on it. –Clif Conrad is a professor of Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-author (with Todd Lundberg) of the book “Learning with Others.” Todd Lundberg is an associate director in the Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Cancer blood test using DNA fragments brings hope for earlier detection, say researchers
A University of Wisconsin–Madison research team was able to detect cancer in the bloodstream in most of the samples tested, it said. Muhammed Murtaza, professor of surgery at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health based in Madison, Wisconsin, led the study, which was published recently in Science Translational Medicine, a medical journal from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, according to the study’s press release.
Weird winter weather: Thundersnow, frost quakes and more
“Very intense winter storms can trigger the rare phenomenon of thundersnow,” says Michael Notaro, an atmospheric scientist and director of the Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. “Thundersnow events usually bring infrequent lightning flashes and quieter thunder as the heavy snowfall muffles the sound.”