https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Chatbots—those little text bubbles that pop up in the corner of so many consumer sites—have long been a fixture in the digital world. Now, the growing popularity of generative AI programs has only supercharged their presence, and their abilities. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-ai-powered-chatbots-consumer.html Economics & Business Sat, 05 Apr 2025 04:50:55 EDT news663047450 A new study into the race and socio-demographics of newborns with symptoms of opioid withdrawal shows that it is disproportionately higher among white newborns whose mothers are Medicaid enrollees and have the lowest income, compared with Black and Hispanic infants. The withdrawal condition is called neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-clearer-view-newborns-opioid.html Addiction Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:02:34 EDT news610020150 In 2018 and 2020, Michael Pauers traveled 8,500 miles to go fishing in Lake Malawi, but not with a pole and lure. He and his research colleague, Titus Phiri, were collecting and describing cichlids—best-known as a popular aquarium fish—with the aim of finding new species in the wild. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-sea-fish-diversity-scientist-species.html Plants & Animals Thu, 13 Jul 2023 13:25:21 EDT news608473518 When Dong-Fang Deng and her students make feed for the fish they raise at UWM's School of Freshwater Sciences, they often use ground fishmeal—dried fish parts from fisheries or wild catch—as the protein source. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-microplastics-fish-nutrient-metabolism.html Plants & Animals Mon, 25 Jul 2022 09:49:36 EDT news577961372 Talin is a protein that controls cellular attachment and movement, but its malfunctioning also allows cancer cells to spread. DCL1 is a tumor-suppressing protein. But scientists don't fully understand how either protein works—or what happens when they don't work the way they should. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-mechanical-protein-metastatic-cancer.html Biotechnology Fri, 15 Jul 2022 14:00:04 EDT news577095757 There's a worker shortage in the United States. As the country recovers from the pandemic, companies are trying to bring their employees back into the workplace but are finding that many of those employees are quitting—a so-called "Great Resignation." https://phys.org/news/2022-07-automated-hiring-worker-shortage-worse.html Economics & Business Tue, 05 Jul 2022 08:30:01 EDT news576227667 For female common yellowthroats, beauty isn't just skin—or features—deep. New research provides evidence that large or showy physical features of males attract females because they signal high-quality male genes, such as those linked with robust immunity or stress resistance.   https://phys.org/news/2022-02-female-yellowthroats.html Plants & Animals Mon, 14 Feb 2022 15:00:05 EST news564066331 Are you a parent worried about your children going back to school in person after a year and a half of mostly virtual learning? https://phys.org/news/2021-08-experts-kids-school.html Education Wed, 25 Aug 2021 16:13:58 EDT news549126833 Many organisms use sunlight to fuel cellular functions. But exactly how does this conversion of solar energy into chemical energy unfold? https://phys.org/news/2021-03-molecular-movies-biological-energy-conversion.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 23 Mar 2021 13:34:40 EDT news535725277 Milwaukee children do not have equal risk of lead exposure. The combined neighborhood factors of race, poverty and low homeownership compound the risk for elevated childhood blood lead levels in Milwaukee County, according to a study by public health researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-combined-factors-compound-exposure-disparity.html Pediatrics Fri, 21 Aug 2020 08:56:10 EDT news517218966 Two researchers at the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences are undertaking an unusual way of monitoring the incidence of COVID-19 in a community—by analyzing its sewage. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-sewage-early-covid-outbreaks.html Medical research Thu, 14 May 2020 09:20:02 EDT news508663914 To study the swiftness of biology—the protein chemistry behind every life function—scientists need to see molecules changing and interacting in unimaginably rapid time increments—trillionths of a second or shorter. https://phys.org/news/2019-11-protein-imaging-life.html General Physics Mon, 18 Nov 2019 11:00:13 EST news493288124 For a drug to intervene in cells or entire organs that are not behaving normally it must first bind to specific protein receptors in the cell membranes. Receptors can change their molecular structure in a multitude of ways during binding—and only the right structure will "unlock" the drug's therapeutic effect. https://phys.org/news/2019-05-method-protein-receptor-complexes-drug.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 20 May 2019 11:00:09 EDT news477551226 Ryan Shorey studies how alcohol affects intimate partner violence. At first glance, the relationship seems obvious – of course alcohol would correlate with incidences of abuse. But beneath the surface, there are many questions left to answer. Shorey, assistant professor of psychology at UWM, recently talked about his work. