Water and sewage treatment plants across the United States face increasing threats from floods
The crack of a summer thunderstorm once comforted people in Ludlow, Vermont. But that was before a storm dropped eight inches of rain on the village of 2,200 in two days in July. And it was before the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Now a coming rainstorm...
Documenting a discovery: Shipwreck hunters find 1881 schooner Trinidad intact at bottom of Lake Michigan
Shipwreck hunters have discovered the intact remains of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 and is so well-preserved it still contains the crew’s possessions in its final resting spot miles from Wisconsin’s coastline. Wisconsin maritime...
Safety Crisis: How communities can fight back against oversized vehicles causing pedestrian deaths
By Kevin J. Krizek, Professor of Environmental Design, University of Colorado Boulder Deadly traffic incidents have declined in most developed countries in recent years. But in the U.S. they are becoming more common. Deaths in motor vehicle crashes rose more than 33%...
Safety technology: Reducing risk of a traumatic head injury starts with picking the right bicycle helmet
By Kwong Ming (KM) Tse, Senior lecturer in Department of Mechanical Engineering and Product Design Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology If you ride a bike and want to cut your risk of traumatic head injury, you should wear a helmet. A major review of 40...
How potential loss of food stamp benefits impact college students already struggling with hunger
Raised on welfare by his grandmother, Joseph Sais relied so much on food stamps as a college student that he thought about quitting school when his eligibility was revoked. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sais said, he missed an “important letter”...
One Piece: Netflix finally scores a hit with live-action adaptation of beloved Japanese manga
Hit Japanese manga “One Piece” was released by Netflix on August 31 as a live-action series, following a mixed track record of success in a growing list of Hollywood adaptations. Chronicling the coming-of-age adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate with a heart...
Labor Day 2023 sees renewed focus on “labor” as tensions rise between employees and employers
With Labor Day comes big shopping sales and backyard barbecues. But the activist roots of the holiday are especially visible this year as unions challenge how workers are treated, from Hollywood to the auto production lines of Detroit. The early-September tribute to...
Wisconsin’s Catch-22: State dairy industry depends on undocumented immigrants who cannot legally drive
Central Wisconsin’s Clark County is home to more dairy farms than any other county in the state, which bills itself as America’s Dairyland. Its identity is so tied to the dairy industry that a 16-foot-tall, black-and-white talking Holstein stands outside downtown...
Edward Morgan: Former Milwaukee resident shares memories of Kyrgyzstan on its Independence Day
I recently returned from Kyrgyzstan, a remarkable half-year experience that enriched my life and changed my perspective in various ways. Kyrgyzstan is a small, landlocked country in Central Asia. The total population is less than seven million. I was there as a...
Edward Morgan: Understanding how Kyrgyz society is still influenced by its relationship with Russia
Kyrgyzstan is beautiful. But it is also a country in limbo. Suspended between dependence and decolonization, this condition is partly the result of more than a century under Russian control, and partly the ongoing challenge of living in Russia’s shadow. Planning ahead...
Edward Morgan: Personal diary shares snapshot of daily life over six months in a Central Asian nation
Edward Morgan wrote about his experiences in Kyrgyzstan, sharing them on social media from January to June 2023. Some of those posts, like entries from a travel journal, have been assembled here. Individually, the raw and unedited entries share an account of his time...
When data is fair game: Zoom stirs public backlash over policy to train AI on customer content
An update to Zoom’s terms of service raised alarm bells in August on social media, with users claiming it revealed the videoconferencing company was now tapping their online doctor visits and virtual happy hours to train artificial intelligence models....
