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Category Science & Technology

Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery facility opens on UW–Madison campus

December 2, 2010

Twin research institutes and a space designed for all to engage in science opened Thursday on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. Read More

New treatments protect Christmas from ‘Grinch’ grub

December 1, 2010

Across northern Wisconsin, many of the state's Christmas tree growers struggle to protect their trees from an insect pest known as the white grub, which lurks in the soil, feeds on tree roots and destroys the crop. Read More

UW-Madison chemistry professor elected to lead American Chemical Society

November 29, 2010

University of Wisconsin–Madison chemistry professor Bassam Shakhashiri has been voted president-elect of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Read More

Mifflin Meteorite finds permanent home in Geology Museum

November 23, 2010

The meteorite that lit up the skies over southwest Wisconsin this spring has been officially dubbed the "Mifflin Meteorite," and several of its pieces are now part of the permanent collection of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Geology Museum. Read More

Banking on predictability, the mind increases efficiency

November 22, 2010

Like musical compression saves space on your mp3 player, the human brain has ways of recoding sounds to save precious processing power. Read More

Scientists ferret out a key pathway for aging

November 18, 2010

A team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and their colleagues describe a molecular pathway that is a key determinant of the aging process. Read More

UW-Madison researchers win White House science awards

November 15, 2010

Two University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers are among the country's most promising young researchers, according to the White House. Read More

Curiosities: Why is Pluto not considered a planet?

November 15, 2010

Until 2006, astronomers had not carefully defined “planet,” says James Lattis, director of the UW Space Place. Asteroids were not considered planets because… Read More

Embryonic stem cell culturing grows from art to science

November 14, 2010

Growing human embryonic stem cells in the lab is no small feat. Culturing the finicky, shape-shifting cells is labor intensive and, in some ways, more art than exact science. Read More

Curiosities: How do frogs, toads and other amphibians survive the Wisconsin winter?

November 10, 2010

Amphibians are at great risk during the winter but employ several strategies for getting through, says Scott Craven, professor of forest and wildlife… Read More

On anniversary of Edmund Fitzgerald sinking, wave research may prevent future tragedies

November 10, 2010

The intense and dangerous windstorm and accompanying high waves the Great Lakes states experienced in late October is thought to be the same kind of… Read More

Long-term lake study suggests ecological mechanism may control destructive crayfish

November 4, 2010

Just a few years ago, scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's research station in Boulder Junction, Wis., were growing sick of a crustacean delicacy - the rusty crayfish. Roughly 90,000 of the animals had been caught during an intensive trapping program at the nearby Sparkling Lake. Read More

UW-Madison students make “genetic machines” for international competition

November 2, 2010

As yogurt and other products are marketed as a method for improving health, young biologists at University of Wisconsin–Madison are trying to do something similar by engineering delivery of biological molecules to the intestine. Read More

Online map allows visitors, naturalists to share Arboretum experience

November 1, 2010

If the UW Arboretum were just a pretty place to take a walk, its new Interactive Map wouldn't need much more than crisscrossing trails, grey blobs for parking lots and symbols marking the restrooms. Read More

Expanding croplands chipping away at world’s carbon stocks

November 1, 2010

Nature's capacity to store carbon, the element at the heart of global climate woes, is steadily eroding as the world's farmers expand croplands at the expense of native ecosystem such as forests. Read More

Curiosities: Why do stars appear to twinkle in the night sky?

November 1, 2010

Courtesy European Space Agency (ESA/Hubble). Stars twinkle because we view them through our atmosphere, says James Lattis, director of University of Wisconsin–Madison… Read More

Chemists concoct new agents to easily study critical cell proteins

November 1, 2010

They are the portals to the cell, gateways through which critical signals and chemicals are exchanged between living cells and their environments. Read More