UW In The News

Fifty years later

When Lakshmi Sridharan moved from India to Madison in the late 1960s to attend graduate school at UW-Madison, the local Indian American community looked much different than it does today. There were no Indian restaurants, no colorful Holi celebrations, no theaters showing Bollywood movies. On campus, the community was so small and close-knit that whenever someone’s relative from India would visit, all the Indian students would get together to share news from home and eat traditional foods.

Picture of humanity’s mysterious cousin grows clearer through UW prof’s work

A multiyear effort coordinated by a UW-Madison professor to painstakingly excavate thousands of fossils from a cave in South Africa has now assembled one of the most complete skeletons of a near-human creature ever found.

Hawks: More secrets of human ancestry emerge from South African caves

Africa’s richest fossil hominin site has revealed more of its treasure. It’s been a year and a half since scientists announced that a new hominin species, which they called Homo naledi, had been discovered in the Rising Star Cave outside Johannesburg.

Dance program pairs UW students, community center youth

When she first moved from Monona to Madison’s East Side, 14-year-old Avenna Pickett felt like she didn’t know anybody — until another girl told her about Performing Ourselves.Avenna joined the dance group, which is taught by students from the UW-Madison Dance Department and meets weekly at East Madison Community Center and elsewhere.

Kindergarteners to College: 5-year-olds ask UW professor tough questions

UW political science professor Ken Mayer asked a group of kindergarteners to come up with the toughest question they could think of. Here’s what they asked

Center for black UW-Madison students opening Wednesday

UW-Madison will open a center for black students as the spring semester winds down Wednesday, in what one researcher called a positive step toward the university better supporting African-Americans on campus.

Unique project at UW helps change lives for adults near the poverty level

UW-Madison will hold a graduation ceremony this week for a unique program designed to change lives of adults near the poverty leve

UW-Madison Professor Part Of Formula For ‘Gifted’

A tiny, blonde 7-year-old girl stands in front of a chalkboard, hand whirring away at a complicated math formula in a scene from the new movie, “Gifted,” starring Chris Evans, Jenny Slate and Octavia Spencer.

Op-Ed: How Badger Promise could have helped me

A few weeks ago I accomplished one of my dreams, successfully defending my Ph.D. dissertation in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was a goal I didn’t even realize I could have as a high school student. I grew up on a farm near Marathon City in central Wisconsin. My roots are working-class — Dad grows ginseng and Mom works in a cheese factory.

Artist/scientist Peter Krsko bends nature to his will

Ask Peter Krsko to define the art he creates and he might pull a wasp comb out of his backpack and draw attention to its hexagonal cells.

Timothy Yu: Moon

This poem appears in “The Golden Shovel Anthology,” a collection that honors Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African-American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize.

Two University of Wisconsin professors win Andrew Carnegie fellowships

Scheufele and Brossard: Can Bill Nye – or any other science show – really save the world?

Netflix’s new talk show, “Bill Nye Saves the World,” debuted the night before people around the world joined together to demonstrate and March for Science. Many have lauded the timing and relevance of the show, featuring the famous “Science Guy” as its host, because it aims to myth-bust and debunk anti-scientific claims in an alternative-fact era.

Wisconsin’s Lauren Carlini: “I’m so excited to see what’s ahead”

Lauren Carlini is having a blast. In May she’ll graduate from the University of Wisconsin and move to Anaheim to train with the USA national team.

UW Study Finds Road Salt Is Changing Salinity Of Freshwater Lakes

Central Time talks to Hilary Dugan, a UW-Madison researcher, about a recent study showing that our freshwater lakes are getting saltier due to road salt used during winter months.

Aldo Leopold broadcasts recreated and other events planned across the state to celebrate Earth Day

Radio broadcasts by famed Wisconsin conservationist Aldo Leopold 80 years ago have been recreated as part of this year’s Earth Day celebration.

Former Badger Hayes talks mental wellness with local teens

Nigel Hayes is known for his sense of humor, but joking about serious topics is something he doesn’t tolerate.

Teaching science by asking, ‘What do you want to know’ and ‘How can you answer that?’

Twice a month, former and current UW-Madison students trek to little Mazomanie Elementary School here to help students experience what it’s really like to work as a scientist.The adults are members of Biocore Outreach Ambassadors, a student organization that is an outgrowth of the Biology Core Curriculum honors program at UW-Madison. The program, which is typically open to students beginning in their sophomore year, engages students in “inquiry-based science,” in which students ask questions, search for solutions, test hypotheses and evaluate outcomes.

“Pokemon Go” Players May Be Happier, Friendlier, & More Physically Active Than Those Who Aren’t Catchin’ ‘Em All

If you spent a significant portion of last summer knocking into lampposts in pursuit of a wiley Bulbasaur, cursing wildly because you walked five miles to hatch an egg that turned out to be a dingy-old Pidgey, or patiently explaining to your parents that you are indeed a single 25-year-old playing a video game on her phone and yes, you do believe this is time well-spent, I have good news for you. This week, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison released a study which suggests “Pokemon Go” players are happier, friendlier, and more physically active than their non-”Pokemon Go” playing peers (or, Poke-muggles, as I have been repeatedly asked to stop calling them).

UW vollleyball star Lauren Carlini wins Sullivan Award

Lauren Carlini, the only four-time All-American in University of Wisconsin volleyball history, was named the 2017 AAU James E. Sullivan Award winner on Tuesday night at the New York Athletic Club.

Pokemon Go players are happy people, UW-Madison research suggests

New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests not only are Pokémon Go players walking more, they’re happy people.

Summit aims to increase Latino enrollment at UW-Madison

Video: UW-Madison wants to increase diversity in its enrollment by inviting Latino students to campus Wednesday and Thursday.

Schneider: Desmond’s ‘Evicted’ is a flawed masterpiece

When University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate Matthew Desmond won a Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction Monday, it came as no surprise to anyone who has read his 2016 book “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.”

Your Most Distant Animal Relative Is Probably This Tiny Jelly

For years, a debate has raged among scientists as to which ancient creature represents the first true animal, sponges or jellies. Using a new genetic technique, a collaborative team of researchers has concluded that ctenophores—also known as comb jellies—were the first animals to appear on Earth. It’s an important step forward in this longstanding debate, but this issue is far from being resolved.

Desmond wins Pulitzer for book based on Milwaukee research

Matthew Desmond, who earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on Monday won the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction for a book based on research conducted in Milwaukee.

UW-Madison launches STEM Diversity Network

UW-Madison has launched the STEM Diversity Network, a website collecting resources on science, technology, engineering and math to boost recruitment, retention and success of people of diverse backgrounds working and studying in those fields.

Artist/scientist Peter Krsko bends nature to his will

Ask Peter Krsko to define the art he creates and he might pull a wasp comb out of his backpack and draw attention to its hexagonal cells.

10 Universities Spending Billions on R&D

The University of Wisconsin-Madison spent nearly $1.1 billion on R&D in 2015.

3 UW students win prestigious Goldwater scholarships

The university said by news release that Cory Cotter, Emily Jewell and Lucas Oxtoby were winners of the scholarship, while Elizabeth Penn was selected as an honorable mention.

Turning Negative Thinkers Into Positive Ones

Noted: Negative feelings activate a region of the brain called the amygdala, which is involved in processing fear and anxiety and other emotions. Dr. Richard J. Davidson, a neuroscientist and founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, has shown that people in whom the amygdala recovers slowly from a threat are at greater risk for a variety of health problems than those in whom it recovers quickly.