Category Science & Technology
Millar was math professor, noted UW–Madison research administrator
Terry Millar, who died March 9, was one of the world’s foremost researchers in computable model theory, and is remembered by UW colleagues as a mathematician with a mind that never hit pause.
Master glassblower’s art, work on exhibit at Madison Children’s Museum
Tracy Drier wants to increase interest in scientific glassblowing as a career choice by demonstrating the precision and artistry involved in constructing these delicate, almost ice-like glass instruments.
Light provides control for 3D printing with multiple materials
UW-Madison researchers realized that a one-vat, multiple-component approach — similar to a chemist's one-pot approach when synthesizing molecules — would be more practical than multiple reservoirs with different materials in 3D printing.
UW alum masterminding next generation data storage: A solution to the datapocalypse?
In a meeting at the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at the Wisconsin School of Business, Hyunjun Park said the device will hold digital information in DNA – life’s evolution-perfected “data storage” molecule.
Study confirms horseshoe crabs are really relatives of spiders, scorpions
UW–Madison evolutionary biologists hope their study helps firmly plant ancient horseshoe crabs within the arachnid family tree — "a major shift in our understanding of arthropod evolution.”
THOR wrangles complex microbiomes into a model for improving them
A growing understanding of microbial communities and their influence on human health or crop productivity has led to the dream of changing these communities to produce benefits. New research addresses this head-on.
Engineered microbe may be key to producing plastic from plants
With a few genetic tweaks, a type of soil bacteria with an appetite for hydrocarbons shows promise as a biological factory for converting a renewable — but frustratingly untapped — bounty into a replacement for ubiquitous plastics.
Quantum science at UW–Madison joins exchange, invests in faculty and students
“By the investments we are making in quantum science and technology," says Steve Ackerman, "we are ... leading the way in concepts and technology that may revolutionize computing, communication, security and more.”
Swimming microbes steer themselves into mathematical order
The movement of crowds of things too small to easily see — like single-celled organisms and filaments inside individual cells responsible for cell-division — is critically important to research in materials science, engineering and biochemistry.
WARF bets big on new squad of drug hunters
“We are building a preclinical drug discovery organization,” says WARF Therapeutics Director Jon Young, who has worked in drug development at Merck Research Laboratories, Regulus Therapeutics and Celgene.
Radiation-resistant E. coli evolved in the lab give view into DNA repair
Scientists in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Biochemistry are blasting E. coli bacteria with ionizing radiation once a week to watch evolution happen in real time as the bacteria become radiation resistant.
Ancient poop helps show climate change contributed to fall of Cahokia
A study provides a direct link between changes in Cahokia’s population size as measured through a unique fecal record and environmental data showing evidence of drought and flood.
Two UW–Madison researchers awarded prestigious Sloan Fellowships
Sloan Research Fellowships are given to promising young researchers in the early stages of their careers. UW–Madison’s 2019 Sloan Fellows are mathematics professors Mihaela Ifrim and Botong Wang.
Program empowers communities to overpower diabetes
A UW–Madison program aims to give African Americans in Milwaukee strategies to maintain healthy lifestyles that will help prevent and/or manage Type 2 diabetes.
As Lake Michigan rises, bluffs collapse and geologists explore
UW-Madison researchers are more than one year into a project sponsored by Wisconsin Sea Grant aimed at a better understanding how the bluffs erode, and what triggers their collapse.
He professes protein: Srinivasan Damodaran has thoughts for food
If you have a protein that needs a bit of self-improvement, Damodaran may be your guru. An expert in soy and milk protein, he’s invented soy-based glues and plant-based absorbents for industrial cleanups and diapers.
Professors recognized by American Chemical Society
Five UW–Madison professors have earned prestigious awards from the American Chemical Society — the largest scientific society in the world. Three will be honored at the ACS National Meeting, and two will deliver awards addresses at the Arthur C. Cope Symposium.
Reddit competes to visualize Madison’s prized Lake Mendota ice data
Data visualizations generated by a Reddit competition reveal a concerning trend that’s been known to scientists at UW–Madison and elsewhere for decades: ice is disappearing on Lake Mendota.
Chemistry instructor finds ‘dream job’ helping students persevere
Matt Bowman has guided some 3,500 students through the demanding course of organic chemistry — a requirement for many majors. His warmness, energy and humor have won him fans.
Cell component breakdown suggests possible treatment for multiple neural disorders
New UW–Madison research provides the first direct evidence that mitochondria dysfunction contributes to fragile X and autism, raising hope for new therapeutic developments.