Category Science & Technology
Ancient environment found to drive marine biodiversity
Much of our knowledge about past life has come from the fossil record — but how accurately does that reflect the true history and drivers of biodiversity on Earth? Read More
Psychopaths’ brains show difference in structure, function
Images of prisoners' brains show important differences between those who are diagnosed as psychopaths and those who aren't, according to a new study led by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers. Read More
New evidence links virus to brain cancer
Tilting the scales in an ongoing debate, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have found new evidence that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is associated with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the brain cancer that killed Sen. Edward Kennedy. Read More
Hydrogen peroxide provides clues to immunity, wound healing, tumor biology
Hydrogen peroxide isn't just that bottled colorless liquid in the back of the medicine cabinet that's used occasionally for cleaning scraped knees and cut fingers. It's also a natural chemical in the body that rallies at wound sites, jump-starting immune cells into a series of events. Read More
Implanted neurons, grown in the lab, take charge of brain circuitry
Among the many hurdles to be cleared before human embryonic stem cells can achieve their therapeutic potential is determining whether or not transplanted cells can functionally integrate into target organs or tissues. Read More
Microfabrication breakthrough could set piezoelectric material applications in motion
Integrating a complex, single-crystal material with "giant" piezoelectric properties onto silicon, University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers and physicists can fabricate low-voltage, near-nanoscale electromechanical devices that could lead to improvements in high-resolution 3-D imaging, signal processing, communications, energy harvesting, sensing, and actuators for nanopositioning devices, among others. Read More
Christmas Lecture, a Madison holiday tradition, returns
Chemistry Professor Bassam Z. Shakhashiri will celebrate a 42-year tradition with his holiday demonstration, “Once Upon a Christmas Cheery in the Lab of Shakhashiri.” Read More
Biochemist Har Gobind Khorana, whose UW work earned the Nobel Prize, dies
Biochemist Har Gobind Khorana, who received the Nobel Prize for research he conducted while at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, died Wednesday, Nov. 9 in Concord, Mass. at age 89. Read More
Satellite technology enables rapid, accurate mapping of forest harvest in upper Midwest
Using satellite images, Mutlu Ozdogan, an assistant professor of forest and wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is automatically generating maps showing where trees have been harvested in the form of clear-cut areas over five-year intervals. Read More
Forum focuses on storing spent nuclear fuel
Not all of the fallout from last March's disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was radioactive. There was also considerable policy fallout, as the crisis caused many to rethink the safety of nuclear power. Read More
UW professors honored by American Chemical Society
Four University of Wisconsin–Madison professors have won awards from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in recognition of research excellence. They will be honored at a ceremony next March at the society’s 243rd national meeting in San Diego. Read More
UW study will explore anemia
To say a pregnant woman is eating for two leaves out a few guests at the table - trillions of them, according to Christopher Coe, a University of Wisconsin–Madison psychology professor who will soon begin studying anemia with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Read More
Two named to receive 2011 Champion Awards
Douglass Henderson and Margaret Harrigan have been selected as winners of the 2011 Champion Awards, presented by the Women's Philanthropy Council (WPC) of the University of Wisconsin Foundation at the council's biennial forum on Nov. 2. Read More
Climate change and the oxymoron of sustainable growth
Climate change, often viewed as a burden for future generations, is, in fact, a problem at hand, and a significant one, contends Rudy M. Baum, editor-in-chief of Chemical & Engineering News. Read More
Study evaluates bat deaths near wind turbines
It's something of an ecological murder mystery - countless numbers of bats are turning up dead near wind farms. But what is killing them? Read More
Launch of new satellite will sharpen weather observations
From a launching pad at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base our newest weather satellite rose into orbit this morning, buoyed by know-how from the University of Wisconsin–Madison's atmospheric and space science community. Read More
Microscope will give UW researchers powerful view of molecular structures
A successful campus-wide partnership will bring to the University of Wisconsin–Madison a powerful new electron microscope equipped to produce high-resolution, three-dimensional images of a wide range of biological samples. Read More
Fungus causes deadly bat disease: last doubts removed
Scientists have proven that the fungus Geomyces destructans causes white-nose syndrome, a fast-spreading and highly lethal disease of bats. Read More
Treasured campus murals conserved for future generations
Art conservators are painstakingly preserving a set of historic, wall-size John Steuart Curry works surrounded by the gutted and rebuilt Biochemistry Building on Henry Mall. Read More