I&D

• Dust plays larger than expected role in determining Atlantic temperature March 26, 2009 The recent warming trend in the Atlantic Ocean is largely due to reductions in airborne dust and volcanic emissions during the past 30 years, according to a new study.
• Regional English dictionary closes in on ultimate milestone March 23, 2009 Meandering its merry way through new submissions such as “whiffle-minded,” “whirligust,” “whistle punk” and “williwags,” the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) project is now tantalizingly close to completing a mission more than four decades in the making.
• Optimum running speed is stride toward understanding human body form March 19, 2009 Runners, listen up: If your body is telling you that your pace feels a little too fast or a little too slow, it may be right.
• Teeth of Columbus’s crew flesh out tale of new world discovery March 19, 2009 The adage that dead men tell no tales has long been disproved by archaeology.
• Dance Program: ‘Small, but mighty’ March 11, 2009 There’s no telling where a dancer may land. Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama’s point man, turned down a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School. Maya Angelou, poet, writer, journalist and activist, began her career on stage as a dancer.
• Evolution, ecosystems may buffer some species against climate change March 5, 2009 Although ecologists expect many species will be harmed by climate change, some species could be buffered by their potential to evolve or by changes in their surrounding ecosystems.
• http://wisconsinidea.wisc.edu/features/antarctica%e2%80%99s-icecube-telescope-is-wisconsin-made/ March 3, 2009
• Going green, one moped at a time Feb. 26, 2009 Sixteen UW-Madison engineering students spent last fall figuring out how to make the Vespa scooter more green.
• Models present new view of nanoscale friction Feb. 25, 2009 To understand friction on a very small scale, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers had to think big.
• IceCube building goals exceeded at South Pole Feb. 25, 2009 As the 2008-09 Antarctic drilling season concludes, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is on track to be finished as planned in 2011.
• Delving into the murky metrics of financial risk Feb. 25, 2009 The way J. Michael Collins sees it, United States consumers aren’t necessarily less informed about financial risk than consumers from other industrialized nations. What Americans do have, however, are an abundance of ways to screw up.
• New history course on U.S. ‘grand strategy’ reaches out to modern military leaders Feb. 24, 2009 If ignorance of history makes one more likely to repeat it, as the saying goes, then the stakes of historical knowledge are at their highest when involving military strategy and war.
• Lovely ‘snowfakes’ mimic nature, advance science Feb. 24, 2009 Exquisitely detailed and beautifully symmetrical, the snowflakes that David Griffeath makes are icy jewels of art.
• French master’s program opens doors to work opportunity Feb. 17, 2009 The Professional French Masters Program at UW-Madison is one of the only program in the country that offers a graduate degree that combines language skills with study in other academic areas.
• Slide show: Crowning glory—Lady Liberty rises on Lake Mendota again Feb. 16, 2009 In a repeat performance of one of the most popular college pranks ever, this week Lady Liberty once again appeared to rise from Lake Mendota with torch aloft, thanks to the Wisconsin Hoofers, UW-Madison’s outdoor recreation club.
• Researchers cite President's role in reducing racism Feb. 16, 2009 President Obama spurred a dramatic change in the way whites think about African-Americans before he had even set foot in the Oval Office, according to a new study.
• Project explores mechanics of major earthquake faults Feb. 15, 2009 CHICAGO - Deep-sea drilling into one of the most active earthquake zones on the planet is providing the first direct look at the geophysical fault properties underlying some of the world's largest earthquakes and tsunamis. The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) is the first geologic study of the underwater subduction zone faults that give rise to the massive earthquakes known to seismologists as mega-thrust earthquakes.
• How do you mend a broken heart? Maybe someday with stem cells made from your skin Feb. 12, 2009 A little more than a year after University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists showed they could turn skin cells back into stem cells, they have pulsating proof that these "induced" stem cells can indeed form the specialized cells that make up heart muscle.
• Sequences capture the code of the common cold Feb. 12, 2009 In an effort to confront our most familiar malady, scientists have deciphered the instruction manual for the common cold.
• Mouse study reveals genetic component of empathy Feb. 12, 2009 The ability to empathize with others is partially determined by genes, according to new research on mice from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).