Science - The Daily Cardinal

SCIENCE

A review of the Science Festival’s Arcade Night

By Maggie Liu | Oct. 24, 2016

Friday’s Science Arcade Night, part of the annual 4-day Wisconsin Science Festival at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, was a wonderful fusion of science, technology, games and fun. Families, couples and students all enjoyed what the event had to offer. True to the event’s name, the ring of large, clunky arcade games was one of the first sights that greeted the festival goers when they walked in— a charming and vintage scene. Nearby, several science-related board games were set up, including a game integrating disease outbreak and Star Wars.

SCIENCE

Science in brief

By Julie Spitzer | Oct. 24, 2016

“Science in brief” is a new column featured in the Daily Cardinal. Highlighting other science stories not covered in full, “Science in brief” hopes to shed light on the plethora of research the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers. In brief this week: Rockd, Electron Beam Lithography and heart patches.

The Rocky Mountain National Park is one of over 400 national parks directed by Jonathan Jarvis. He has been the current director of the National Park Service since 2009.

SCIENCE

NPS director talks centennial goals, sexual harassment claims

By Julie Spitzer | Oct. 10, 2016

In a nearly packed Shannon Hall Monday night, Director of the National Parks Service Jonathan Jarvis took the stage as part of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies’ Jordahl Public Lands lecture to address the NPS centennial and recent sexual harassment allegations surrounding park employees.

PODCAST

Sciencecast: Climate Change Series - Episode 2

By Julie Spitzer and Katie Piel | Oct. 10, 2016

Welcome back to Sciencecast: Climate Change Series! Twice a month, we will explore various facets of climate change through interviews with UW experts.

Dr. Nadia Drake, a contributing writer for National Geographic, began her talk Friday with a chemistry experiment.

SCIENCE

Nadia Drake advises aspiring science writers with personal insights

By Yunhong Wu | Oct. 10, 2016

Friday afternoon’s conversation with Dr. Nadia Drake, the Fall 2016 UW-Madison Science Writer in Residence, began with an experiment in which a chemistry professor placed dry ice into six cylinders filled with colorful liquid. Waiting until the chemical reaction stopped, Drake went to the front and poured huge amounts of dry ice into a basin of hot water. Clouds of white fog came out of the container as condensed water vapor.

SCIENCE

Chemical composition of oceans helps scientists understand ancient life

By Sarah Bishop | Oct. 10, 2016

New research on the chemical composition of the ocean has shown that, 3.26 billion years ago, the continents were actually above water. This pieces together several other studies into a cohesive, big-picture idea of how the world once looked, according to Aaron Satkoski and his team of researchers who studied the chemical composition of erosion in the ocean back in 2013 in the Barite Valley, near Barberton, South Africa.

Post-doctoral fellow in the UW-Madison School of Nursing Dr. Traci Snedden, right, studies concussions.

SCIENCE

Study to connect concussions and academics

By Julie Spitzer | Sep. 26, 2016

The stick hit the puck and the puck glided across the ice. As the blades on his skates did the same, Vaughn Kottler, a now junior at UW-Madison but an incoming high school junior at the time, scurried around the hockey rink at tryouts. Little did he know what was about to hit him. He was so fixated on the puck and his stick, doing his best to make the team, that he didn’t notice the other player and the side of the rink so close to him. Crash! His body—and head—hit the boards.

PODCAST

Sciencecast: Climate Change Series - Episode 1

By Julie Spitzer and Katie Piel | Sep. 26, 2016

Introducing Sciencecast: Climate Change Series! Twice a month, we will explore various facets of climate change through interviews with UW experts.

A regenerating Yellowstone forest, after the 1988 and 2000 fires. This demonstrates a loss of forest resilience.

SCIENCE

Fires damage, help forests

By Maggie Liu | Sep. 26, 2016

Yellowstone National Park is the nation’s oldest national park, spanning one of the largest swathes of wilderness in America. It’s famed for its pristine landscape and iconic wildlife. As UW-Madison’s Eugene P. Odum professor of ecology Monica Turner states, Yellowstone is the “crown jewel” of American national parks. However, Yellowstone’s forests, along with forest ecosystems elsewhere, are in danger of climate change.

SCIENCE

Ask Ms. Scientist: knuckle pops and black holes

By Jordan Gaal and Maggie Liu | Sep. 26, 2016

Why do knuckles pop? What are black holes?

Asian jumping worms wiggle uniquely compared to other earthworms when touched or disturbed.

SCIENCE

Worms invade Wisconsin soils, potentially harm plants

By Julie Spitzer | Sep. 12, 2016

While earthworms are generally welcomed in soils for their ability to break down dead leaves and other organic matter into nutrients the plants can absorb, the invasive Asian jumping worm does so at an astounding rate, potentially accelerating the losses of nutrients from soils and harming native plants.

SCIENCE

University of San Diego lab showcased at Waisman Center lecture

By Kelsey O'Hara | Sep. 12, 2016

Previous UW-Madison research suggests autism can be reliably diagnosed by age two, but fewer than half of children with autism spectrum disorders are being identified in their communities by age five nationwide.

SCIENCE

Ask Ms. Scientist: Hands and GMOs

By Jordan Gaal and Maggie Liu | Sep. 12, 2016

Dear Ms. Scientist, Why are so many people right handed? Manuel A. About 90 percent of all people around the world are right-handed.

SCIENCE

Symmetry helps build synthetic collagen

By Julie Spitzer | Sep. 6, 2016

An assistant scientist at UW-Madison has a developed new design strategy for creating much more stable synthetic collagen, a previously difficult task.

SCIENCE

Student debunks myth, wins challenge

By Julie Spitzer | Sep. 6, 2016

A fourth-year biomedical engineering student at UW-Madison has won the grand prize of an international, GE sponsored, university challenge for his proposed technique to do the impossible.

SCIENCE

NASA appoints UW professor to lead new initiative

By Josie Russo | Sep. 6, 2016

For the general population, satellites are simply there to help watch T.V., text, for the conspiracy theorists, spying or for a Skynet-esque takeover.

SCIENCE

Breaking down panda digestion

By Michael Frett | Jun. 9, 2016

In one of nature’s more endearing displays, a panda paws at a narrow, basil-colored stick of bamboo.

SCIENCE

Capturing Wisconsin wildlife

By Jordan Gaal | Jun. 9, 2016

Wisconsin wildlife is about to take center stage and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is preparing to welcome these new celebrities.

SCIENCE

Urban heat island effect hits Madison

By Yunhong Wu | Jun. 9, 2016

Urban heat island effect is a direct result of urbanization, through its conversion of pervious areas, or permeable surfaces that promise the growth of plants, into impervious areas, or hard surfaces like cement sidewalks or parking lots. The UHI effect means that the air in cities is warmer than the air in the countryside.

SCIENCE

Post-drought forest repair challenged

By Michael Frett | May. 1, 2016

For more than a hundred years, Yellowstone has drawn millions to the American West. Each year, more than 3 million people visit the park, stopping for its 19,000-year-old geysers, its million-year-old mountains and its blankets of forests that look just as dense as they do in the hundred-year-old photos in the textbooks.