Latest news with #UniversityofWisconsin-Milwaukee
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Two Wisconsin researchers part of global team that discovered a new object in space
When students open their science textbooks in the future, there's a chance they'll be reading about a cosmic discovery made by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Their discovery "may hold the key to unlocking a new kind of star that we don't yet understand," said UWM physics professor David Kaplan. Kaplan and others, including Akash Anumarlapudi, a recent UWM doctoral graduate, were part of a global team that discovered an unknown object emitting both radio waves and X-rays. This is the first time an object in this class has been detected using X-rays, which may help astronomers find and research more of these objects in the future. ASKAP J1832-0911, the unknown space object that the global team of astronomers first spotted in December 2023, is categorized as a long-period transient. LPTs are a new and rare group of cosmic objects discovered in 2022. Ziteng "Andy" Wang, member of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research and associate lecturer at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy in Australia, was another researcher involved in the discovery. After the object was initially spotted in 2023, Kaplan said, Wang spent the next year and a half finding radio telescopes across the world that could point to the area of the sky in which the object was located. Kaplan, who was among nearly 50 researchers directly involved with the project, explained the significance of the discovery. 'It'll still take more study, more observations, more mass to really understand this object and all of its related friends, but it's a lot of fun to think that you are one of the first people to find one of these and to study it and just figure out how weird the universe really is," Kaplan said. Kaplan explained that the techniques used to find LPTs are the same as those used to train advanced computer intelligence models used for security research, TikTok algorithms and more. He said a number of people who are interested in astronomy learn these techniques but go on to make careers in technology at companies like Facebook or Google. 'We're looking to inspire the next generation of everybody who finds interesting questions and wants to figure out how to answer them on their own.' David Kaplan, physics professor "We're not just looking to inspire the next generation of astronomers,' Kaplan said. 'We're looking to inspire the next generation of everybody who finds interesting questions and wants to figure out how to answer them on their own.' The human eye can see only a tiny fraction of the universe, Kaplan said. Without a carefully designed experiment and special telescopic equipment, light forms like ultraviolet X-rays and gamma rays are difficult to identify. 'When you look up at the sky at night, you can be overwhelmed by the number of stars out there,' Kaplan said. 'But unless you look at them in real detail, you might not notice that some of them are actually changing.' The research project sought to look at the universe through "radio eyes" to find out which cosmic objects were changing, Kaplan explained. Kaplan said 90%-95% of the time researchers were watching for the object, it wasn't actually visible. This is because the object rarely "blinks," only pulsing for two minutes every 44 minutes. A human would never be able to observe this kind of object by looking up into the sky just once, Kaplan said. He compared it to a lighthouse that's lit up for only a few minutes every hour. 'You have to get really lucky in order to see this flashing. And then we had to get even luckier — we accidentally discovered it flashing the X-rays as well as radio,' Kaplan said. 'This whole project is really luck, piled on luck, piled on luck.' The global researchers, along with astronomers from ICRAR, made their discovery using a radio telescope in Australia. The telescope is on a desolate, million-acre farm to avoid man-made noise from cell phones and satellites, Kaplan explained. At first, the team saw nothing when looking at the object through an optical telescope and X-ray telescope. Then, through NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Wang found that a Chinese research group had coincidentally pointed a telescope in the same area of the sky. The group discovered the same information as Kaplan and Wang, and both teams put out papers documenting their findings. Wang served as an author of the team's paper, which was published May 28 in the science journal Nature. Anumarlapudi and Kaplan, from Milwaukee, analyzed radio telescope data, calculated and contributed to the journal publication. Kaplan also helped lead the research team that discovered the object. The nearly 50 global researchers who made up the research team came primarily from the U.S. and Australia, with others from Italy, Spain, China and Israel. Contact Mia Thurow at mthurow@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee scientists help discover space object ASKAP J1832-0911
USA Today
25-06-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Two Wisconsin researchers part of global team that discovered a new object in space