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-alcohol-domestic-violence-link-obvious.html Health Wed, 20 Mar 2019 09:14:55 EDT news472292087 Between 256 million and 335 million years ago, the landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere were squished together in a super continent called Gondwana. Gripped in the cold throes of an ice age, glaciers moved slowly across the landscape, churning up ground and leaving a trail of sediment in their wake. They retreated as the Earth warmed, transitioning from an icehouse to a greenhouse climate at the end of the Paleozoic Era. https://phys.org/news/2019-02-students-earth-climate-history.html Earth Sciences Thu, 28 Feb 2019 10:20:03 EST news470568954 Hope for treating the kind of brain cancer that took the life of U.S. Sen. John McCain lies with a compound, identified by researchers at UWM and the Medical College of Wisconsin, that slows the growth of this aggressive cancer, called glioblastoma, in animal testing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-cancer-john-mccain.html Medical research Mon, 21 Jan 2019 08:30:03 EST news467280319 It's right there in the name: The Endangered Species Act is meant to protect endangered species of animals. https://phys.org/news/2019-01-species-biologist-wolf-taxonomy.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Jan 2019 09:19:02 EST news466852722 The secret to helping your children cope with the pressures of college – without crippling their growth and development – could be tucked in your pocket. https://phys.org/news/2018-09-students-stressed-college-texting-mom.html Social Sciences Thu, 06 Sep 2018 10:35:43 EDT news455448939 Tobacco products in Milwaukee are more aggressively marketed in stores in African-American and Latino neighborhoods than in white ones, according to a study led by a public health researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-08-tobacco-heavily-city-minority-neighborhoods.html Health Mon, 06 Aug 2018 10:50:01 EDT news452769931 Drop a marble and a cannon ball off the Leaning Tower of Pisa at the same time and they will hit the ground at the same time. That fact is explained by Albert Einstein's theory of gravity—general relativity—which predicts that all objects fall in the same way, regardless of their mass or composition. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-einstein-theory-gravity-extreme-conditions.html Astronomy Wed, 04 Jul 2018 13:00:06 EDT news449396951 Only a small percentage of breast cancer cases can be linked to heredity, and many of the genes with ties to the disease are unknown. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-genes-breast-cancer.html Oncology & Cancer Tue, 26 Jun 2018 08:49:08 EDT news449221732 Urban populations and mega-cities are on the rise and so is the amount of wastewater pouring into treatment facilities that cannot adequately handle the load. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-software-tool-city-wastewater-treatment.html Environment Wed, 06 Jun 2018 09:26:09 EDT news447495289 When children have significant difficulty reducing their fears and anxieties, the solution can be a surprisingly natural one: play, humor and silliness. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-03-dose-humor.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 12 Mar 2018 09:09:07 EDT news440064541 Leave a car overnight in extreme cold and you might get an unpleasant surprise in the morning. https://phys.org/news/2018-01-electric-cars-cold.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 29 Jan 2018 07:51:52 EST news436434697 What can the mating behavior of birds tell us about evolution, climate change and species survival? For Peter Dunn, UWM distinguished professor of biological sciences, bird-watching offers clues to overarching ecological questions. He wants to know the purpose behind bird preferences such as feather brightness and why some birds follow the same mating playbook, while others deviate. He and Professor Linda Whittingham are now in their 21st year of studying tree swallows at the UWM Field Station, a 320-acre wetland near Saukville. This has given the ornithologists a long-term perspective on the birds they study, which include common yellowthroats and tree swallows. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-birds.html Plants & Animals Thu, 09 Nov 2017 08:08:50 EST news429437322 During Antarctica's summer, from late November through January, UW-Milwaukee geologists Erik Gulbranson and John Isbell climbed the McIntyre Promontory's frozen slopes in the Transantarctic Mountains. High above the ice fields, they combed the mountain's gray rocks for fossils from the continent's green, forested past. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-geologists-uncover-antarctica-fossil-forests.html Earth Sciences Thu, 09 Nov 2017 08:08:33 EST news429437302 Vervet monkeys found in Africa and the Caribbean are the most abundant natural hosts of the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a close relative of HIV/AIDS. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-11-gene-discovery-monkeys-defense-hiv.html Genetics Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:23:52 EDT news428743418 UWM astronomer David Kaplan and colleagues have begun a radio search for the magnetic fields of planets orbiting distant stars. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-astronomers-radio-habitability-distant-planets.html Astronomy Mon, 28 Aug 2017 08:00:03 EDT news423125141 A research collaboration led by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has for the first time created a three-dimensional movie showing a virus preparing to infect a healthy cell. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-d-movie-virus-action.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 14 Aug 2017 11:00:12 EDT news421922879 Alice Yan knows that beating breast cancer takes more than good medical care: It takes a community of like-minded women determined to live a healthier lifestyle. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-08-racial-disparities-cancer.html Oncology & Cancer Thu, 10 Aug 2017 09:24:12 EDT news421575840