Category State & Global
Berquam welcomes students, tosses first snowball of the battle
With students returning for the spring semester on Jan. 23, Dean of Students Lori Berquam welcomes students back and encourages them to use college as a time to explore new things. She also throws a mean snowball.
Bringing cheap and accurate tuberculosis tests to Africa
Researchers are developing a "robust, simple and inexpensive way to increase the sensitivity of an existing TB test" by integrating a step very similar to a pregnancy test.
Maria Cancian named Galbraith Fellow for work on child welfare
Cancian and her research have shaped national research agendas and discourse on child support policy, poverty policy and child welfare policy, and generated more than $50 million in grants to the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Radar adds technological twist to age-old cranberry counting process
UW electrical and computer engineers, acting on an idea from a Wisconsin cranberry grower, have developed a device to make a laborious, time-consuming process more efficient.
Lethal management of wolves in one place may make things worse nearby
Farms that had a wolf killed experienced a 27 percent decrease in risk of another attack, but it was offset by a 22 percent increase at a number of farms in the same township.
SERF demolition: Out with the old, in with the new
Construction crews this week started demolishing the Southeast Recreational Facility (SERF) to make way for a larger, more modern recreational facility that will open…
Wisconsin agricultural outlook forum explores rural-urban divide
The forum will outline recent trends and future outlook for the state’s main agricultural products, but it will also explore how Wisconsin agribusinesses affect — and are affected by — the rural-urban divide.
UW–Madison professor led fight to ban pesticide DDT 45 years ago
Joseph Hickey took a brave stance — given Wisconsin’s deep roots in agriculture — by showing a connection between pesticides and declining bird populations.
UW search team recovers remains of airman missing since WWII
It has been more than 70 years since 1st Lt. Frank Fazekas’ P-47 Thunderbolt crashed in northern France, just over a week before the D-Day invasion in 1944.
In second year, UW’s Philanthropy Lab class awards $50,000 to three nonprofit groups
Three Madison-area nonprofit organizations were chosen to receive money this semester from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Philanthropy Lab class — a total of $50,000.
Oldest fossils ever found show life on Earth began before 3.5 billion years ago
Critics argued they were just odd minerals that only looked like biological specimens. However, geoscientist John Valley says the new findings put these doubts to rest. “I think it’s settled,” he says.
2017 winter commencement: A day of selfies, victory laps and avoiding ‘hollow bunnies’
“When you find that place where what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about come together, that is where your life’s work awaits you,” Chancellor Blank said. “Choose opportunities that put you there.”
‘Amazing Grace’ chorus members take a vacation from Alzheimer’s with singing
The Amazing Grace chorus mixes caregivers and people with dementia; to encourage social contact, the pairs seldom sit side-by-side at performances.
Living in the past: Director of University Archives retires
Under David Null’s care and expertise, the UW Archives have become one of the premier academic archives in the country.
Monkey study shows a path to monitoring endangered species
“We think this may be one of the most comprehensive efforts to analyze the data monitoring needs for ensuring the survival of an endangered animal,” says Karen Strier, who has observed muriquis in Brazil for 35 years.
2017 UW–Madison winter commencement takes place on Sunday
Just more than 1,000 students will take part in the 2017 University of Wisconsin–Madison winter commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, at the Kohl Center.
Chimpanzee deaths in Uganda pinned on human cold virus
Scientists investigating an outbreak of respiratory disease in a community of wild chimpanzees in Uganda were surprised and dismayed to discover that rhinovirus C was killing healthy chimps.
In new partnership, Badger Volunteers help care for children with disabilities
Badger Volunteers has started a new partnership this semester with Gio’s Garden, a respite center for young children with developmental disabilities.
App software firm with UW–Madison roots starts selling “pro” version
“We are uniquely positioned to help teams build apps with the same exact code that will work on the web, and on the App Store and Google Play,” Ionic CEO Max Lynch says.
Decades-past logging still threatens spotted owls in national forests
Researchers say despite protections put in place in the 1990s, owls may still be paying an “extinction debt” that was created by historical logging of large trees.