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Category Science & Technology

The sun also flips: 11-year solar cycle wimpy, but peaking

October 16, 2013

In a 3-meter diameter hollow aluminum sphere, Cary Forest, a University of Wisconsin–Madison physics professor, is stirring and heating plasmas to 500,000 degrees Fahrenheit to experimentally mimic the magnetic field-inducing cosmic dynamos at the heart of planets, stars and other celestial bodies.

Microbiome meets big social science: What’s the potential?

October 15, 2013

Over the last decade or so, biologists have mustered an ever-growing appreciation for the essential role of microbial communities in a diversity of environments.

UW’s bug-eating advocate had global impact

October 10, 2013

When Gene DeFoliart had his brainstorm in 1974, not even he thought his brainchild would be an easy sell. As a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, DeFoliart was focusing on how insects spread viral disease. Now he was captivated by an opposite proposition: using insects to foster human health — using them, to be specific, as food.

Zinc discovery may shed light on Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s

September 30, 2013

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have made a discovery that, if replicated in humans, suggests a shortage of zinc may contribute to diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which have been linked to defective proteins clumping together in the brain.

Students game the system, train computer to play Angry Birds

September 25, 2013

Angry Birds sounds simple: Just slingshot a digital bird at a pile of evil pigs. You could teach a child to play. But could you teach a computer?

A shot of anxiety and the world stinks

September 24, 2013

Researchers using powerful new brain imaging technologies are revealing how anxiety or stress can rewire the brain, linking centers of emotion and olfactory processing, to make typically benign smells malodorous.

Wisconsin Science Festival features Nobel, Pulitzer Prize winners and NPR host

September 19, 2013

The Wisconsin Science Festival starts Sept. 26 with four jam-packed days, inviting people of all ages and interests to unleash their curiosity.

Decades on, bacterium’s discovery feted as paragon of basic science

September 17, 2013

Over time, the esoteric and sometimes downright strange quests of science have proven easy targets for politicians and others looking for perceived examples of waste in government - and a cheap headline.