Category Science & Technology
Physical Sciences Lab is a one-stop shop
As full-time caretaker for Wisc-SIMS, one of the geology department’s most intricate scientific instruments, Jim Kern is no stranger to trouble-shooting problems and making repairs. Still, when the machine, called an ion microprobe, sprang a leak in its detector this summer, the technician soon realized he’d need help from the instrument’s French manufacturer to fix it.
PET scans may help in leukemia care
Is the chemotherapy working? Is the radiation therapy shrinking the tumor? The sooner doctors know the answers to those questions, the better they can tailor cancer treatment. Now a UW–Madison research team is finding that non-invasive PET scans may provide the answers early during treatment — in contrast to the current long wait needed to determine clinical outcome.
‘Once Upon a Christmas Cheery’ to be broadcast in December
All tickets for the 39th annual “Once Upon a Christmas Cheery in the Lab of Shakhashiri” have been distributed, but the program will be broadcast on Wisconsin Public Television.
Climate solutions worth $50,000 in prizes for students
Organizers of a new Climate Leadership Challenge at UW–Madison are seeking the best and brightest ideas from the student body to promote an environmentally sustainable future. They hope the contest will unleash a burst of youthful brainstorming and entrepreneurship across campus.
Ancient mounds make UW–Madison a unique landscape
The UW–Madison campus includes 38 effigy and burial mounds in six groupings.
Curiosities: How do public health officials determine which strain of influenza to create vaccines for each year?
This year’s influenza vaccine in the United States contains three strains of the influenza virus. Last March, experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease…
Research on human embryonic stem cells marks 10-year milestone
Ten years ago today (Nov. 6, 1998), the publication in the journal Science of a short paper entitled "Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Blastocysts" rocked biology - and the world - as the all-purpose stem cell and its possibilities were ushered into the limelight.
Study: Flies may help humans make up for lost sleep
Fruit flies have been used in many kinds of medical research for years, but the joint lab of School of Medicine and Public Health psychiatrists Chiara Cirelli and Giulio Tononi was one of the first in the world to use them as a model for human sleep.
School for aspiring vegetable growers set for January on campus
Aspiring fresh market vegetable growers can learn the fundamentals of the business from veteran growers and other experts at the 2009 Wisconsin School for Beginning Market Growers, Jan. 16-18, at UW–Madison.
Conference to celebrate a decade of stem cell research
The Wisconsin Academy, along with UW–Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), will host a free, two-day event to highlight the accomplishments of stem cell research in the state and to examine future stem cell issues.
Stretching silicon: A new method to measure how strain affects semiconductors
UW-Madison engineers and physicists have developed a method of measuring how strain affects thin films of silicon that could lay the foundation for faster flexible electronics.
Curiosities: Why do people like to scare themselves by watching horror movies or going on thrill rides?
First of all, it’s important to remember that many people don’t enjoy these experiences, said Jack Nitschke, a UW–Madison professor of psychiatry and psychology.
Sea urchin yields a key secret of biomineralization
The teeth and bones of mammals, the protective shells of mollusks, and the needle-sharp spines of sea urchins and other marine creatures are made-from-scratch wonders of nature.
Scientist makes satellite images accessible to all
From locating water sources in Ethiopia to parsing complex processes in the atmosphere over Bulgaria, satellite instruments provide information useful to anyone anywhere. UW–Madison atmospheric scientist Paolo Antonelli has made it his mission to help anyone access and use satellite observations of anywhere in the world.