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That Time In The Middle Ages When The Devil Became A Lawyer

Forbes

Quoted: This might seem like strange territory for a historian of the European Middle Ages but it’s one that’s quite familiar to Prof. Karl Shoemaker from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focus is medieval law, and he says that just this debate – how should the law be applied – was one that people of the period thought about almost constantly.

The Supreme Court decided not to decide Wisconsin’s gerrymandering case. But here’s why it will be back.

The Washington Post

On Monday, the Supreme Court surprised observers by deciding not to decide Gill v. Whitford, the high-profile case about partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin. Instead, the court remanded the case back to Wisconsin district court to give the plaintiffs “an opportunity” to provide better evidence about whether they had the right to bring the suit at all.

By Barry Burden and David Canon

The days are getting longer – but very, very slowly

The Guardian

As the Earth’s rotation gradually winds down, the moon moves further away. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Stephen Meyers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Alberto Malinverno at Columbia University in New York calculate that over the past 1.4bn years the moon has drifted about 44,000km from Earth to a distance of 384,400km

Falling short on time? Earth might have 25 hours in a day in the future

India Today

The study author of geoscience Stephen Meyers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison explained the relation between Earth’s spin and the location of Moon as that of a spinning figure skater and his arms. The way skater slows down his spinning speed by stretching his arms out, the spinning speed of Earth is slowing down as the moon is distancing itself from the planet.

The Moon is causing days on Earth to get longer

Space.com

Using a new statistical method called astrochronology, astronomers peered into Earth’s deep geologic past and reconstructed the planet’s history. This work revealed that, just 1.4 billion years ago, the moon was significantly closer to Earth, which made the planet spin faster. As a result, a day on Earth lasted just over 18 hours back then, according to a statement from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Watch in Real Time as American Airlines 1897 Tries to Escape a Hail Storm From Hell

Popular Mechanics

Noted: Rick Kohrs, a graphic artist at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, created this image of the plane’s “terrifying track.” He superimposed AA 1897’s flight path from Flight Aware with weather data from GOES-16, the latest sat from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) program. These sats capture storms as they develop, giving meteorologists a space-based tool to predict storms and warn people about ones that exist.

How the Moon may one day give us 25-hour days

The Week UK

forgets memory cardResearchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have worked out that around 1.4 billion years ago, a day on Earth lasted 18 hours. “This is at least in part because the Moon was closer and changed the way the Earth spun around its axis,” the Daily Mirror reports.

Map-making on a budget

Nature

Shanan Peters, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is the principal investigator on the Macrostrat project, which is an online encyclopaedic atlas for geological data. Although most of the Macrostrat mapping data are publicly available, importing them required “a fair bit of time”, Peters says.

The Moon Is Making Every Day on Earth Longer Than the Last, Study Shows

Inverse

The new study, co-authored by Stephen Meyers, Ph.D., a professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Alberto Malinverno, Ph.D., a research professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, isn’t just about the moon. The researchers initially set out to find a way to accurately study the many phases that our planet has undergone since its beginning, both in terms of its geology and its place in the solar system.

Moon to give us longer days

The Daily Express

Study author Professor of geoscience Stephen Meyers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said: “As the moon moves away, the Earth is like a spinning figure skater who slows down as they stretch their arms out.”

Studies of space, hearing and DNA attract $1 million awards

AP

Three researchers share the neuroscience prize for studying how we hear: A. James Hudspeth of the Rockefeller University in New York, Robert Fettiplace of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Christine Petit of the College of France and the Pasteur Institute in Paris. They provided insights into how cells of the inner ear transform sound into electrical signals the brain can interpret.

Avoiding GMO food might be tougher than you think

Popular Science

Quoted: The USDA only just announced how they would require manufacturers to disclose GM ingredients, though the law was enacting back in 2016, and the new rules don’t use the term “GMO” or even “GM.” Instead, they opt for “BE” or “bioengineered,” perhaps to avoid using loaded terminology. “I’m not sure how much people will know that term,” says Dominique Brossard, a communications professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison specializing in life science issues like GMOs. “I don’t think it’s going to be very easy for people to find out [which foods are genetically modified].”

Trump applying 19th-century remedies to 21st-century problems

The Hill

Is it a trade dispute with China, or is it a trade war? If the latter, is it on hold, or not? The flip-flops in America’s trade relationship with China are coming in ever more frequently, as President Trump issues and rescinds threats.

-Menzie Chinn is a professor of public affairs and economics at the University of Wisconsin. His research examines the empirical and policy aspects of macroeconomic interactions between countries.

