University of Wisconsin Madison news stories on Newser

Om My! Meditation Changes Brain Structure

Mary Papenfuss — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:55:00 CDT

This might already be obvious to enlightened souls, but researchers are discovering that meditation may permanently change the physical structure of the brain. Neural circuits linked to focus, happiness and empathy may be strengthened through long-term meditation, effectively rewiring the brain and "lighting up" certain sections with a life-long capability...

What Was That Giant Fireball Over Midwest?

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:08:00 CDT

Scientists are scratching their heads after a giant fireball lit up the midwestern sky, then vanished. The fireball rattled homes and shook the earth as it streaked across the sky and apparently triggered a sonic boom. Scientists speculate the phenomenon, that also lit up police station phone lines, was a...

10 Most-Buzzed-About Schools

Nick McMaster — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:51:01 CDT

Institutions of higher learning care about their brand as much as any business, so the Global Language Monitor has ranked universities and colleges for the amount of buzz they command on the internet. The winners: Harvard University Columbia University University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of California, Berkeley Stanford University

Coed Killer Loose on Midwest Campus

Lucas Laursen — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:49:38 CDT

Police have stepped up campus patrols after a University of Wisconsin-Madison student was found apparently stabbed to death in her apartment Wednesday. The 21-year-old pre-med junior is the first Madison student murdered since 1996, reports ABC News. But police are investigating possible links to an unsolved murder in the city...

All the News That's Fit to Invent: The Onion Hits 20

Harry Kimball — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:51:58 CST

When a wisecracking newspaper was born in a Wisconsin dorm room in 1988, no one predicted it would one day be installed in sleek Manhattan offices, producing fake print and television news, and rolling in dough. But the Onion's president isn’t surprised, CBS reports. The paper “attracts this really great...

Safe Strain Will Spur Ebola Work

Peter Fearon — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:21:00 CST

One of the world's deadliest viruses has been made safe for researchers, speeding up the process of finding drugs and a vaccine, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. University of Wisconsin scientists developed a safe strain of the Ebola virus by removing one of its eight genes. "Now we have a...