When students open their science textbooks in the future, there's a chance they'll be reading about a cosmic discovery made by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Their discovery "may hold the key to unlocking a new kind of star that we don't yet understand," said UWM physics professor David Kaplan. Kaplan and others, including Akash Anumarlapudi, a recent UWM doctoral graduate, were part of a global team that discovered an unknown object emitting both radio waves and X-rays. This is the first time an object in this class has been detected using X-rays, which may help astronomers find and research more of these objects in the future. What was this cosmic discovery? ASKAP J1832-0911, the unknown space object that the global team of astronomers first spotted in December 2023, is categorized as a long-period transient. LPTs are a new and rare group of cosmic objects discovered in 2022. Ziteng "Andy" Wang, member of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research and associate lecturer at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy in Australia, was another researcher involved in the discovery. After the object was initially spotted in 2023, Kaplan said, Wang spent the next year and a half finding radio telescopes across the world that could point to the area of the sky in which the object was located. Kaplan, who was among nearly 50 researchers directly involved with the project, explained the significance of the discovery. 'It'll still take more study, more observations, more mass to really understand this object and all of its related friends, but it's a lot of fun to think that you are one of the first people to find one of these and to study it and just figure out how weird the universe really is," Kaplan said. What does this have to do with everyday life? Kaplan explained that the techniques used to find LPTs are the same as those used to train advanced computer intelligence models used for security research, TikTok algorithms and more. He said a number of people who are interested in astronomy learn these techniques but go on to make careers in technology at companies like Facebook or Google. 'We're looking to inspire the next generation of everybody who finds interesting questions and wants to figure out how to answer them on their own.' David Kaplan, physics professor "We're not just looking to inspire the next generation of astronomers,' Kaplan said. 'We're looking to inspire the next generation of everybody who finds interesting questions and wants to figure out how to answer them on their own.' How was the object discovered? The human eye can see only a tiny fraction of the universe, Kaplan said. Without a carefully designed experiment and special telescopic equipment, light forms like ultraviolet X-rays and gamma rays are difficult to identify. 'When you look up at the sky at night, you can be overwhelmed by the number of stars out there,' Kaplan said. 'But unless you look at them in real detail, you might not notice that some of them are actually changing.' The research project sought to look at the universe through "radio eyes" to find out which cosmic objects were changing, Kaplan explained. Kaplan said 90%-95% of the time researchers were watching for the object, it wasn't actually visible. This is because the object rarely "blinks," only pulsing for two minutes every 44 minutes. A human would never be able to observe this kind of object by looking up into the sky just once, Kaplan said. He compared it to a lighthouse that's lit up for only a few minutes every hour. 'You have to get really lucky in order to see this flashing. And then we had to get even luckier — we accidentally discovered it flashing the X-rays as well as radio,' Kaplan said. 'This whole project is really luck, piled on luck, piled on luck.' What was the discovery process like? The global researchers, along with astronomers from ICRAR, made their discovery using a radio telescope in Australia. The telescope is on a desolate, million-acre farm to avoid man-made noise from cell phones and satellites, Kaplan explained. At first, the team saw nothing when looking at the object through an optical telescope and X-ray telescope. Then, through NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Wang found that a Chinese research group had coincidentally pointed a telescope in the same area of the sky. The group discovered the same information as Kaplan and Wang, and both teams put out papers documenting their findings. Who was involved and what were their roles? Wang served as an author of the team's paper, which was published May 28 in the science journal Nature. Anumarlapudi and Kaplan, from Milwaukee, analyzed radio telescope data, calculated and contributed to the journal publication. Kaplan also helped lead the research team that discovered the object. The nearly 50 global researchers who made up the research team came primarily from the U.S. and Australia, with others from Italy, Spain, China and Israel.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Two University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researchers part of global team that discovered a new object in space
