University of Wisconsin–Madison

Kelly April Tyrrell

The dome of the Southern African Large Telescope against a blue sky — Hello from Day 8! After several days of immersing ourselves in anthropology with UW Professor Travis Pickering, his undergraduate field school students and his South African collaborators, on Sunday, July 16, Justin, Jeff and I gathered our belongings, ate a quick breakfast at our hotel in Johannesburg, and headed to […]

From anthropology to astronomy, stories from the road in South ...

July 19, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

The Cradle of Humankind, in Guateng Province, South Africa. Photo by Kelly Yyrrell — A team of three from University Communications at UW–Madison – videographer Justin Bomberg, photographer Jeff Miller, and me, science writer Kelly April Tyrrell – have traveled 8,779 miles from Madison, Wisconsin to Johannesburg, South Africa in order help tell important UW-focused stories about origins: from the origins of life on Earth, […]

Adventures in South Africa to follow ‘origins’ stories

July 12, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

Duckweed and algae float near the waters surface where Dorn Creek Marsh flows into the northern edge of Lake Mendota during summer on July 29, 2015. The aquatic plants and the lake's ecosystem health are frequently studied as part of ongoing research conducted by the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Photo by Jeff Miller/UW-Madison) — Clean water consistently ranks high as a public priority. Yet people often fail to see eye to eye about how government should improve and protect water quality. Some may assume these disagreements are driven by a desire to defend one’s own interests, but a new survey of more than 1,100 […]

In Dane County, views about water policies reflect beliefs about ...

July 5, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

Perhaps you’ve noticed: It’s spring and the Plants Are Blooming. Maybe it’s the smell of the lilacs, or the buzzing of bees. Or perhaps it’s the lush greens and bursts of color blurring your field of vision. But have you ever wondered how the landscape transitions from the brown drab of […]

Why flowers need winter

May 17, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

One of the oldest known fossils, the Trendall Locality stromatiolite, on display at the UW Geology Museum in Madison, WI. — Yesterday, a study in the journal Nature described fossils found in the Nuvvuagittuq belt in northeastern Canada that may just be the oldest known fossils in the world, formed between 3.77 and 4.28 billion years ago. However, as a story in the Washington Post on March 1, 2017 put it: ‘Findings like these […]

Oldest fossils? Maybe, or maybe not, but the oldest known ...

March 2, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

Yellow origami bird on a string — Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, often are significantly delayed in expanding their vocabularies and other language skills compared to typically developing children. Yet, “we know very little about [language] processing in [children with ASD] or the mechanisms underlying it,” says Susan Ellis Weismer, a professor of communication sciences […]

Children with autism often have language delays but not for ...

January 10, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

A photomicrograph of Neisseria meningitidis//Photo: CDC — As UW–Madison undergraduate students prepare to take their finals and head home for winter break, public health officials are urging them to make plans to get their second dose of meningococcal disease B vaccine. Three students were hospitalized with the disease in October. At that time, few students ware vaccinated against it but, working […]

For complete immunity, UW students should get second dose of ...

December 12, 2016 by Kelly April Tyrrell

Two cyclists on Madison's Capital City Loop, November 2016 — This post comes courtesy of Jenny Seifert, science writer and outreach coordinator for the Water Sustainability and Climate Project at UW–Madison. A version of this story first appeared last month on WSC’s blog, Yahara in situ: Staying cool may not be a concern to Madisonians at this time of the year, […]

Biking, for science

November 29, 2016 by Kelly April Tyrrell

A fall supermoon, which appears 14 percent bigger than normal, as seen from Madison, Wisconsin on November 14, 2016 — The following is a guest post from resident supermoon skeptic, Jim Lattis, a science historian and director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s astronomy outpost, Space Place who says that, despite the hype behind a recent slew of “supermoons”: “I encourage people to go out and take a look. It’s always good […]

Supermoon skeptic says the moon is still pretty great

November 15, 2016 by Kelly April Tyrrell