Category Science & Technology
Construction begins on $133 million revamp of Chemistry Building
With the start of construction on a $133 million chemistry tower and other renovations, students — as well as faculty and other researchers — will gain access to updated teaching and laboratory spaces to accommodate the next generation of chemical education and research.
Vaccine opt-outs dropped — barely — when California added more hurdles
A law requiring that parents who wanted to exempt their children from vaccines to get the signature of a healthcare provider slightly reduced the proportion of unvaccinated children entering kindergarten in California.
Power-hungry data centers may help make a more efficient national electric grid
Researchers from UW–Madison and the University of Chicago will explore the idea that data centers could make the power grid more flexible with a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
Blazes of light reveal how plants signal danger long distances
The plants produce a protein that only fluoresces around calcium, letting the researchers track its presence and concentration. Then came caterpillar bites, scissor cuts and crushing wounds.
A little less protection could bring about long-lasting solar cells
New research at UW–Madison helped researchers achieve the longest-ever useful life of a key component of some types of photovoltaic cells called the photoelectrochemical electrode.
Multi-university collaboration will use data science to find the next El Nino
A new collaboration involving UW–Madison will develop novel data science tools to sniff out hidden weather patterns, improving weather forecasts and scientific understanding of global climate.
A starring role for nonhuman primates in the stem cell story
“If UW–Madison is the birthplace of human embryonic stem cells, then the Primate Research Center is the cradle,” says Marina Emborg, director of the center's Preclinical Parkinson's Research Program.
Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab has new director, new direction
UW–Madison veterinarian Keith Poulsen will head the agency, which plays a critical role in preserving animal health and the integrity of the state’s animal production industry.
LAB3 exhibition helps high school students merge physics and art
A new exhibition featuring artworks inspired by scientific research led by UW–Madison physicists, and created by high school students with the help of artists and writers.
UW–Madison to co-lead $10 million grant to cultivate STEM faculty
To broaden participation in STEM programs and fields, the National Science Foundation awarded a five-year, $10 million NSF INCLUDES Alliance grant to be co-led by UW–Madison’s Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
Initiative focuses on advanced technology innovations in biomanufacturing
A $750,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. announced today (Sept. 6) establishes the Forward BIO Initiative, a collaborative effort to make Wisconsin a recognized center of excellence for biomanufacturing.
Ancient farmers spared us from glaciers but profoundly changed Earth’s climate
Ancient farming practices led to a rise in the atmospheric emission of the heat-trapping gases carbon dioxide and methane – a rise that has continued since, unlike the trend at any other time in Earth’s geologic history, according to new UW–Madison research.
Physical Sciences Laboratory part of $1.6 million grant to plan for neutrino detector
The grant will expand the PSL’s technology for constructing specialized panels capable of detecting and studying neutrinos, ghostly subatomic particles.
Exploring the matrix to uncover hidden drivers of ovarian cancer
To clump together and form living tissue, cells secrete molecules that create structure. But that structure isn’t always healthy, and understanding how it goes bad could reveal more about the way cancer develops.
An ocean apart, carnivorous pitcher plants create similar communities
Asian pitchers transplanted to Massachusetts bogs can mimic the living communities of natives so well that the pitcher plant mosquito — a specialized insect that evolved to complete its life cycle exclusively in North American pitchers — lays eggs in the impostors, new research shows.
$100 million Foxconn gift launches major new partnership with UW–Madison
The agreements formalize the UW’s commitment to research efforts at FIRST and Foxconn’s commitment to research, recruiting, creating opportunities for internships and hands-on work in campus labs.
Martens recolonized Isle Royale in the ’90s, showing island’s dynamism
The results of a new study provide much-needed context about the natural history of an island long considered an unspoiled wilderness, but one with a long history of ecological disruptions and recoveries.
Kids connect with robot reading partners
Researchers have built a robot to serve as a reading buddy to middle school kids. Its new friends grew more excited about books and more attached to the robot over two weeks of reading together.
Greenhouses contend with the climate to keep plants growing
The university's greenhouses, which include plants from all over the world, provide study material for botany and horticulture courses and the precisely controlled climates required for research experiments.
Manipulating how yeast cells work could lead to new medical treatments
Megan McClean, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, studies cellular signaling pathways, the biological networks that transform external signals into internal decisions such as whether to grow or die.