I&D

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• UW study shows pomegranate juice may help fight lung cancer April 4, 2008 Researchers are adding to the list of cancer types for which pomegranates seem to halt growth. A recent study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison using a mouse model shows that consuming pomegranates could potentially help reduce the growth and spread of lung cancer cells or even prevent lung cancer from developing.
• 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.
• Writing tribal histories: Class mines archival treasures March 26, 2008 UW–Madison historian Ned Blackhawk would argue that there has never been a more fertile time to be a researcher of Native American history, with a surge in scholarly interest and a deep well of subjects “literally waiting to be written.” Blackhawk is inspiring a new generation of historians to seize this opportunity through his unique research seminar, “Writing Tribal Histories.”
• Study shows compassion meditation changes the brain March 25, 2008 Cultivating compassion and kindness through meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other peoples' mental states, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• For stem cell scientist James Thomson, discovery trumps fame March 24, 2008 The UW scientist who first brought stem cells into the scientific spotlight — a discovery that sparked a volatile debate of political and medical ethics — doesn’t seek fame for himself. So when you are the go-to guy for everybody who wants access to James Thomson, a man who’d much rather be in the lab than in the media’s glare, you learn to say no more often than you’d like.
• New nanoparticle catalyst brings fuel-cell cars closer to showroom March 19, 2008 A University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Maryland (UM) team has developed a new nanotechnology-driven chemical catalyst that paves the way for more efficient hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
• Technology to predict strain gets a perfect model: Michelangelo’s ‘David’ March 19, 2008 For statues, stress injuries come from standing in place for hundreds of years. Using a novel technique, researchers have now developed a way to predict such fracturing, applying the procedure to Michelangelo's famous statue "David" in an analysis that proved simpler, faster and more accurate than previous methods.
• http://wisconsinidea.wisc.edu/features/for-professor-preserving-leopold%e2%80%99s-riley-is-personal/ March 17, 2008 When Janet Silbernagel grew up playing along the banks of the Sugar River near the town of Riley, she never imagined she was following in the footsteps of a famous naturalist.
• Collaboration key to Union Theater’s success March 12, 2008 Ralph Russo, cultural arts director of the Wisconsin Unions and Union Theater director, says that the magic experienced at the Union Theater is the result of a collaborative process: “We are not an ‘I’ organization; we’re a team. At the theater, students drive the programming and the staff works to support that. This arrangement is unique in higher education. Usually, campus performing arts facilities are not connected to campus/student unions.”
• Arctic climate models play key role in pending polar bear decision March 11, 2008 The pending federal decision about whether to protect the polar bear as a threatened species is as much about climate science as it is about climate change.
• Increased ethanol production to worsen Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ March 10, 2008 The rush in the United States to produce corn-based ethanol as an alternative fuel will likely worsen pollution in the Gulf of Mexico and expand the annual "dead zone" that kills fish and other aquatic life, according to new research.
• Fund for late professor lifts Engineers Without Borders into the black March 10, 2008 Katie Simon had a lot to be nervous about in March 2007 when she became the president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), an organization that applies the knowledge of engineers to improving the quality of life for developing communities.
• Seriously funny: An interview with former Daily Show producer and UW-Madison alumnus Ben Karlin March 6, 2008 Some thought that Ben Karlin ’93 was walking away from success when he left his job as executive producer for TV’s The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. But, as he explains in this conversation with On Wisconsin, he was simply charting a comedic path that includes a new book and his own production company.
• Lowly Icelandic midges reveal ecosystem’s tipping points March 5, 2008 A UW-Madison zoologist describes in the journal Nature an ecosystem population dynamics model built on the flies of Iceland’s Lake Myvatn, showing how even slight human-induced changes can irreversibly alter the balance of nature.