When students open their science textbooks in the future, there's a chance they'll be reading about a cosmic discovery made by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Their discovery "may hold the key to unlocking a new kind of star that we don't yet understand," said UWM physics professor David Kaplan. Kaplan and others, including Akash Anumarlapudi, a recent UWM doctoral graduate, were part of a global team that discovered an unknown object emitting both radio waves and X-rays. This is the first time an object in this class has been detected using X-rays, which may help astronomers find and research more of these objects in the future. ASKAP J1832-0911, the unknown space object that the global team of astronomers first spotted in December 2023, is categorized as a long-period transient. LPTs are a new and rare group of cosmic objects discovered in 2022. Ziteng "Andy" Wang, member of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research and associate lecturer at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy in Australia, was another researcher involved in the discovery. After the object was initially spotted in 2023, Kaplan said, Wang spent the next year and a half finding radio telescopes across the world that could point to the area of the sky in which the object was located. Kaplan, who was among nearly 50 researchers directly involved with the project, explained the significance of the discovery. 'It'll still take more study, more observations, more mass to really understand this object and all of its related friends, but it's a lot of fun to think that you are one of the first people to find one of these and to study it and just figure out how weird the universe really is," Kaplan said. Kaplan explained that the techniques used to find LPTs are the same as those used to train advanced computer intelligence models used for security research, TikTok algorithms and more. He said a number of people who are interested in astronomy learn these techniques but go on to make careers in technology at companies like Facebook or Google. 'We're looking to inspire the next generation of everybody who finds interesting questions and wants to figure out how to answer them on their own.' David Kaplan, physics professor "We're not just looking to inspire the next generation of astronomers,' Kaplan said. 'We're looking to inspire the next generation of everybody who finds interesting questions and wants to figure out how to answer them on their own.' The human eye can see only a tiny fraction of the universe, Kaplan said. Without a carefully designed experiment and special telescopic equipment, light forms like ultraviolet X-rays and gamma rays are difficult to identify. 'When you look up at the sky at night, you can be overwhelmed by the number of stars out there,' Kaplan said. 'But unless you look at them in real detail, you might not notice that some of them are actually changing.' The research project sought to look at the universe through "radio eyes" to find out which cosmic objects were changing, Kaplan explained. Kaplan said 90%-95% of the time researchers were watching for the object, it wasn't actually visible. This is because the object rarely "blinks," only pulsing for two minutes every 44 minutes. A human would never be able to observe this kind of object by looking up into the sky just once, Kaplan said. He compared it to a lighthouse that's lit up for only a few minutes every hour. 'You have to get really lucky in order to see this flashing. And then we had to get even luckier — we accidentally discovered it flashing the X-rays as well as radio,' Kaplan said. 'This whole project is really luck, piled on luck, piled on luck.' The global researchers, along with astronomers from ICRAR, made their discovery using a radio telescope in Australia. The telescope is on a desolate million-acre farm so as to avoid man-made noise from cell phones and satellites, Kaplan explained. At first, the team saw nothing when looking at the object through an optical telescope and X-ray telescope. Then, through NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Wang found that a Chinese research group had coincidentally pointed a telescope in the same area of the sky. The group discovered the same information as Kaplan and Wang, and both teams put out papers documenting their findings. Wang served as an author of the team's paper, which was published May 28 in the science journal Nature. Anumarlapudi and Kaplan, from Milwaukee, analyzed radio telescope data, calculated and contributed to the journal publication. Kaplan also helped lead the research team that discovered the object. The nearly 50 global researchers who made up the research team came primarily from the U.S. and Australia, with others from Italy, Spain, China and Israel. Contact Mia Thurow at mthurow@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UWM scientists help discover mysterious space phenomenon
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Outgoing UW-Milwaukee chancellor fields questions on Trump policies, engineering program cut
On the cusp of leaving the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Chancellor Mark Mone offered a turbulent forecast for higher education. "My prediction: consolidation, shakeouts," he told the Rotary Club of Milwaukee on June 10. "Higher education is in for some significant challenges." Mone, the second-longest-serving chancellor in UWM history, weathered his fair share of storms. His 11 years at the helm have included budget cuts, a battle over tenure protections, a pandemic, the inheritance and closure of two branch campuses, and a two-week period where protesters pitched tents on campus. Thomas Gibson, who has led UW-Stevens Point since 2021, takes over for Mone in July. At the 40-minute Rotary event, Mone talked up the importance of UWM's dual roles in research and open-access mission, which refers to widely accepting students more selective institutions would turn away. He highlighted the university's working with freshwater and cancer research, improved transfer pipelines and collaboration with local companies, such as Northwestern Mutual and Rockwell Automation. Mone also fielded questions from Rotary members about two Trump administration policies that are making waves on campus. Here are three takeaways from Mone's remarks: The Trump administration plans to pause new