What makes the food you eat healthy? Turns out it's a pretty complicated question that goes way beyond the four food groups. In this episode, Amy visits Starry Nights Farm in Burlington to learn about some groundbreaking research—involving beef raised right here in Wisconsin—that's changing the way we look at food and nutrition.
Host: Amy Barrilleaux
Guests: Paul Maggio and Marisa Wiewall, Starry Nights Farm
Polyamines—natural molecules found in every living cell—have become stars in the longevity world for their ability to boost cellular cleanup and support healthy aging. But there’s a dark twist: high levels of these same molecules are consistently seen in cancer, where tumors grow aggressively.
Twisting atomically thin magnetic layers does more than reshape their electronics—it can create giant, topological magnetic textures. In chromium triiodide, researchers observed skyrmion-like patterns stretching far beyond the expected moiré scale, reaching hundreds of nanometers. Even more surprising, their size doesn’t simply follow the twist pattern but peaks at a specific angle. This twist-controlled magnetism could pave the way for low-power spintronic devices built from geometry alone.
Icy moons circling the outer planets may be far more dynamic—and explosive—than they appear. New research suggests that when heat from tidal forces melts their ice shells from below, the sudden drop in pressure could cause hidden oceans to boil beneath the surface. On smaller moons like Enceladus, Mimas, and Miranda, this process may help explain strange features such as Enceladus’ tiger stripes and Miranda’s towering cliffs.
NYU researchers have found a way to use light to control how microscopic particles assemble into crystals, effectively turning illumination into a tool for shaping matter. By adding light-sensitive molecules to a liquid filled with tiny particles, they can adjust how strongly the particles attract or repel one another simply by changing the light’s intensity or pattern. This allows them to trigger crystals to form, dissolve, or even be reshaped in real time.
Scientists have uncovered a powerful genetic switch that helps some of the body’s most important immune cells grow up properly and keep our organs healthy. The switch, called MafB, guides immature precursor cells as they develop into macrophages, the body’s clean-up and repair crew that removes pathogens, clears debris, recycles iron, and supports tissue function. When MafB is missing, these cells remain stuck in an underdeveloped state and cannot fully carry out their protective roles.
Inverted perovskite solar cells offer strong potential for scalable, low-cost solar power, but a hidden interface inside the device has limited their performance and durability. Researchers have now introduced crystal-solvate nanoseeds that guide crystal growth and release solvent in a controlled way during heating, improving film quality at this buried layer. The result is smoother, denser material with better electronic properties and stability. A large mini-module achieved 23.15% efficiency with minimal scaling losses.
Farm aid promised last December is still months away from being paid out to fruit and vegetable growers. But industry groups say it won't be enough to get them through tough market conditions.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris' appearance in Wisconsin came a day after the U.S. and Israel starting launching strikes against Iran. Harris visited deep-blue Madison to plug her book "107 Days."
A couple sits with their newborn inside their Bentonville, Arkansas, home earlier this month. Nearly a quarter of pregnant women aren’t getting prenatal care in the early stages of pregnancy, according to a new analysis from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Photo by Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
Nearly a quarter of pregnant women aren’t getting prenatal care in the early stages of pregnancy, according to a new analysis from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The share of pregnant women getting prenatal care had been improving: It rose between 2016 and 2021 to a high of more than 78%, but then declined to 75.5% by 2024, wiping out previous gains.
The trend is worrying because getting care early in pregnancy can improve the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy and baby.
The decrease in early prenatal care held true for nearly all race and ethnic groups, but the drops were sharpest for Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders, Black women and American Indian and Alaska Native women.
By 2024, less than half of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander mothers received prenatal care in their first trimester — the first three months of pregnancy.
Anne Markus, a professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, said that because the statistically significant decline began around 2021, two events could explain some of the decrease: the COVID pandemic, with its associated stay-at-home orders, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022 that dismantled the constitutional right to abortion.
“Both disproportionately affected, and continue to affect, communities of color, and the decline in early entry into prenatal care has been disproportionately bigger for racial and ethnic minorities since 2021,” said Markus, whose work focuses on public policy and access to health care. She was not involved in the analysis.
A lack of early prenatal care has also been disproportionately seen in “very young women who are more likely to have a pregnancy that they do not want,” Markus said. “The Dobbs decision and the fear and uncertainty it generated could be particularly relevant in explaining this disproportionate effect observed in the data.”
The share of women getting late care — beginning in the seventh month of pregnancy or later — or no care at all increased in more than half of states from 2021-2024. Utah saw the biggest rise in late or no care, followed by Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The number of Utah women getting late or no prenatal care jumped 54%, up to nearly 6% of women.
More than 1 in 10 women had late or no prenatal care by 2024 in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, New Mexico and Texas.
“Geographic and financial barriers to accessing care are often behind late entry to recommended care, including prenatal care,” Markus said.
Late or no prenatal care decreased in six states: Arkansas, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The CDC compiled the report based on information from birth certificates, and includes information for all births that occurred in the United States.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
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