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Category Science & Technology

Genetic approaches to cancer, neural development lead to honor for UW–Madison scientists

May 21, 2015

Two University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers - one investigating the genetic basis of cancer growth and the other, the role of genes in neural development and learning - have earned funding and a prestigious honor from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Read More

UW-Madison student wins essay competition

May 18, 2015

University of Wisconsin–Madison student Madeline Gore is one of three undergraduate student winners of the annual UW System Liberal Arts Essay Scholarship Competition. Now in… Read More

Expert in computer science drives computer-security spinoff

May 18, 2015

One illustrious career in computer science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison can be traced to an anxious mother, a cocktail party conversation, and a "dead boring" job - plus a fascination with low-level machine code, a subject that many computer scientists disdain. Read More

Giving freight rail tracks a boost

May 14, 2015

The big chunks of rock - crushed limestone or dolomite that engineers call ballast - that keep railroad tracks in place look like a solid footing even as freight cars rumble overhead. Read More

Brazilian beef industry moves to reduce its destruction of rain forests

May 12, 2015

Expansion of cattle pastures has led to the destruction of huge swaths of rain forest in Brazil, home to the world's largest herd of commercial beef cattle. But a new study led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Holly Gibbs shows that market-driven "zero deforestation agreements" have dramatically influenced the behavior of ranchers and the slaughterhouses to which they sell. Read More

As the river rises: Cahokia’s emergence and decline linked to Mississippi River flooding

May 4, 2015

As with rivers, civilizations across the world rise and fall. Sometimes, the rise and fall of rivers has something to do with it. At Cahokia, the largest prehistoric settlement in the Americas north of Mexico, new evidence suggests that major flood events in the Mississippi River valley are tied to the cultural center’s emergence and ultimately, to its decline. Read More

UW honors noted entrepreneurs with achievement awards

May 4, 2015

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Entrepreneurial Achievement Awards this year honor a graduate of the Department of Computer Sciences who co-founded the company that’s now WebMD, and a Department of Animal Sciences professor who has turned his patented technologies into startup companies. Read More

McArdle’s Bradfield named interim WID director

May 4, 2015

Christopher Bradfield, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of oncology, has been appointed interim director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID). Read More

2015 Wisconsin Science Festival seeks proposals

April 28, 2015

Planning for the 2015 Wisconsin Science Festival, to be held Oct. 22-25 in Madison and around Wisconsin, is actively underway. Read More

UW-Madison startup marries digital, physical worlds

April 24, 2015

A startup business that wants to link the realm of physical objects to the digital world of the Internet is basing its future on low-cost, highly engineered, one-of-a-kind plastic stamps. Read More

Business will implement new phosphorus recycling process in Midwest

April 24, 2015

A University of Wisconsin–Madison startup is helping Midwest cities remove pollutants from wastewater through a new process that will benefit local farmers, too. Read More

Compact UV lasers could identify substances from a distance

April 24, 2015

For soldiers in the field, the ability to identify an object or substance based on how it responds to light could mean the difference between life and death. They could, for example, determine from a safe distance if an approaching person or vehicle is carrying an explosive device or dangerous biological agent. Read More

In Sierra Leone, a chance to learn from Ebola

April 23, 2015

When Yoshihiro Kawaoka and members of his research team first arrived in Sierra Leone in December 2014, the consistent wail of ambulance sirens was a frightening reminder that the Ebola virus was there, too. Read More

Messing named director of Waisman Center

April 21, 2015

Albee Messing, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of comparative biosciences and an international leader in research on Alexander disease, has been named director of the Waisman Center, UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden announced April 14. Read More

Deep national history of immigration predicts wide cultural comfort displaying emotion

April 20, 2015

People who live in countries built on centuries of migration from a wide range of other countries are more emotionally expressive than people in more insular cultures, according to research led by University of Wisconsin–Madison psychology Professor Paula Niedenthal. Read More

Better battery imaging paves way for renewable energy future

April 20, 2015

In a move that could improve the energy storage of everything from portable electronics to electric microgrids, University of Wisconsin–Madison and Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers have developed a novel X-ray imaging technique to visualize and study the electrochemical reactions in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries containing a new type of material, iron fluoride. Read More

Faster, smaller, cheaper: Technique could speed biologic drugs

April 20, 2015

Antibodies are specific molecules that can lock onto a particular cellular structure to start, stop or otherwise temper a biological process. Because they are so specific, antibodies are at the forefront of drug discovery. So drug companies want a faster route to step one: identifying which of the millions of possible antibodies will work against molecules that cause disease. Read More