Category Science & Technology

UW-Madison college targets federal bioenergy initiative

January 23, 2007

The University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is leading efforts to bring a new federal bioenergy research and development center to Wisconsin, the college's dean told a group of bioscience industry leaders today.

Study uncovers a lethal secret of 1918 influenza virus

January 17, 2007

In a study of nonhuman primates infected with the influenza virus that killed 50 million people in 1918, an international team of scientists has found a critical clue to how the virus killed so quickly and efficiently.

Supercomputer to power climate change study

January 10, 2007

Climate researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been given unprecedented access to one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to better understand the causes and consequences of abrupt climate change.

UW-Madison acquires rare plant from dinosaur age

January 10, 2007

A relic plant that once co-existed with dinosaurs has taken up residence in the University of Wisconsin–Madison botany greenhouses.

Bringing together Earth and sky imagery

January 9, 2007

Integrating studies of the Earth with those of the atmosphere and beyond, the Environmental Remote Sensing Center (ERSC) recently joined the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Graduate School.

A hot idea for insulating tiny batteries

January 9, 2007

Engineering physics researchers are devising a unique "blanket" that will enable them to squeeze as much electricity as possible from nuclear-powered batteries the size of a grain of coarse salt.

Wisconsin Idea: Cultivating the artisan cheese market

January 5, 2007

When someone mentions Babcock Hall, people immediately think "ice cream." But the campus dairy plant is starting to make a name with another signature product: award-winning cheese.

Record speed for thin-film transistors could open door for flexible electronics

January 4, 2007

A pair of University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have developed a method of making flexible, thin-film transistors that are not only inexpensive to produce, but also capable of high speeds — even microwave frequency, impossible before now.

Barnacle busters: Tackling a shipping industry headache

December 28, 2006

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have devised a potentially ingenious solution to the multi-million dollar problem known as "biofouling," a chronic headache that has plagued the shipping world for centuries.

UW contributes to international fusion program

December 27, 2006

University of Wisconsin–Madison Fusion Technology Institute (FTI) researchers are playing a key role in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a multinational project designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power.

40 years ago, UW researcher changed our view of the world

December 26, 2006

Forty years ago this month, thanks to an inventive University of Wisconsin–Madison scientist, our view of the world was changed forever.

Royal Society of Chemistry cites UW–Madison professor

December 20, 2006

Through Lab on a Chip journal, the European-based Royal Society of Chemistry and Corning Inc. have awarded the first-ever Pioneers of Miniaturization prize to David J. Beebe, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of biomedical engineering.

Stem cells used to create critical brain barrier in lab

December 20, 2006

Using neural stem cells derived from the fetal brains of rats, a team of Wisconsin scientists has devised a rudimentary blood-brain barrier in the lab.

New math and science repository serves up the good stuff

December 19, 2006

Internet Scout, a 12-year-old University of Wisconsin–Madison online research project, is unveiling its new national math and science educational project this month called the Applied Math and Science Education Repository.

Wisconsin scientists land major infectious disease awards

December 19, 2006

The holidays have arrived early for two young University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty members. Cancer researcher Robert Kalejta and chemist Helen Blackwell have learned that they are each the recipients of prestigious Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Awards from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

New book extols the beauty of Arboretum prairie plants

December 18, 2006

People looking for a gift for the gardener or nature lover in their lives - especially one who is interested in prairies and prairie gardens - might consider the new "Prairie Plants of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum," a beautiful and informative guide to the more than 360 native and introduced species that grow and bloom on the Arboretum's prairies.

‘Kauffman Campus’ award will fuel campus, state entrepreneurship

December 14, 2006

Gov. Jim Doyle and Chancellor John Wiley announced today that the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has named the University of Wisconsin–Madison one of its nine "Kauffman Campuses," and has received $5 million to help train students in the principles and practices of entrepreneurship and spur greater research commercialization statewide.

New research program tackles Parkinson’s disease

December 14, 2006

A new research collaboration at the University of Wisconsin–Madison aims to move promising new therapies for Parkinson's disease from primates to patients.

Anesthesia in childhood: Are there dangers?

December 14, 2006

This week, The Why Files asks if anesthetics are killing brain cells in children who are exposed during pregnancy or the first three years of life.

Study: Botulinum attacks like a ‘smart bomb’

December 13, 2006

A pilot without a map can locate an airport by first finding a nearby landmark, like a big river, and then searching for the airport. New research from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) and Scripps Research Institute shows how the astonishingly powerful botulinum toxin uses a similar strategy to latch onto nerve cells, the first step in inactivating them.