For love of country

Isthmus

Emmanuel Urey could not read until he was a teenager. He grew up in a tiny, impoverished and embattled village called Gormue in an isolated part of Liberia. Only when he and his family fled to Guinea to escape the civil war destroying his country did Urey finally have access to a school.

Is Mental Illness Hereditary?

Huffington Post

In 2013, a study funded by the National Institute of Health found that five mental disorders — autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia — share genetic roots. And in 2015, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison studied a family of rhesus monkeys and concluded the risk of developing anxiety is passed from parents to their children.

Further proof that triclosan is bad for us: the common ingredient in toothpaste and soaps has been linked with colon cancer and gut inflammation

Quartz

Our team and researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison used germ-free mice—which have absolutely no bacteria in their gut—and found that feeding triclosan to these animals had no effect. This finding suggests that the harmful effects of triclosan are due to changes in the microbiome.

The concept of a thousand-year rainstorm is legitimate but limited. Here’s what you should understand about it

The Washington Post

Quoted: A 1,000-year rain event, as its name implies, is exceptionally rare. It signifies just a 0.1 percent chance of such an event happening in any given year. “Or, a better way to think about it is that 99.9 percent of the time, such an event will never happen,” explained Shane Hubbard, a meteorological researcher at University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center.

Starbucks closed more than 8,000 stores for an afternoon of bias training. Will it work?

PBS Newshour

Quoted: The short answer: It’s hard to say. One of the biggest problems with bias training is that so few people have evaluated whether it’s effective, said Patricia Devine, a professor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison who focuses on how to manage prejudice in society. Some studies have also found that, when done the wrong way, these kinds of trainings can actually make the problem worse.

Major Decisions Remain On The U.S. Supreme Court’s Docket For June

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Through the end of June, justices are expected to hand down decisions on 29 more cases, said Ryan Owens, a professor of political science and affiliate law faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The next opinion day is scheduled for Monday, June 4, Owens said, and decisions will likely come every other day after that.

Resilience is the new happiness

Quartz

For adults, developing resilience might make all the difference between keeping a job or burning out. A small May 2018 study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds, published in Frontiers for Psychology, found that as little as two weeks of “compassion meditation” made subjects more resilient in the face of human suffering, meaning they were able to look at struggle non-judgmentally and respond with compassion rather than becoming distraught themselves.

Demand For Wisconsin Farm Land Remains Strong

Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: “That surprised me,” said Arlin Brannstrom, associate professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I thought there would be some dampening in that enthusiasm for land ownership given the weak prices we’ve seen for agricultural commodities, in particular milk. But I think there’s still a lot of demand.”

A mesmerizing story

Isthmus

Shawn Francis Peters couldn’t believe his luck. After writing 2012’s The Catonsville Nine: A Story of Faith and Resistance in the Vietnam Era (Oxford University Press), the instructor in UW-Madison’s Integrated Liberal Studies Program was searching for an intriguing Upper Midwest-based true-crime subject when Harry Hayward entered his life.

Why Facebook will never die

BBC News

Quoted: “Almost everybody comes back,” says Catalina Toma, associate professor of communication science at the University of Wisconsin. “Social networking sites tap into what makes us human: we like to connect with others.”

The 10 best cities for new grads starting out

MarketWatch.com

Madison is #1. Wisconsin’s capital has lots of young educated adults, in part because it’s home to the state’s flagship campus, the University of Wisconsin. Combined with its low unemployment rate and high percentage of workers in management, business, science or arts jobs, Madison vaults to the top. Though its median income for those 25 and older with bachelor’s degrees, $46,275, is average among other cities in the top 10, the median gross rent, $981, is relatively affordable. As a result, rent as a percentage of income, 25%, is among the lowest in the top 10, and about average for all cities in this analysis.

Structural Dynamics Challenges in Launch

Wisconsin Public Television

Matt Allen, Associate Professor in Engineering Physics at UW-Madison, discusses the physics behind rocket design. Allen highlights the structural dynamics, the vibration limits, and the amount of engine thrust that is necessary to successfully launch a spacecraft into space.

New study suggests future hurricanes will be slower and wetter as Earth warms

The Washington Post

Quoted: Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on Aug. 26, 2017, and lingered in the region for nearly a week. As much as 60 inches of rain fell in the storm, setting a U.S. rainfall record. More than 20 inches of rain fell across about 29,000 square miles. No storm rivals Harvey, said Shane Hubbard, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin who made and mapped that calculation.

Don Blankenship Announces Third-Party Bid for West Virginia Senate Seat

The New York Times

Quoted: “It looks to me like West Virginia intended for there to be a ban on sore losers, including in legislation this year. It looks like they were intended to stop someone like Blankenship,” said Barry C. Burden, the director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “However, the law is not written perfectly.”