Category Science & Technology
Concrete Canoe team victorious in the Netherlands
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Concrete Canoe Team dominated the 30th annual Dutch Concrete Canoe Challenge this weekend in the Netherlands. The team took first place overall, with victories in five out of the six race categories. The team's 20-foot, 176-pound canoe, Descendent, also won the construction and innovation categories for its design and use of environmentally sound concrete.
Exhibits reveal famous patrons of the arts also loved science
Medici enthusiasm for science as well as art during the three centuries the family reigned over Florence and Tuscany is now on display at UW–Madison.
Graduate science education program to expand to more universities
The UW–Madison-based Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) has received a three-year, $5.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to expand a campus science education program to five other major research universities.
Using evolution, UW team creates a template for many new therapeutic agents
By guiding an enzyme down a new evolutionary pathway, a team of University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers has created a new form of an enzyme capable of producing a range of potential new therapeutic agents with anticancer and antibiotic properties.
Basic research robust in face of more university patenting
A UW–Madison study of more than 1,800 U.S. life scientists found that, despite an explosion in academic patenting in recent years, most life science professors still do research the "old-fashioned" way: they win federal grants, publish results in scientific journals, and graduate Ph.D. students.
National Stem Cell Bank announces addition of new cell lines
The National Stem Cell Bank has announced that it has received select human embryonic stem cell lines from Novocell, a leading stem cell engineering company based in San Diego. With the addition of the new lines, the National Stem Cell Bank will have on deposit 14 of the 21 cell lines listed on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) federal registry.
Curiosities: Why is the ocean salty?
The saltiness of the sea comes from dissolved minerals, especially sodium, chlorine, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, says Galen McKinley, a UW–Madison professor…
Jordan Gerth: Souping up state weather forecasts
Since arriving at UW–Madison from Kenosha in 2005 as a freshman, the atmospheric and oceanic sciences major has taken a lead role in a project that is making campus weather research tools available to frontline forecasters in Wisconsin’s National Weather Service (NWS) regional offices.
UW Badgers, farmers enjoy benefits of whey sports drink
When the University of Wisconsin football Badgers take the field this fall, they will have a secret weapon behind them: Wisconsin's dairy cows.
Beijing seminar helps Wisconsin dairies build a bridge to China
Along the northern and northeastern borders of China, traditionally considered the country's dairy belt, daily life can resemble a scene from a Wisconsin of a bygone era. But Chinese dairy farmers aren't facing the hurdles of modernization alone. To help them meet their lofty goals, they are turning to a state that knows a thing or two about building a dairy industry: Wisconsin.
Invasive species spreads to Vilas County lake in Wisconsin
The spiny water flea, a small but aggressive aquatic invasive species, has made its way into another of Wisconsin's lakes, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers reported last week.
New ophthalmologist joins School of Veterinary Medicine
Elizabeth Adkins, a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, has joined the staff at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, effective Aug. 22.
School of Veterinary Medicine sponsors 24th annual Dog Jog benefit
At 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 16, hundreds of animal lovers and their dogs will run (or walk) the two-mile Dog Jog benefit race, sponsored by the University of Wisconsin–Madison's School of Veterinary Medicine.
At home in the Northwoods
Summer is high season at Kemp Natural Resources Station in Woodruff, Wis, when a series of classes, researchers and visitors stream onto Kemp grounds. For most, Kemp serves as a home base for research projects that require access to woods, water, wildlife or wilderness. This summer, the station is hosting people studying topics ranging from climate change to lakeshore ecology to biodiversity.
Curiosities: Why does the sky turn green before a tornado?
Scott Bachmeier, a research meteorologist at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at UW–Madison, says that particles in the air scatter…
Study finds Viagra increases release of key reproductive hormone
The little blue pill may do more than get the blood pumping. Sildenafil — the generic name for Viagra — also increases release of a reproductive hormone in rats, according to a new study.
New children’s hospital becomes reality for families
When nearly 9,000 visitors walked through the new American Family Children's Hospital during its open house in late July, children's hospital Vice President David Berry said he heard two main reactions from patients and families who had offered advice on what the new hospital should include.
Technician cares for Kemp Station
It's an unseasonably hot June day in northern Wisconsin and the sun is blazing, but the solitary figure working on the roof either doesn't mind or is toughing it out. The demanding manual labor, set against a backdrop of the scenic North Woods, makes a typical workday for Gary Kellner, craftsworker and natural resources and maintenance technician at the Kemp Natural Resources Station in Woodruff, Wis.