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Category Science & Technology

Curiosities: How many galaxies have humans discovered?

August 3, 2009

“We don’t know,” says Ed Churchwell, professor of astronomy. “We know it’s a very large number.” It’s in the hundreds of billions, Churchwell… Read More

Team discovers gene for age-related cataracts

July 31, 2009

Participants in the University of Wisconsin–Madison's long-running Beaver Dam Eye Study have contributed to the discovery of a gene involved in cataracts in both aging humans and in mice. Read More

Will a well-mixed, warmer lake doom invasive fish?

July 30, 2009

The rainbow smelt, an invasive fish that threatens native species such as walleye and perch, may soon be feeling the heat - literally. Read More

Curiosities: Does a dark-colored car heat up more in the sun than a light-colored car?

July 27, 2009

The external color does not significantly affect how much the inside of a car heats up in the sun, says Sanford Klein, director of… Read More

Curiosities: Why do cats hate water?

July 27, 2009

Because we teach them to hate it. There are plenty of cats that love water, according to Sandi Sawchuk, a clinical instructor at the… Read More

Curiosities: Why do onions make us cry when we cut them?

July 27, 2009

Chopping onions unleashes a “chemical defense that onion plants have to protect themselves against insects and microbes,” says UW–Madison horticulture professor Irwin Goldman. We’re… Read More

Curiosities: Are there more geese in Wisconsin than there used to be?

July 27, 2009

The number of Canada geese in Wisconsin is very much on the rise, increasing exponentially since standardized bird counts began in 1966, according to… Read More

Faculty aim to strengthen technology, science education by blending them

July 24, 2009

A group of UW–Madison researchers and Thermo Fisher Scientific scientists will bring together high school students and teachers to build and use diagnostic equipment that would not be out of place in university research labs. Read More

UW-Madison symposium addresses science’s holiest grail: building life from scratch

July 23, 2009

While at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, biochemist Har Gobind Khorana helped crack the genetic code, completing a set of experiments that garnered him a Nobel Prize in 1968. Read More

Software tool helps Web developers identify seizure-causing content

July 22, 2009

In 1997, an episode of the popular Pok�mon cartoon gained worldwide attention when more than 800 Japanese children with photosensitive seizure conditions were admitted to the hospital after viewing the cartoon or the subsequent news coverage of it. Read More

Do Chicago’s suburbs hold the key to understanding West Nile virus?

July 22, 2009

For a group of UW–Madison epidemiologists, the Chicago suburbs near Oak Lawn are proving to be the perfect laboratory for prying loose the secrets of West Nile virus, a pathogen carried by mosquitoes and birds that infects and sickens thousands of people each summer. Read More

Slide show: Blooming limnologists

July 20, 2009

The limnology “major”, one of 18 offered at this year’s Grandparents University, takes grandparents and their grandchildren on to Lake Mendota to collect samples and test the water for oxygen and temperature while aboard Limnos, a 28-foot research boat. Read More

‘Motion picture’ of past warming paves way for snapshots of future climate change

July 16, 2009

By accurately modeling Earth's last major global warming - and answering pressing questions about its causes - scientists led by University of Wisconsin–Madison and National Center for Atmospheric Research climatologists are unraveling the intricacies of the kind of abrupt climate shifts that may occur in the future. Read More

Study suggests H1N1 virus more dangerous than suspected

July 13, 2009

A new, highly detailed study of the H1N1 flu virus shows that the pathogen is more virulent than previously thought. Read More

UW-Madison researcher wins White House science award

July 9, 2009

A University of Wisconsin–Madison bacteriologist and evolutionary biologist is one of the country's brightest young scientific minds, according to the White House. Read More

Reduced diet thwarts aging, disease in monkeys

July 9, 2009

The bottom-line message from a decades-long study of monkeys on a restricted diet is simple: Consuming fewer calories leads to a longer, healthier life. Read More

Registration now open for Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium

July 2, 2009

The second annual Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium, to be held July 23 and 24, will bring together science and technology researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors from across the state to help them share ideas and spark new collaborations. Read More

Five big ideas to fill out Wisconsin Institute for Discovery portfolio

June 30, 2009

Capping an intensely competitive process, five proposals from University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty have been selected to form the intellectual heart of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID). Read More

Recent sightings: The science of fireworks

June 29, 2009

Chemistry professor Bassam Shakhashiri ignites a gas-filled balloon during a free demonstration about the science of fireworks held at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Memorial… Read More