Ideas and discoveries

  • Photo of Jim Seward Bridging theory, reality of high-stakes corporate finance May 8, 2008 As vice president and chief financial officer of Plexus, a global electronics manufacturing corporation in Neenah, Wis., Ginger Jones was skeptical. She wasn't sure college students could come up with sound, practical advice her business could use.
  • Photo of a microscope Virus mimics human protein to hijack cell division machinery May 8, 2008 Viruses are masters of deception, duping their host's cells into helping them grow and spread. A new study has found that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can mimic a common regulatory protein to hijack normal cell growth machinery, disrupting a cell's primary anti-cancer mechanism.
  • Screen captue of wildlife disease map Web tool puts wildlife diseases on the map May 7, 2008 A new online map makes it possible, for the first time, to track news of disease outbreaks around the world that threaten the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and people.
  • Image of nanowires Spiraling nanotrees offer new twist on growth of nanowires May 1, 2008 Since scientists first learned to make nanowires, the tiny wires just a few millionths of a centimeter thick have taken many forms, including nanobelts, nanocoils and nanoflowers.
  • Photo of student Students embrace Arabic in new International Learning Community May 1, 2008 Arabic script runs along the dormitory hall of the third floor in Adams Hall. To an outsider it looks like an intricate design flowing among the plaster, but to the residents it provides direction and introductions to their fellow floormates.
  • Portion of Tong biomedical prize logo Wisconsin biomedical engineering students design meaningful medical solutions April 30, 2008 When University of Wisconsin-Madison junior Claire Flanagan graduates in May 2009 with bachelor's degrees in biomedical engineering (BME) and biochemistry, she might display her diploma next to an equally prestigious document: a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  • Photo from announcement of Life During Wartime project ‘Life During Wartime’ will build innovative curriculum around American war history April 30, 2008 A new Wisconsin project funded by the U.S. Department of Education will feature an unprecedented partnership among public school teachers, university and technical college faculty, and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum to invigorate the teaching of American history.
  • Photo of Skop With cell as muse, art fuels scientist’s quest April 28, 2008 For Ahna Skop, the tipping point to a career in science was a dance and a food fight.
  • Crop of image from exhibition The Circus is in Town: Please direct your attention to the center ring April 24, 2008 The joyous, colorful, energetic and out-of-this-world spectacle of the circus can’t help but capture an artist’s imagination. That exuberance will take center ring in the Chazen Museum of Art when it presents two circus-themed exhibitions: “Ringmaster: Judy Onofrio and the Art of the Circus,” and “Harry A. Atwell, Circus Photographer.”
  • Photo of Don Schramm Rethinking disaster management by focusing on development April 23, 2008 How we think about a disaster stems from the origin of the word itself: "Disastro" is the Latin word meaning "from the stars." Yet the idea that a disaster is an uncontrollable, divine event is something Don Schramm, director of UW-Madison’s Disaster Management Center, does not accept.
  • Photo of DeWitt UW’s computing research prowess brings Microsoft to Madison April 23, 2008 Microsoft, the world's largest computer software company, will open an advanced development laboratory in Madison later this spring, helping expand on a highly productive 20-year research and alumni relationship between the company and the University of Wisconsin-Madison computer sciences department.
  • Photo of Mary Langston Professor blends ecology, history April 21, 2008 As a University of Washington graduate student in the late 1980s, Nancy Langston traveled to a national park in Zimbabwe to study an endangered bird. She came back with a resolve to know more about people.
  • Image of Wisconsin Director cultivates a mile-high appreciation of Wisconsin April 10, 2008 From his 12th-floor office, Sam Batzli has a view of nearby Lake Mendota and Madison's downtown punctuated by the state Capitol. But instead of looking out the window, Batzli looks at Madison and the rest of Wisconsin from much higher altitudes.
  • Image from WisconsinView Director cultivates a mile-high appreciation of Wisconsin April 10, 2008 From his 12th-floor office, Sam Batzli has a view of nearby Lake Mendota and Madison's downtown punctuated by the state Capitol. But instead of looking out the window, Batzli looks at Madison and the rest of Wisconsin from much higher altitudes.
  • Negligent, attentive mouse mothers show biological differences April 9, 2008 In mice, child neglect is a product of both nature and nurture, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison describe a strain of mice that exhibit unusually high rates of maternal neglect, with approximately one out of every five females failing to care for her offspring.
  • Photo of Aldo Leopold Digital project puts Aldo Leopold papers online April 8, 2008 The project to digitize the University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives' complete collection of materials from conservationist Aldo Leopold has made its first installment of online materials available to the public.
  • Photo from Science in a Box performance Using street theater to channel the lessons of molecules April 7, 2008 A novel project by a collaboration of scientists and educators from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Madison Area Technical College (MATC) is making molecules and atoms the stars of a project to use theater to teach children the basics of science.
  • Photo of George Huber Money doesn’t grow on trees, but gasoline might April 7, 2008 In 2003, University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student George Huber and colleagues made hydrogen from plant sugars using nickel-tin alloy catalysts in the lab of Chemical and Biological Engineering Professor James Dumesic.
  • Photo of greater prairie chicken Watching the birds: Agri-tourism could help save colorful prairie chicken April 7, 2008 In terms of entertaining courtship rituals, few animals can hold a candle to Tympanuchus cupido -- the drummer of love, commonly known as the greater prairie chicken.
  • Photo of Terry Millar Professor strengthens math, science education March 26, 2008 For well over a decade, mathematics professor Terry Millar has worked to improve math and science instruction for students at all levels by bringing together the knowledge of university mathematicians and scientists with the teaching and curricular expertise of educators.