Category Science & Technology
Astronomy video game wins national award
“At Play in the Cosmos,” an educational video game developed at UW–Madison, won the third annual Mashable + Games for Change People’s Choice Award. Read More
UW geographer leads initiative against sexual harassment
Erika Marín-Spiotta is partnering with scientific societies and geoscience faculty colleagues from across the country to develop bystander intervention training for the earth, space and environmental sciences. Read More
Isotope maker breaks ground in Janesville: UW–Madison spinoff to employ 150
SHINE Medical Technologies, a firm spawned from research in the UW–Madison College of Engineering, broke ground today (Aug. 3) on “Building One” at its new location just south of Janesville. Read More
Pregnancy loss and evolution of sex linked by cellular line dance
UW-Madison scientist Dan Levitis’ quest led to a discovery that helps explain why so many plants and animals lose so many offspring. The villain? Meiosis. Read More
Zika infections unlikely to be passed by kissing, casual contact
UW-Madison researchers have found in a study of monkeys that casual contact through saliva is not enough for the virus to move between hosts. Read More
Q & A: New WID director Jo Handelsman on returning to UW, leading institute
Handelsman talks about the global challenges the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery is addressing, where the interdisciplinary research institute has been in its first seven years, and what its future looks like. Read More
How to take in the eclipse: Tips from UW Space Place
The effects of the partial eclipse in Wisconsin will be subtle, but worth watching nonetheless. Read More
Researchers crack the smile, describing 3 types by muscle movement
The smile may be the most common and flexible expression, used to reveal some emotions, cover others and manage social interactions. But how do we tell one kind of smile from another? Read More
Taking the genomic revolution to corn fields to improve crops
By bringing the genomic revolution into corn fields, Genomes2Fields aims to improve the nation’s corn crop by uncovering how genomes — the blueprints for plants — are turned into yield, stress resistance, and all manner of different traits. Read More
UW helps create the largest neutrino detectors in the world
A new era in neutrino physics in the United States is underway, and UW–Madison’s Physical Sciences Laboratory in Stoughton is playing a key role. Read More
UW Arboretum workshop tracks endangered bees with photos
Following the listing of the rusty patched bumble bee as an endangered species in March, more than two dozen people came to the Arboretum to learn how to use photography to identify pollinators. Read More
In words and glass, collaboration unlocks birth of modern chemistry
Scientific glassblower Tracy Drier creates a kaliapparat, the focus of his historical research, inside his glass shop in the basement of the UW–Madison… Read More
Degree program uses satellite, drone technologies to solve environmental problems
Students will learn skills that can be applied to conducting wildlife surveys, mapping floodwaters, monitoring environmental conditions, and many other applications. Read More
DOE selects Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center for next-phase funding
Research at the UW-based center will shift to bioenergy crops such as switchgrass, poplar trees and sorghum that will be grown on non-agricultural land. Read More
Advance furthers stem cells for use in drug discovery, cell therapy
UW–Madison researchers have invented an all-chemical replacement for the confusing, even dangerous materials, now used to grow stem cells. Read More
Longtime botany greenhouse director Mo Fayyaz to retire
Mo Fayyaz is retiring in August after 33 years as the distinguished director of the botany department greenhouse and botanical gardens. Read More
UW team in South Africa to share ‘origin stories’
A team from University Communications has traveled to South Africa to tell important UW-focused stories about origins: from the galaxies to life on Earth to the birth of humankind. Read More
Study reveals interplay of an African bat, a parasite and a virus
The role of bat parasites in maintaining chains of viral infection is little studied, and the new study serves up some intriguing insights into how viruses co-opt parasites to help do the dirty work of disease transmission. Read More
Made-in-Madison skin replacement starts final clinical trial
A University of Wisconsin–Madison spinoff that makes an innovative material designed to speed healing of serious burns has begun a large clinical trial for the “regenerative skin tissue” it has been developing since 2000. Read More
Plants under attack can turn hungry caterpillars into cannibals
A researcher found a tomato plant can make itself taste so horrible that a caterpillar, which would typically munch on its leaves, might eat another caterpillar instead. Read More