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News & Events Archive: 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008

2008 News & Events

Sea Urchin Yields a Key Secret of Biomineralization
October 27, 2008
Now, harnessing the process of biomineralization may be closer to reality as an international team of scientists has detailed a key and previously hidden mechanism to transform amorphous calcium carbonate into calcite, the stuff of seashells. The new insight promises to inform the development of new, superhard materials, microelectronics and micromechanical devices. More information click here

UW has big role in giant particle collider
September 10, 2008
History's most ambitious science experiment began this morning on the Swiss-Franco border in Europe in a giant underground particle smasher called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Over the past 15 years of construction, UW-Madison--including many Department of Physics Professors and scientists--has played a crucial role in bringing to life a machine most scientists believe will necessitate a rewriting of physics textbooks. More information click here

Have you seen This Particle? The race to find out what gives matter its mass
September 8, 2008
If not, don't sweat it -- no one else has either. After nearly twenty years of planning, three hundred feet below the French-Swiss border the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is planning to slam particles together at nearly the speed of light, bursting them open for an unprecedented look at an atom’s innards. One of the particles they are hoping to find is the Higgs boson--a hypothetical particle that gives matter its mass. UW scientists are playing central roles in this massive experiment to find the Higgs boson and solve some of the biggest mysteries in physics. Follow the story in "Heart of the Matter" in the Fall 2008 issue of On Wisconsin click here.

Fay Ajzenberg-Selove receives the Presidential Science Medal
August 26, 2008
University of Wisconsin-Madison Physics alumni, Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, who received a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics with Hugh Richards, just received the National Medal of Science for her scientific achievements. Fay has also established a scholarship fund for Physics students. More information click here

Gilbert Wins American Competitiveness and Innovation (ACI) Fellowship
August 25, 2008

The Division of Materials Research (DMR) of the National Science Foundation has instituted a new recognition program for its current grantees who have demonstrated a combination of transformative research accomplishments and outstanding contributions toward education, mentoring, and broadening participation of women, underrepresented minorities, and people with disabilities.

This recognition is called the American Competitiveness and Innovation (ACI) Fellowship and is being awarded based on recommendations from DMR Program Directors. The ACI Fellows will receive a monetary supplement to their current grants, and will have those grants extended for two additional years "for Special Creativity". The objective of such extensions is to offer an enhanced capability to attack adventurous, “high-risk” opportunities in the same general research area, but not necessarily covered by the original/current proposal.

One of the 2008 ACI Fellows from the Division of Materials Research is Professor Pupa Gilbert, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin Madison, "for her application of novel methodology to the determination of the structures and synthetic pathways of mineralized biological tissues and for exceptional skill in bringing the fascination of science to a wide audience involving non-science students and the general public".
More information: click here

YouTube Music Video about the LHC
August 8, 2008
Some folks from CERN have released a YouTube music video about LHC. They rap about how it will "rock you in the head"; we're hoping it doesn't create large rips in our space-time.
View it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

COSMO 08: 12th International Workshop on Particle Physics and the Early Universe
July 8 2008
The Cosmo series brings together people working at the interface of cosmology and astrophysics with particle physics, nuclear physics and related fields. This year is a particularly timely occasion for this meeting (August 25-29, 2008 in Madison WI) with the imminent operation of the Large Hadron Collider and the prospects for new discoveries in particle physics with direct implications for cosmology. In addition, experimental efforts in neutrino physics being led by groups in Madison are also poised to make exciting cosmology-related discoveries.
The website for the meeting is: http://www.physics.wisc.edu/cosmo08/
A circular with the current set of plenary speakers can be found here: cosmo08aprcirc.pdf

UW-Madison ‘originators’ honored with Distinguished Alumni Awards
April 21, 2008
Seven UW-Madison alumni whose original contributions have earned them global recognition will be honored next month with the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Awards, presented by the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA).One of the 2008 Distinguished Young Alumni Award honorees is Stephen Turner '91, who earned his UW-Madison bachelor's degree in applied math, engineering and physics.
Read more:http://www.news.wisc.edu/15089

Four UW-Madison Faculty Chosen as Guggenheim Fellows
April 9, 2008
Four UW-Madison professors have received 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship Awards, which recognize artists, scholars and scientists based on distinguished past achievement and exceptional future promise. One of them was in Physics. Congratulations to Gary Shiu!
Read more:http://www.news.wisc.edu/15053

Passing of Professor William L. Kraushaar
March 21, 2008
William L. Kraushaar, high-energy astronomy pioneer, 87 -- Died March 21, 2008. Professor Kraushaar, a former MIT physics professor and a pioneer in the field of high-energy astronomy, died March 21 of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 87. For more information, see obituary

1st Annual Physics Fair
February 16, 2008
You are invited to attend the 1st Annual Physics Fair on February 16, 2008. This will be an open house in which members of the public can come to learn about the research and teaching that are a part of our department. The Physics Fair will include laboratory tours, hands-on demonstrations, activities for kids and families, and informal conversations with scientists. We hope to have exhibits representing research groups in the department as well as displays on more general physics topics. Additionally, the Ingersoll Physics Museum will be open and the 25th Annual Wonders of Physics public presentations will take place.
Read More: http://uw.physics.wisc.edu/~wonders/PhysicsFair.html

Antarctic science
February 12, 2008
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric will air their piece on Antarctic science on TUESDAY, Feb. 12

Particle Accelerator may Reveal Shape of Alternate Dimensions
January 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. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California-Berkeley say that the telltale signatures left by a new class of particles could distinguish between possible shapes of the extra spatial dimensions predicted by string theory.
Read more:http://www.news.wisc.edu/14678