international student visas, revoke the visas of Chinese students and impose travel bans from a dozen countries. The policy changes have caused panic at some institutions. UWM enrolls about 1,300 international students. Mone anticipates as many as 500 fewer international students coming to campus this fall. "Right now, we're looking at some pretty challenging numbers on the international front," he said. UWM weathered a decline in international student enrollment just last year when, with little notice, the U.S. State Department cut the number of student visas from India. The university absorbed a $9 million financial hit due to the policy change, which Mone said UWM learned of in August 2024. More: Trump policies could lead to international student decline at UW-Madison, UWM, Concordia UWM is pushing to eliminate its materials science department, the only one in the state geared to the metal processing industries' needs. The move has generated concern in the business community and from U.S. Navy and Defense Department representatives. UWM officials have said suspending undergraduate admissions and reassigning the department's faculty will save $850,000 a year and help fill a $3.5 million engineering school budget gap. More: Kathleen Gallagher: UWM's making a big mistake to cut engineering program at critical time Mone, in his first public remarks on the program's elimination, blamed a decline in enrollment from about 48 students a decade ago to 24 students. Material sciences is the smallest of the engineering school's 11 programs. UWM can redeploy resources from the shuttered program to "growth areas," such as computer science and software development. Both programs have between 450 and 500 students. "That's just where, from a rational perspective, it makes sense to go down that path," Mone said. The Trump administration's cuts to federal research have sent shockwaves across research universities, including UWM. The National Institutes of Health, for example, wants to cut all new and existing grants to a 15% indirect cost rate, which the government pays to institutions to cover the administrative overhead associated with research. Indirect rates fund expenses like lab equipment and hazardous waste removal. UWM's indirect rate is between 30% and 35%, so the university is already operating administratively as one of the leanest, Mone said. The university receives about $55 million in federal research funding. UWM has seen some of its grants terminated, though Mone did not specify how many. A Zilber College of Public Health researcher recently told him their million dollar grant on suicide prevention had been cut. More concerning to Mone was the slowdown in the scientific approval process. The process for issuing grants to universities has been disrupted by layoffs, meeting cancellations and delays in scheduling meetings to review grant applications. He said this would have profound implications for society, from start-up activity to manufacturing to the environment. Both the indirect rate cuts and grant processing delays are being challenged in court. Kelly Meyerhofer has covered higher education in Wisconsin since 2018. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@ or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone reflects on 11-year tenure
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What to know about Judge Laura Crivello who is presiding Maxwell Anderson trial
A judge's role in any trial is to make sure the proceedings are fair and that lawyers stay on topic and aren't grandstanding in front of a jury. Circuit Court Judge Laura Crivello will be the one officiating Maxwell Anderson's homicide trial. Education: Crivello attended University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for her undergraduate degree and went to law school at Marquette University Law School and graduated in 1993. Work experience: Crivello worked 24 years as an assistant District Attorney in Milwaukee County. During that time, she prosecuted various felony and misdemeanor criminal cases, including those involving homicide, firearms, drugs, domestic violence, community prosecution, and child protection cases. 54 Crivello was appointed to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2018 by then-Gov. Scott Walker. She retained her seat in an uncontested 2019 judge race and again in 2025. The case against Anderson was transferred to Crivello in July as part of a judicial rotation schedule change in July ordered by Chief Judge Carl Ashley. The initially was assigned to Judge Mark Sanders. Sade Robinson, 19, was just weeks from graduating from Milwaukee Area Technical College when police say she was killed during a first date in April, and her body was dismembered. Anderson, 34, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide and other felonies in connection with her death. He has pleaded not guilty. Crivello presided over the trial of Stephanie Rapkin, the Shorewood lawyer who was convicted of a misdemeanor for spitting on a Black teenager during a racial justice protest in 2020. Rapkin rejected the judge's sentence of a year of probation and 100 hours of community service, and chose instead to spend 60 days in the House of Correction as punishment. Crivello oversaw the trial of Antonius Trotter, who was convicted of killing 11-year-old Ta'Niyla Parker and wounding her younger sister in an October 2021 shooting that drew protests and demonstrations around the city. Trotter is serving a 60-year in prison sentence. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about Judge Crivello, presiding Maxwell Anderson trial
