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Ask Mr. Scientist: Why the cold weather makes you miserable

Dear Mr. Scientist,

Welfare enables able-bodied to avoid the workforce

The election is finally here. It’s time to pull out the trumpets, drop the streamers, wave the flags and lock the doors so volunteers can’t get in to ask about your voting status. Regardless of the electricity in the air for the election on Tuesday, it is time I stop berating former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on his policies and focus on the future.

Rules for Halloween are way too strict

Alright, well with the elections so near you can smell the eggs it ate this morning on its breath, it’s a good time to take a step back and scrutinize something much simpler and down to earth: Halloween restrictions. There is nothing better than being able to blow some steam off after the first half of the semester by putting on a skin-tight jumpsuit, cape and bat mask, calling up some friends from off-campus and going out to prowl the streets of the capital on the lookout for crime and pirate booty. Sadly, the administration on campus has, to our distress, continually cut our fun short year after year with restrictions in the dorms and apartment buildings.

Take a Wook at this local band

In addition to the normal stresses of student and “real world” life, the members of Madison jam/electronic band Wook balance an extended schedule of gigs and traveling, including their stint at the Majestic Theatre opening for Papadosio Friday.

Hormone takes up fight against cancer

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) recently signed a license agreement with AhR Pharmaceuticals for exclusive rights to the development and use of ITE, a hormone that has the potential to treat some types of cancer and obesity.

Bonnaroo 2k12: That Stage

This is the end! Despite our zombie-like trances after four days of intense ‘Rooing, we finished the trip solidly with a stellar Sunday lineup. We split up early in the morning to maximize coverage, with Jaime seeing Grouplove and Young the Giant and Marina heading to The Antlers and fun. We also both caught snippets of Ben Folds Five and Bon Iver as we crossed the field to various stages to fill up our Sunday.

Ask Mr. Scientist: From ozone to compostable chip bags

SCIENCE

I come from a land down under

When I landed in Los Angeles, people asked me why I came to the United States. I would tell them I came here to study, after which they would grow excited and proceed to ask me where I was studying. When I replied with UW-Madison, every person’s reaction was the same: They all looked at me, sometimes in fear, sometimes jokingly, and asked, “You know it is cold there, don’t you?” Of course I did. I had put some serious research into my study abroad program, and though my arrival in the great U.S. of A. in the middle of winter could be construed as crazy, I had chosen to test my limits in the freezing cold  Wisconsin.

Castle Doctrine fair to property owners

Ask Mr. Scientist, 02/29/12

SCIENCE

Pit bull tasered after attacking three people

After a 7-month old American Pit Bull Terrier latched on to the clothing of three people, a Madison Police officer tasered the animal.

Newest album just a cog in the 'meh'chine

Florence + the Machine are back with their second full-length release. Released on Nov. 1, Ceremonials features Florence Welsh at her best, showing that she is as dark and romantic as on previously released Lungs, with a sense of album cohesiveness that was not found on the former release. Welsh successfully proves "Dog Days are Over" is not a one-hit wonder, but that she truly has staying power.

Exercise: Kill It With Fire

I am going to start this off with a confession:  I, Elliot Jack Morris, have never in my life been to either the SERF or the Nat.   I walk past the SERF ever day with a feeling of guilt that I’m trashing my body internally by rarely demonstrating any physical exertion.  Still, however soul-crushing this feeling is, it’s never quite enough to actually get my ass to the gym like my arteries crave so desperately.

Focusing on the face of student cancer

Ashley Halstead, a sophomore at UW-Madison, was up early two weeks ago chalking. Members of Colleges Against Cancer drew chalk lines 25 feet from several major campus buildings for National Lung Cancer Awareness Month in November. This is the distance one must be from a university building to be smoking a cigarette. Halstead dusted the pink chalk off on her jeans, avoiding her new t-shirt, which proudly declared I Put Out - oCigarettes."" After a long day of chalking and classes, Halstead went to study at College Library. She sat at a desk in the café, stretched and rolled up her sleeves. 

Wisconsin must step up to fight smog

On Oct. 6 Wisconsin Environment, an environment policy group, released a report showing that three cities in Wisconsin—Kenosha, Sheboygan and Racine—are among the 10 top smoggiest metropolitan areas in the United States.

Stetson's latest album a triumph

All right, time for some real talk—Colin Stetson is perhaps the most wonderful musician currently active. It doesn't matter if you don't know him or even if you don't like him (it's barely even expected, honestly—his is a niche within a niche within a niche), the man is doing things beyond groundbreaking and he deserves nothing less than to have the very ground he walks upon kissed in adoration by the awestruck masses.

It's not the end of the world as we know it

When R.E.M. broke up last week, I didn't feel the loss. When the White Stripes called it quits, sure. When Sony announced it was firing Sam Raimi and rebooting the Spider-Man franchise, Jesus; I didn't answer my phone for a day and a half. Instead, I just sat alone in my apartment and drank, cursing Topher Grace at the top of my lungs. There really wasn't much else to do.

Hip-hop groups propels students to success

Tyler Degand, 14, is recovering from a double lung transplant from the UW Hospital & Clinics in Madison, Wis. Photographed Friday, October 23, 2009, in Madison, Wis. John Maniaci/UW Hospitals & Clinics

No 'Protest' against Swingin' Utters latest

I was 13 years old the first time I heard the Swingin' Utters—their single ""Glad"" was featured on a compilation from Warped Tour. The speed of the song combined with the punchy delivery of the lead vocals and melodic guitar drew me in, and from there I was hooked. Returning from an eight year recording break with Here, Under Protest, the band still manages that pull, even as their sound is further refined.

Madison area named one of worst cities in country for particle pollution

The Madison area was ranked as one of the worst places in the nation for particle pollution in the air in a new study from the American Lung Association.