Year: 2023

UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater October 2, 2023

Monday 2 October 2023 1.  The UW–Madison Science Alliance meets Mondays at 10:00 am by Zoom and in person at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, Room 1120, first floor (1552 University Avenue).  Our next meeting is Monday, October 2 at 10:00 CT. The Zoom link for the 2023-2024 meetings of Science Alliance will continue to be:  https://zoom.us/my/glbrc.weieducation.vmr?pwd=L2Q0L0g0S3lEd2gyazNscjA1d2JYZz09 The draft …

A New Model of Human Origins in Africa; How Do Volcanoes Respond to Glaciation?; Fate of Aquatic Pesticides Used for Invasive Species Control; Breeding for Tree Crop Improvement

For Wednesday 30 August 2023 Hi WN@TL Fans,   Origins are of the essence:  there’s good reason Genesis opens The Book.  We use origin stories to help explain how we are today and where we’re heading tomorrow.   The stories of the origins & migrations of humans can be empirically revealed in several ways, including …

Wisconsin Weather Safety & You; A New Model of Human Origins in Africa; How Do Volcanoes Respond to Glaciation?; Fate of Aquatic Pesticides

On August 23 Kurt Kotenberg from the National Weather Service in Green Bay will be here to alert, watch & warn us about “Wisconsin Weather Safety & You.”   Description:  From blizzards to tornadoes to derechos, the weather in Wisconsin can be quite active (and sometimes dangerous!) all year around. In this talk, we’ll take a detailed …

The UW at 175–Outlooks for Science Outreach; Wisconsin Weather Safety & You; A Model of Human Origins in Africa

Hi WN@TL Fans,   If one subscribes to the astronomical definition of summer, the first couple of weeks of August is high summer when we’re about halfway from the solstice to the equinox.  In the US, it’s a melancholy and anxious time of year, with pangs for the past and anticipation for what’s next, especially …

Wisconsin’s Lost Coastal Communities; Science Outreach at 175; Wisconsin Weather Safety; A New Model of Human Origins in Africa

Hi WN@TL Fans,   As I was happily reminded last week by nearly every license plate in Montreal, “Je me souviens” is the motto of the province of Quebec.  It is a phrase poetically plump with ambiguity and nuance.  Mr. Higby at Dixon High School taught me that one need say only “je souviens” to …

Gene Editing to Treat Blindness; Wisconsin’s Lost Coastal Cities

Hi WN@TL Fans,   I’m in Montreal this week.  I first visited in 1992, driving my 1988 GMC S15 pickup with a tin topper and my Trek bike in the back.  I parked on the MacDonald Campus of McGill University in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue at the far western end of the island of Montreal, and cycled east …

Buttermaking in Wisconsin; Gene Editing to Treat Blindness; Wisconsin’s Lost Coastal Communities

Hi WN@TL Fans, When the Babcock Dairy Store rolled out its new logo earlier this year, the press release announcing the occasion noted that the logo included icons of three signature dairy products:  cheese, ice cream, and milk.  For current-day accuracy, it’s spot on:  these are key items from the store.  But from the point of view …

Are the Humanities Still Useful?; Buttermaking in Wisconsin; Gene Editing to Treat Blindness; Wisconsin’s Lost Coastal Communities

Hi WN@TL Fans, Aristotle was not hostile to investigations of both Nature and Society.  In founding his Lyceum he pioneered the liberal arts university as an enterprise that raised high the idea of original empirical inquiry built on prior scholarship.  While many of his works are lost, we have in hand books on philosophy and ethics, on the natural …

“Energy 101” this week at Wednesday Nite @ The Lab

Hi WN@TL Fans, I will miss this week’s talk, but I hope you won’t. This was my second trip to Senegal, nearly 20 years after my first one.  A score of years enables some piercing perspective on what in my observations are similar and what’s blow-me-out-of-the-water changed.  And since this week’s WN@TL topic is energy, …

Neutrinos From Milky Way Will Help Map Our Galaxy; Energy 101 from Home to On The Road

“Wednesday Nite @ The Lab” Public Science Talks Wednesdays at 7pm CT Room 1111 Genetics Biotech Center, 425 Henry Mall, Madison WI, or Zoom at https://go.wisc.edu/240r59 or Stream at https://www.youtube.com/@wednesdaynitethelab8948 For Wednesday 5 July 2023 Hi WN@TL Fans, How we see our world, how we understand our university, depends in part on the spectrum of the light we can …