Science is Fun

In the News
2009

	December 21, 2009 Shakhashiri selected as Honored Instructor by University Housing A UW-Madison news article on the recent Christmas Lecture
	December 10, 2009 Stage fright is not an issue for Shakhashiri A UW-Madison news article on the recent Christmas Lecture
	December 7, 2009 40 years later, chemistry show is still a hit Deborah Ziff of the Wisconsin State Journal interviewed Professor Shakhashiri on the occasion of the 40th anniversary Christmas Lecture A reader's comment on this article
	November 17, 2009 The 40th Anniversary presentation of Once Upon a Christmas Cheery, In the Lab of Shakhashiri is SOLD OUT Program will air on PBS and other cable stations
	November 9, 2009 In Turkey, fertile ground for creationism U.S. critics of evolution help translate their ideas for a society already torn between Islam and secularism
	November 5, 2009 Fifty years of expanding girls' horizons in science, math Thousands of Wisconsin women have been influenced by the Expanding Your Horizons program at UW-Madison
	November 4, 2009 Can women be creative scientists? The dangers of testing for creative ability
	November 4, 2009 Creationism, minus a young earth, emerges in the Islamic world Academics say that creationism is growing in the Muslim world, but Earth-creationists, who believe God created the universe, Earth and life just a few thousand years ago, are rare, if not nonexistent.
	November 2, 2009 Career track U.S. students who study science don't always stay in the field
	October 29, 2009 Study suggests that US could use fewer, not more science students A new paper contradicts the notion of a shrinking supply of native-born talent in United States
	October 29, 2009 The dawn of academic chemistry Philipps University, in Marburg, Germany, celebrates the 400th anniversary of the earliest chemistry professorship
	October 12, 2009 Celebrating chemistry National Chemistry Week: This year's theme is the periodic table of the elements
	October 8, 2009 Inquisitiveness of Milwaukee native leads to a Nobel prize Yale chemist Thomas A. Steitz, who grew up in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry. He was honored, along with two other scientists, for fundamental work that revealed the structure and function of ribosomes, which transform our DNA into the proteins necessary for virtually every human action from breathing to thinking.
	October 7, 2009 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 The key to life at the atomic level At the beginning of the twentieth century, the chemical foundations for life were a mystery. Today we know how many of the most important processes function, all the way down to the atomic level. The 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded for the detailed mapping of the ribosome – the cell’s own protein factory. The ribosome translates the passive DNA information into form and function.
	October 5, 2009 Project: Visualizing and understanding the science of climate change As a contribution to the International Year of Chemistry in 2011, this project proposes collaboration among the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Chemical Society, UNESCO, the Alberta Centre for Research in Youth Science Teaching and Learning (CRYSTAL Alberta), and other partners to develop and disseminate a set of interactive, web-based materials to visualize and understand the underlying science of climate change.
	September 28, 2009 Moon's surface holds water Planetary Science: Spectral results from three different spacecraft confirm presence of H₂O or HO^•
	September 21, 2009 The consequences of a boozy youth A new study out of the University of Washington in Seattle delves into the cause and effect of drinking alcohol at an early age.
	August 27, 2009 Author Michael Pollan's visit to the UW campus ties in with the launch of the university's Go Big Read program.
	July 16, 2009 Professor Shakhashiri presented with honorary degree from Lebanese American University Click here to see the honorary diploma.
	June 26, 2009 Science of fireworks program on campus Saturday When: Saturday, June 27 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Come to the Memorial Union Terrace on to see and learn about the science behind the amazing fireworks displays to be set off across Lake Mendota at Rhythm and Booms. Join Professor Bassam Shakhashiri, Dr. Rodney Schreiner and others from the Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy. View a photo of the event here.
	June 12, 2009 The Opportunity Equation: Transforming mathematics and science education for citizenship and the global economy The Carnegie Corporation of New York / Institute for Advanced Study's Commission on Mathematics and Science Education details why the American education system must be transformed so that our schools provide high quality mathematics and science education to every student.
	June 2, 2009 Women faring well in hiring and tenure processes for science and engineering jobs at research universities, but still underrepresented in applicant pools A new congressionally-mandated National Research Council report examines how women at research-intensive universities fare compared to men at key transition points in their careers.
	May 27, 2009 Boys "outperform girls in science" in Britain According to a study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the gender gap in science is bigger in Britain than in any other developed country.
	May 3, 2009 A brilliant, lucky teen wants to help people Putting his considerable energies towards music, language and science alike, 18-year-old Philip Streich of Platteville is also co-founder of a startup company that may change the way we use energy, paving the way for more affordable usage for the whole world.
	April 28, 2009 President Obama addresses NAS annual meeting In a speech to National Academy of Sciences members gathered for the Academy's 146th annual meeting, President Barack Obama announced major initiatives to boost research funding and bolster math and science education. He said he was restoring science to its rightful place, and urged NAS members to join him in creative efforts to engage young people in science. Listen to the speech here. Read a transcript of the speech here. View a fact sheet on the President's commitment to research and education here.
	April 17, 2009 A plan for U.S. emissions to be buried under sea The Concord, Mass. company SCS Energy hopes to gain the Obama administration's attention with their proposal to counter global warming, inspired by the work of Harvard geochemist Daniel Schrag.
	April 14, 2009 Scientists warn of rapid-fire media dangers New findings show that social media sites like Twitter may be harming young people's emotional development because they are too fast for the brain's "moral compass" to process.
	Tuesday, March 31, 2009 President Obama's memorandum on theimportance of scientific integrity
	March 29, 2009 Bassam's call to action First appearing in Wisconsin People & Ideas, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Spring 2009).
	March 29, 2009 Prominent ecologist to speak on campus Jim Collins, assistant director of biological sciences at the National Science Foundation and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Arizona State University, will give the 2009 Kaeser Scholar Lecture at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 2.
	March 29, 2009 A telescope to the past as Galileo visits U.S.
	March 13, 2009 Vatican sponsors conferences on science and faith The Vatican is sponsoring several academic conferences in 2009 dealing with the work of Charles Darwin and Galileo Galilei. The conferences are intended to show compatibilty between catholicism and modern science.
	March 12, 2009 Intel Science Talent Search 2009 winners announced The top 10 finalists include two Wisconsin students.
	March 10, 2009 Study finds that students benefit from depth, rather than breadth, in high school science courses
	March 10, 2009 Fact sheet on presidential memorandum on scientific integrity "Today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation. It’s time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology." - President Barack Obama
	March 5, 2009 Lifestyle choices steer women away from STEM careers
	February 18, 2009 UW-Madison seminar explores Wisconsin's response to climate change
	February 10 , 2009 "Male Call," Brava Magazine, December 2008 edition Brava's monthly "Male Call" features a closer look at WISL's Dr. Bassam Z. Shakhashiri.

February 3, 2009

"Darwin Day" celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species

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