Bidding adieu to brutalism at UW–Madison
Angela Pakes Ahlman has a scene from an old grade-school environmental education film seared into memory. It depicts a factory belching thick smoke into the sky, while in the foreground, a pipe spews an oily plume into a river. Read More
Academic staff professional development grants available
All UW–Madison academic staff with 50 percent appointments or more are invited to apply for fiscal year 2010–11 Academic Staff Professional Development (ASPD) Grants for conferences, training or other professional development projects that occur between Jan. 1 and June 30. Read More
APR campus forum highlights process improvements in research and grants administration
Several process redesign teams working to improve the university’s research and grant administration process will be present at the next Administrative Process Redesign (APR) campus forum to talk about their solutions. Read More
New Badger Partnership tops chancellor’s Senate speech
Chancellor Biddy Martin delivered a host of good news and cautionary notes to the Faculty Senate on Oct. 4 and said her priority this year is to gain administrative flexibilities that would allow UW–Madison to operate more efficiently. Read More
New registry to accelerate research on fragile X syndrome
As researchers delve further into the genetic basis for disease, they face a conundrum: finding enough affected people who can fill out a true picture of mutations that can vary from one person to another. A case in point is fragile X syndrome, a genetic mutation that affects approximately one infant boy in 3,600 births, and one infant girl in 4,000-6,000 births. Read More
POET executive to headline discussion on cellulosic ethanol production
Built on a foundation of grain-based production, the cellulosic ethanol industry is poised for strong growth in the United States. During his keynote address at the third annual Wisconsin Bioenergy Summit on Thursday, Oct. 14, POET Senior Director of Research Greg Hartgraves will outline progress and show how grain-based and cellulosic industry segments will work together to make ethanol more sustainable. Read More
October is flu shot month for students, faculty, staff
The first University of Wisconsin–Madison flu shot clinic of the season will be held Friday, Oct. 1, at the SERF, 715 W. Dayton St., from noon-5 p.m.. Students, faculty and staff can drop in without an appointment, get their seasonal flu shot out of the way and be treated to some early Halloween candy. Read More
Team receives funds to advance development of production method for medical isotopes
An acute shortage of a medical isotope needed by tens of thousands of medical patients daily will be addressed through a federal funding agreement reached Sept. 30 to advance pioneering technology developed at a Middleton, Wis., company and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read More
Bioenergy choices could dramatically change Midwest bird diversity
Ambitious plans to expand acreage of bioenergy crops could have a major impact on birds in the Upper Midwest, according to a study published today (Oct. 4) in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Read More
UWPD seeks info in Union burglary, damage
UWPD is investigating a burglary to the Outdoor Rentals Office of the Memorial Union that occurred sometime between 6:30 p.m. Sept. 30 and 7 a.m. Oct. 1. Read More
Campus safety report now available
UW-Madison’s 2010 campus safety report and guide is now available on the new Web site of the Division of Student Life, http://students.wisc.edu. Read More
Documentary filmmaker’s work celebrated in Year of the Arts events
Errol Morris' Twitter bio lists writer, filmmaker and anthropoid... in that order. It's curious that an Academy-award winning filmmaker doesn't lead with that accomplishment. And anthropoid? A little digging into his work and it becomes clear that outsider Morris might feel he has just a toe or two in the human race rather than being all-in. Read More
Federal grant to bolster consumer financial education at UW–Madison
The Social Security Administration has awarded $3.1 million to support research on financial education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read More
Improving the cutting edge
Tiny tools— small enough to poke an individual lens on a ladybug’s eye — are getting more durable, thanks to ultrathin nanocrystalline diamond coatings developed… Read More
Campus, city celebrate centennial of jazz legend
As a pianist, composer, arranger, educator and humanitarian, Mary Lou Williams (1910-81) gained a sterling reputation among her jazz peers. But to many outsiders, even jazz fans, she remained unknown and underappreciated. Her 1976 visit to the University of Wisconsin–Madison brought her work alive, but few pictures or recordings remain. Read More
UW Homecoming parade celebrates Wisconsin tradition
Legend says that on the eve of the first Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe, the trophy went missing, and Bucky Badger organized a search party of thousands to march down State Street and find it. Read More
For first time, monkeys recognize themselves in the mirror, indicating self-awareness
Typically, monkeys don't know what to make of a mirror. They may ignore it or interpret their reflection as another, invading monkey, but they don't recognize the reflection as their own image. Chimpanzees and people pass this "mark" test - they obviously recognize their own reflection and make funny faces, look at a temporary mark that the scientists have placed on their face or wonder how they got so old and grey. Read More