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Category Science & Technology

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.

Weather: More data + more computers = better forecasts

September 9, 2013

Been beefing about weather forecasts? Did the “experts” miss a thunderstorm, botch the rainfall prediction, mistake cloudy for sunny or windy for calm? You’re not alone. Forecasts of weather are already way better than forecasts of, say, unemployment or grain harvests, but that doesn’t lead us to predict that the caterwauling over weather forecasts will dampen.

In whole-lake experiment, have invasive crayfish met their match?

September 6, 2013

Four years ago, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers wrapped up a multi-year effort to dramatically reduce the population of a destructive invasive species in a northern Wisconsin lake.