8: Number of times UW-Madison was mentioned in September in the New York Times, including in the article “U.S. Recovery Eludes Many Living Below Poverty Level, Census Suggests.” The story notes that despite the median household income rising by 1.8 percent last year, the national poverty rate remained at 12.3 percent. “If this is the best we can do, it isn’t good,” said Timothy Smeeding, a professor of public affairs and economics. “Things really tapered off this year, after a serious drop in previous years. In terms of the boom, the party has lasted a long time, a lot longer than we thought, but not everybody is getting invited — people who are working several jobs, taking jobs without benefits, kids who are growing up in poverty. The fruits of the recovery are not being spread around evenly.”

You wouldn't know it at first glance, but plants communicate. In more than a dozen videos, Professor of Botany Simon Gilroy and his lab reveal how glutamate — an abundant neurotransmitter in animals — activates a wave of calcium when the plant is wounded. A fluorescent light tracks calcium as it zips across the plant’s tissues, providing an electrical and chemical signal of a threat. Coverage includes The New York Times, Cosmos, Forbes, National Geographic, Daily Mail, Gizmodo, Mother Nature Network, Inquisitr, Tech Times, Science Friday and Wisconsin State Farmer.

Hurricanes, floods, mosquitoes. Weather experts from UW-Madison have been busy helping people understand not only weather conditions but also their impact.

“There is a huge difference between the very gradual and accidental warming trend that early farmers probably caused, versus the much more rapid climate changes that our modern industrial world is effecting knowingly,” said Stephen Vavrus, a senior scientist in UW's Center for Climatic Research, in Popular Science. "A sobering corollary is that if the relatively tiny populations of the past could still generate significant global warming, then the massive number of people in the world today with our amplified carbon emissions must be having a huge climatic effect."

Other weather-related coverage includes National Public Radio, How Stuff Works, WKOW, WISN, Wisconsin Farmer, PBS News Hour, Charlotte Observer and Minnesota Public Radio.

National parks in the U.S. are more vulnerable to climate change than the rest of the country, according to a study from researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The analysis of all 417 of America’s national parks, conducted by UW-Madison’s Center for Climatic Research, found that average temperatures increased at twice the rate as the rest of the nation over the past century. At the same time, yearly rainfall decreased more in national parks than in other regions of the country. 

Coverage includes The Weather Channel, Atlas Obscura, Daily Mail, Minnesota Public Radio, Washington Post, Inverse, Phys.org, Mother Nature Network, San Francisco Chronicle and Science Daily.

Numerous op/eds were written by UW-Madison experts on a variety of issues.

Philip Farrell, a professor of pediatrics and population health sciences, wrote “Discovering the ancient origin of cystic fibrosis, the most common genetic disease in Caucasians” for The Conversation.

“In recent years, scientists have revealed many aspects of this deadly lung disease which have led to routine early diagnosis in screened babies, better treatments and longer lives. On the other hand, the scientific community hasn’t been able to figure out when, where and why the mutation became so common,” Farrell writes, noting new research that may shed light on where and when the original mutation arose and in which ancient tribe of people.

Richard Keller, a professor of medical history and bioethics, wrote “Trump's Irresponsible Denial of Puerto Rico's Hurricane Deaths” for Scientific American.

“Measuring the mortality in epidemic or emergency periods has long been controversial," Keller writes. "Authorities often deny reports of high mortality because they seek to avoid being blamed for mismanagement. But all too often, the reports are indeed accurate — and understanding why is essential to helping save lives in future disasters.”

At age 29, UW grad Danez Smith has become the youngest person and first winner to identify as gender-neutral to win the prestigious Forward Prize. Smith won for “Don’t Call Us Dead,” a collection of poetry that judges praised for “jubilant and confrontational” verses reflecting experiences as a young, HIV-positive African American. Coverage includes The Guardian, The Telegraph, Financial Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press. The prizes were awarded at a ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall Sept. 18 in London. Smith was also a First Wave Scholar, a program that Wisconsin Public Television recently documented in "Hip-Hop U: The First Wave Scholar."

“This is the latest incarnation of the whole 'super mom' idea. Not only do we have to be working right up until we deliver our babies but now we have to look beautiful, nay sexy, while doing it. It puts a tremendous amount of pressure on women.”

-- Christine Whelan, a clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology, in an interview with Today about the fashion industry's depictions of motherhood on the runway.