UW team explores large, restless volcanic field in Chile
If Brad Singer knew for sure what was happening three miles under an odd-shaped lake in the Andes, he might be less eager to spend a good part of his career investigating a volcanic field that has erupted 36 times during the last 25,000 years. As he leads a large scientific team exploring a region in the Andes called Laguna del Maule, Singer hopes the area remains quiet. Read More
Study models the past to understand the future of strengthening El Niño
El Niño is not a contemporary phenomenon; it’s long been the Earth’s dominant source of year-to-year climate fluctuation. But as the climate warms and the feedbacks that drive the cycle change, researchers want to know how El Niño will respond. A team of researchers led by the University of Wisconsin’s Zhengyu Liu will publish the latest findings in this quest Nov. 27 in Nature. Read More
Telescopes hint at neutrino beacon at the heart of the Milky Way
Thanks to a confluence of data from a suite of vastly different telescopes, there are tantalizing clues that the massive black hole at the core of the Milky Way may be a cosmic accelerator. In a recent paper published in the journal Physical Review D, a team led by University of Wisconsin–Madison physicist Yang Bai reports a correlation of IceCube data with a recorded burst of X-rays from Sagittarius A, an object at the center of our galaxy that is believed to be a supermassive black hole. Read More
Recent sightings: Snowvember
A member of the UW grounds crew drives a tractor with brush sweeper to clear the sidewalk of snow as pedestrians walk along… Read More
Badger-Gopher game to boost epilepsy awareness
Saturday’s matchup at Camp Randall is shaping up to be a significant event on many fronts. —The Wisconsin Badgers and Minnesota Golden Gophers will… Read More
Save power, make power: UW chemist confronts ambitious agenda with a brash laugh
Trisha Andrew, a UW assistant professor of chemistry, holds a solar cell that her research group printed on paper last year. She’s currently… Read More
Nominations invited for vice provost for diversity
A national search is underway to fill the position of vice provost for diversity/chief diversity officer, and members of the campus community are encouraged to submit nominations. Read More
Decaying trees being removed at Lakeshore Nature Preserve
Crews will begin removing about 80 decaying and dead trees starting this week in the 300-acre Lakeshore Nature Preserve. All trees identified for removal were either already dead or showed signs of significant decline. Read More
Final days draw near for Partners in Giving contributions
Partners in Giving, the state, university and UW Hospitals and Clinics Combined Campaign of Dane County, runs through Nov. 28. Employees have a few more days to contribute toward more than 520 nonprofit organizations and 11 umbrella groups, many of which rely on these funds to meet their needs. Read More
Former governor Doyle to teach at La Follette this spring
Former governor Jim Doyle will teach a spring class on the politics of state policy issues class at the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Read More
Grasshoppers signal slow recovery of post-agricultural woodlands, study finds
New research by Philip Hahn and John Orrock at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on the recovery of South Carolina longleaf pine woodlands once used for cropland shows just how long lasting the legacy of agriculture can be in the recovery of natural places. By comparing grasshoppers found at woodland sites once used for agriculture to similar sites never disturbed by farming, Hahn and Orrock show that despite decades of recovery, the numbers and types of species found in each differ. Read More
Flower links Civil War, natural history and ‘the blood of heroes’
On August 14, 1864, in a Union Army camp in Georgia, a captain from Wisconsin plucked a plant, pressed it onto a sheet of paper, wrote a letter describing the plant as "certainly the most interesting specimen I ever saw," and sent it with the plant to a scientist he called "Friend" in Wisconsin. Read More
AAAS honors four UW–Madison professors for advancing science
Four members of the University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the society announced today. Read More
Recent sightings: Blowing off steam
Geese and ducks swim in and fly above the steamy water of Lake Mendota as the sun rises above the dome of the Wisconsin State Capitol and downtown Madison skyline with temperatures in the single digits. The Friday, Nov. 21, view is from the tip of Picnic Point, part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Lakeshore Nature Preserve. Read More
Satellite history at UW–Madison comes full circle with award
Michael Pavolonis thinks of himself as a volcano guy. Read More
Ecologist/hunter talks deer, plants, hunters and balance
UW-Madison Professor of Botany Donald Waller is a pioneer in exploring the impact of deer in natural habitats. For more than 20 years, Waller - who counts himself among the state's deer hunters - has led research on the economic, health and environmental impacts of deer, including: Read More
Halting the hijacker: Cellular targets to thwart influenza virus infection
The influenza virus, like all viruses, is a hijacker. It quietly slips its way inside cells, steals the machinery inside to make more copies of itself, and then - having multiplied - bursts out of the cell to find others to infect. Read More