I&D

  • Photo of people working on wastewater project UW students help El Salvadoran towns build wastewater system Feb. 27, 2008 New Year's Eve in Nejapa, El Salvador, looks a lot like the Fourth of July. At Griselda Guzman's house, homemade fireworks lighted the front yard, where the guests dancing outside her pale yellow home included 11 University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering students and three advisers.
  • Photo of Sarmadi Textiles professor embraces community service, collaboration Feb. 27, 2008 Larry Eisenberg was in the middle of a remodeling and expansion project, and he needed some new carpeting - $85 million worth of it, in fact.
  • Photo of farm Earlier plantings underlie yield gains in northern corn belt Feb. 27, 2008 U.S. farmers plant corn much earlier today than ever before and it seems to be paying off, at least in the north. Earlier plantings could account for up to half of the yield gains seen in some parts of the northern Corn Belt since the late 1970s, a new study has found.
  • Photo of RFID chip Can RFID technology promote a safer blood supply? Feb. 26, 2008 Radio frequency identification technology, or RFID, has inspired many novel applications of late, including efforts to study magazine reader patterns, access restricted areas, locate stolen vehicles and track luggage at major airports.
  • Off the hook: Stronger soft-plastic fishing lure reels in raves Feb. 21, 2008 Working with University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering and business school faculty and students, a Wisconsin entrepreneur has perfected a fiber-reinforced fishing lure that may prevent millions of pounds of toxic plastics from polluting waters nationwide.
  • Photo of students at a past Undergraduate Symposim Symposium opens world of research opportunity Feb. 19, 2008 With 10 years and hundreds of research projects in its history, the Undergraduate Symposium has been instrumental in showcasing undergraduates’ hard work. It’s also opened participants’ eyes to the possibilities of research — and even led some to continue the work they started with the event.
  • Photo of hospital wing with art on display Wisconsin artists featured at new children’s hospital Feb. 18, 2008 If you chance to walk through the halls of the months-old American Family Children’s Hospital, try not to blink. There is so much to see: Every stretch of hallway is bursting with artistic touches — sculpture, watercolor paintings and colorful alphabet quilts.
  • Study: Religion colors Americans’ views of nanotechnology Feb. 15, 2008 Addressing scientists in Boston Feb. 15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dietram Scheufele, a professor of life sciences communication, presented new survey results that show religion exerts far more influence on public views of technology in the United States than in Europe.
  • Photo of table tennis paddle and ball UW-Madison students bring pingpong back to the table Feb. 15, 2008 Growing up in China meant University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore Richard Qian didn't rush to play four-square or trade pogs during recess, but instead dashed to the blacktop to play the world's second most popular sport: table tennis.
  • Image f dust storms off West Africa The key to quieter Atlantic hurricane seasons may be blowing in the wind Feb. 15, 2008 Every year, storms over West Africa disturb millions of tons of dust and strong winds carry those particles into the skies over the Atlantic. According to a recent study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison atmospheric scientists, this dust from Africa directly affects ocean temperature, a key ingredient in Atlantic hurricane development.
  • Photo of wolves Researchers promote coexistence of wolves, people Feb. 14, 2008 For almost a decade, Adrian Treves, an animal behaviorist and ecologist, and Lisa Naughton, a social scientist, have worked closely with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to address the challenges of living with wolves, especially the losses of livestock and hunting dogs that inevitably result.
  • Image of stamp UW-Madison alumna featured on 2008 U.S. postage stamp Feb. 13, 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, a 1918 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be featured on a new stamp for the U.S. Postal Service's 2008 Commemorative Stamp Program.
  • Slide show image Slide show: Revolution’s Wallpaper Feb. 8, 2008 Jim Huberty, who was a political science student at the University of Wisconsin during the Vietnam War era of the late 1960s and early 1970s, is displaying select pieces of his collection of protest publicity posters through March 11 in an exhibit, “Revolution’s Wallpaper,” in the Class of 1925 Gallery at Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St., on the UW-Madison campus.
  • Hot subjects—BSE 375: ‘Biorefining: Energy and Products from Renewable Resources’ Feb. 4, 2008 Solving the energy crisis has been the topic of conversation for consumers, researchers and politicians alike, particularly since the price of oil reached $100 a barrel earlier this month.
  • Photo of Kathy Nelson Unique whey protein is promising supplement for strict PKU diet Feb. 1, 2008 Individuals with a rare genetic condition known as phenylketonuria, or PKU, receive a difficult-to-follow prescription. They must severely limit their consumption of protein, completely avoiding mealtime staples such as meat, cheese and even bread. Not surprisingly, for many, diet is a constant struggle.
  • More than $100 million spent on presidential ads, little in Super Tuesday states Feb. 1, 2008 Presidential candidates spent $107 million on television advertising so far this season, with nearly all of it spent in the run-up to the earliest primaries and caucuses and almost none of it on Super Tuesday states, a University of Wisconsin-Madison study shows.
  • Computer rendering Particle accelerator may reveal shape of alternate dimensions Jan. 30, 2008 When the world's most powerful particle accelerator starts up later this year, exotic new particles may offer a glimpse of the existence and shapes of extra dimensions.
  • Photo of water bead With a jolt, ‘nanonails’ go from repellant to wettable Jan. 29, 2008 Sculpting a surface composed of tightly packed nanostructures that resemble tiny nails, University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers and their colleagues from Bell Laboratories have created a material that can repel almost any liquid.
  • Photo of potatoes Using DNA, scientists hunt for the roots of the modern potato Jan. 28, 2008 More than 99 percent of all modern potato varieties planted today are the direct descendents of varieties that once grew in the lowlands of south-central Chile. How Chilean germplasm came to dominate the modern potato-which spread worldwide from Europe-has been the subject of a long, contentious debate among scientists.
  • Concerts, exhibits, plays among spring events Jan. 28, 2008 There’s no end in sight for the strike at the Writers Guild of America, but that doesn’t mean you need to sit around boo-hooing, watching reruns or mind-numbing reality TV. Much finer entertainments are in the works on campus for the spring semester. See a play, visit a gallery, take in a film and attend a concert, or two or seven. Campus arts groups will present the works of the world-renowned as well as our student artists-in-the-making.