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Category Science & Technology

Geography professor honored with lifetime achievement award

February 20, 2007

Longtime University of Wisconsin–Madison geographer Waltraud Brinkmann has been selected as the recipient of the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Climate Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.

Nanoscale packaging could aid delivery of cancer-fighting drugs

February 15, 2007

A University of Wisconsin–Madison pharmacy professor aims to improve the delivery of cancer-fighting drugs by targeting them more selectively to tumors and boosting their solubility in water.

Hidden gems: New composites are stiffer than diamond

February 14, 2007

Using a unique combination of barium titanate and tin, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have made the first known material that's stiffer than diamond.

Researcher seeks ‘missing piece’ in climate change models

February 13, 2007

To most people, soil is just dirt. But to microbiologists, it is a veritable zoo of bacteria, fungi and nematodes. It's also a vast carbon dioxide factory. As these microorganisms consume carbon-based materials found in soil, they release carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere as a normal part of their metabolism.

IceCube telescope construction exceeds season goals

February 12, 2007

As the austral summer wanes, so does the highly successful 2006-07 work season at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, which draws to a close Thursday, Feb. 15.

Nanotechnology meets biology and DNA finds its groove

February 8, 2007

UW-Madison scientists have developed a quick, inexpensive and efficient method to extract single DNA molecules and position them in nanoscale troughs or "slits," where they can be easily analyzed and sequenced. The technique, which according to its developers is simple and scalable, could lead to faster and vastly more efficient sequencing technology in the lab, and may one day help underpin the ability of clinicians to obtain customized DNA profiles of patients.

Study profiles rate of autism in Wisconsin

February 8, 2007

A Wisconsin autism surveillance project reported today (Feb. 8) that approximately five out of every 1,000 Wisconsin children born in 1994 display symptoms indicative of autism.

Physicists find way to ‘see’ extra dimensions

February 2, 2007

Peering backward in time to an instant after the big bang, physicists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have devised an approach that may help unlock the hidden shapes of alternate dimensions of the universe.

Finding may unshackle the potential of composite materials

January 31, 2007

In an advance that could lead to composite materials with virtually limitless performance capabilities, a University of Wisconsin–Madison scientist has dispelled a 50-year-old theoretical notion that composite materials must be made only of "stable" individual materials to be stable overall.

McKenna selected to head veterinary diagnostic lab

January 31, 2007

Thomas McKenna, an animal disease expert with 12 years experience dealing with the implications of livestock diseases at the national and international level, has been chosen to head the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

Nutrition researchers provide the skinny on trans fats

January 30, 2007

This past holiday season, University of Wisconsin–Madison nutritionist Sherry Tanumihardjo made brownies with butter, not margarine. Like a lot of us, she wanted to avoid artificial trans fats.

Enzyme plays dual role in cancer spread

January 29, 2007

Before cancer cells can migrate, or metastasize, to other parts of the body, they first have to disconnect from their neighbors in the tumor. A team of University of Wisconsin–Madison and Canadian scientists has made a surprising discovery: The same enzyme that controls the ability of cancer cells to move also governs a process that binds them tightly in place.

Silicon medicines may be effective in humans

January 24, 2007

University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists have shown that silicon — the stuff of computer chips, glass and pottery — may have extraordinary therapeutic value for treating human disease.