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Category Science & Technology

Innovation Days marks 20 years of undergrad entrepreneurship Feb. 13-14

February 10, 2014

University of Wisconsin–Madison undergraduates are greeting the 20th anniversary of the Innovation Days competition with inventions that range from healthcare to agriculture to exercise for amputees. Read More

Prolific chemistry student wins Churchill Scholarship

February 4, 2014

As a child, Joshua Shutter's introduction to chemistry came through library books, learning to make rock candy and bottle rockets. Read More

UW-Madison flu expert recognized for research excellence

February 3, 2014

Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of virology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine known for his groundbreaking work on influenza, has received the 2014 Excellence in Research Award from the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC). Read More

Distinguished Lecture Series announces spring lineup

January 30, 2014

The first speaker of the spring 2014 Wisconsin Union Directorate Distinguished Lecture Series is Lawrence Krauss. This award-wining physicist will speak on Wednesday, February 12, in Varsity Hall, Union South, at 7:30 p.m. Read More

Wisconsin researchers identify key pathway for plant cell growth

January 23, 2014

For plants, the only way to grow is for cells to expand. Unlike animals, cell division in plants happens only within a tiny region of the root and stem apex, making cell expansion the critical path to increased stature. Read More

Contest seeks amazing science images

January 23, 2014

To highlight the visual and scientific value of scientific imagery, the fourth annual Cool Science Image Contest is soliciting the best images from students and faculty and staff scientists on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. Read More

Education, surgery try “speed dating” for research

January 23, 2014

Dr. Craig Kent, chairman of surgery, said he hopes that it is at least as successful as a 2010 “speed dating” event with engineering faculty. That one resulted in several research partnerships between surgeons and engineers. Read More

Scientists ID 10-year water-level cycle in Great Lakes basin; say current lows buck trend

January 21, 2014

For at least the last 70 years, lakes and aquifers in northern Wisconsin have followed the same pattern - after higher than average peaks, water levels spend about 10 years on a downward trend before abruptly spiking up again, only to repeat the decade-long fall back to low-water conditions. Read More

Fish forced into the ‘foraging arena’ when lakes lose their trees

January 15, 2014

In attempts to predict what climate change will mean for life in lakes, scientists have mainly focused on two things: the temperature of the water and the amount of oxygen dissolved in it. But a new study from University of Wisconsin researchers is speaking for the trees - specifically, the dead ones that have toppled into a lake's near shore waters. Read More

Grad student’s proteins cut a rug, win ‘Dance Your Ph.D.’ competition

January 14, 2014

Graduate school research can get long and tricky and complex beyond the easy understanding even of your fellow grad students. Unless it has a beat, that is, and you can dance to it. Read More

Sleep is the price the brain pays for learning

January 12, 2014

Two leading sleep scientists from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health say that their synaptic homeostasis hypothesis of sleep or “SHY” challenges the theory that sleep strengthens brain connections. Read More

Skop elected to society’s board

January 9, 2014

Ahna Skop, associate professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has been elected to the board of the Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). Read More

Study identifies gene mutation as cause of canine tremor disorder

January 7, 2014

Weimaraners – sleek, athletic dogs originally bred for hunting - are known for their striking, silver-tinged coats. Unfortunately, they also are known for a rare tremor disorder reported widely throughout North America and Europe. Read More

UW researchers link protein with breast cancer’s spread to the brain

January 6, 2014

A cancer-research team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has identified a protein that may be a major culprit when breast cancer metastasizes to the brain. Read More

CALS researchers developing novel treatment for septic shock

December 26, 2013

By the time doctors diagnose septic shock, patients often are on a knife’s edge. At that point, for every hour that treatment is delayed, a person’s risk of death rises an alarming six percent. Read More

Even or odd: no easy feat for the mind

December 20, 2013

Even scientists are fond of thinking of the human brain as a computer, following sets of rules to communicate, make decisions and find a meal. Read More

Documentary connects multiple sclerosis, Vikings and Nordic skiing

December 12, 2013

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurological disease that affects more than 400,000 Americans, attacks the nervous system and causes many symptoms, including difficulty moving. But many who suffer from the disease defy its effects by maintaining an active lifestyle. Read More

Poverty influences children’s early brain development

December 11, 2013

Poverty may have direct implications for important, early steps in the development of the brain, saddling children of low-income families with slower rates of growth in two key brain structures, according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read More

Wisconsin engineer honored for ongoing innovation

December 10, 2013

Corn may be a dietary staple for humans and animals around the world, but in Jim Dumesic's eyes, the plant "waste" left after the harvest holds even more potential as a renewable bio-based source of fuels and important chemicals. On Dec. 10, the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) named Dumesic, the Steenbock professor and Michel Boudart professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, among 143 leading innovators elected to its 2013 class of fellows. Read More

Anthropologist, ‘underground astronaut’ strike fossil gold in South Africa dig

December 6, 2013

Squeezing through a gap called the International Postbox and climbing the jagged Dragon's Back were not in Alia Gurtov's plans for the fall semester, but she made an exception in order to participate in a wildly successful archaeological expedition into a South African cave. Read More