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UW computer scientists enhance robotic manufacturing
Some industrial robots are hulking, highly specialized pieces of machinery that are cordoned off by cages from human factory workers.
UW experts forecasting 2015 Wisconsin agriculture trends
In 2014, the total net farm income in Wisconsin reached an all-time high of more than $4 billion, but agricultural experts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are predicting some changes in 2015. Bruce Jones, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, will be among a handful of UW–Madison and UW-Extension experts to recap the status of Wisconsin’s agricultural enterprise in 2014 and discuss trends developing for 2015 at the Wisconsin Agricultural Economic Outlook Forum on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Recent sightings: UW women’s hockey
The No. 4 Wisconsin women’s hockey team (18-4-2) hosted the Bemidji State Beavers for a pair of games this past Friday and Saturday at LaBahn Arena. The Badgers split the series, losing 2-1 Friday but winning a thriller by the same score in overtime the following day. Wisconsin senior Brittany Ammerman scored the game-winning goal 46 seconds into extra time.
$1.3M in grants, gifts fund creation of animal shelter medicine program
Each year, shelters across the country take in anywhere from 4 million to 8 million animals, and each year, 2 million to 5 million of those animals die, according to the most recent estimates from the Humane Society of the United States. Many of these deaths occur despite the efforts of well-meaning animal lovers, often due to lack of information — a problem Newbury is working to address in her role as director of the new SVM Shelter Medicine Program, which was created after the school raised more than $1.3 million in grants, outright gifts and pledges to help fund it into the future.
Finalists to lead UW Press will visit campus
A nationwide search by the office of the vice chancellor for research and graduate education has identified two finalists for director of University of Wisconsin Press.
New research project funded by Department of Defense will enable faster, better coding
Pliny, a new research project for writing more error-free, secure code, is being funded by a four-year, $11 million grant recently announced by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the U.S. Department of Defense. UW–Madison computer scientists will collaborate with their counterparts at Rice University in Houston (which will lead the project), the University of Texas at Austin, and the company GrammaTech.
UW-Madison language learning resource preparing to support bilingual preschoolers nationwide
Preschool teachers who work with bilingual or multilingual children in five states across the country, and as many as 13 additional states, soon will begin using new learning tools and receiving specialized training developed and provided by WIDA, an international nonprofit specializing in English and Spanish language development based at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Humanity has exceeded 4 of 9 ‘planetary boundaries,’ according to researchers
An international team of researchers says climate change, the loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, and altered biogeochemical cycles like phosphorus and nitrogen runoff have all passed beyond levels that put humanity in a “safe operating space.” Civilization has crossed four of nine so-called planetary boundaries as the result of human activity, according to a report published today in Science by the 18-member research team. Among them is Steve Carpenter, director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Limnology and the only U.S.-based researcher on the study.
UW-Madison scientists find how many cancers may evade treatment
Xiaojun Tan, a graduate student in Richard A. Anderson’s lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, made an unexpected observation while studying the locations inside cells where the epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFR, can be found. His subsequent investigation revealed how cancer was evading treatment drugs: by sneaking through the cellular back door.
Go Big Read seeks books focused on inequality in America
For the 2015-16 year, the selection committee for Go Big Read, UW–Madison's common-reading program, is seeking a book that addresses this theme of inequality in America. Both fiction and nonfiction titles are encouraged for submission by students, faculty, staff and members of the community.
Chemical dial controls attraction between water-repelling molecules
Abbott, Gellman and a group of University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have provided new insights on hydrophobic interactions within complex systems. In a study published today in the journal Nature, the researchers show how the nearby presence of polar (water-attracted, or hydrophilic) substances can change the way the nonpolar hydrophobic groups want to stick to each other.
Carbon nanotube finding could lead to flexible electronics with longer battery life
University of Wisconsin–Madison materials engineers have made a significant leap toward creating higher-performance electronics with improved battery life — and the ability to flex and stretch. Led by materials science Associate Professor Michael Arnold and Professor Padma Gopalan, the team has reported the highest-performing carbon nanotube transistors ever demonstrated. In addition to paving the way for improved consumer electronics, this technology could also have specific uses in industrial and military applications.
After the game ends, UW–Madison helps athletes return to the classroom
The last time LaMar "Soup" Campbell sat in a University of Wisconsin–Madison classroom, Bill Clinton was president. Melvin Gordon had just turned 5 years old.
UW-Madison students take less debt than national average
The percentage of undergraduates at UW–Madison who use student loans and the amount they borrow rose slightly from last year but remain below national averages, according to a report from the Office of Student Financial Aid.
Obama’s free community college plan sounds familiar to UW professor
President Barack Obama unveiled a new proposal on Thursday to provide two years of free community college tuition to students who maintain good grades.
Infamous study of humanity’s ‘dark side’ may actually show how to keep it at bay
In 1961, with memories of Holocaust atrocities and the prosecution of Nazi officials at Nuremburg still fresh, psychologist Stanley Milgram undertook a series of now infamous experiments on obedience and reprehensible behavior.
Recent sightings: Below zero
A lost mitten awaits its owner in a snow bank near UW–Madison’s Walnut Street Greenhouse during a subzero winter day on Wednesday, Jan.
UW grant program seeds promising ideas, like safer batteries
State Economic Engagement & Development (SEED) grants are administered by the Office of Industrial Partnerships to support research that interests a researcher and a spinoff he or she founded. During fiscal year 2015, its first year, SEED started disbursing $700,000 to five laboratories. The next round of grants is budgeted at $625,000, and applications are due Feb. 15.