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Category Science & Technology

Drinkwater, Greenberg to fill research leadership posts

June 9, 2015

Norman Drinkwater, a UW–Madison professor of oncology, and Jan Greenberg, a UW–Madison professor of social work, have been named associate vice chancellors in the Office of Research and Graduate Education. Greenberg will lead the area of social studies while Drinkwater will lead the biological sciences. Read More

Study redefines role of estrogen in cervical cancer

June 8, 2015

Scientists have prior evidence that the hormone estrogen is a major driver in the growth of cervical cancer, but a new study examining genetic profiles of 128 clinical cases reached a surprising conclusion: Estrogen receptors all but vanish in cervical cancer tumors. Read More

Navigating multiple myeloma with ‘Google Maps’ for the cancer genome

June 8, 2015

In some ways, studying the genetics of cancer has been like examining the individual tiles on a mosaic, says David C. Schwartz, a professor of genetics and chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. To make his point, he brings his face close to the table where he sits - his mosaic for the purpose of illustration - and describes the details of each imaginary tile. Read More

Family affair: Milwaukee electronics manufacturer is flying high

May 28, 2015

From a distance of practically eight decades, Nathaniel Zelazo can smile about the failure of his first entrepreneurial venture. A Polish Jew who landed in New York in 1928 at age 10, he earned money for his schoolbooks peddling ice cream on the streets of Manhattan. "Needless to say, I had no license and got arrested," he recalls. "The guys in the same cell were killers and my liquid assets were melting." Read More

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