The most science-inspired variety show in town! Produced by the Wisconsin Science Festival and the UW-Madison Division of the Arts. Get ready to rock your curiosity at the Why Sci Variety Show—a high-energy mashup of science talks, artful performances, and live music! This year’s theme is Rock and Roll, so expect brainy beats, geology jokes,
Ancient geology meets modern creativity! Scientists studying the Earth’s oldest rocks collab with a textile artist to bring them to life! Join us for a very special Wisconsin Science Festival edition of Crossroads of Ideas, where ancient geology meets modern creativity. This engaging evening features scientists Tyler Blum, Annie Bauer, and Emily Mixon, who have
Chasing Asteroids for Clues to the Origins of Life Join Michelle Thaller, former NASA science communicator, for an evening exploring the origins of life. Thaller, in conversation with Eric Wilcots, Dean of the College of Letters & Sciences and Professor in the Dept of Astronomy, will talk about the OSIRIS-REx mission – an audacious project
Atomic Scale, Klezmer Scales Gaze into the world of the unimaginably small with an evening exploring the atomic scale. What is quantum computing and how does it work? How do atoms in metals organize themselves into hierarchies? As part of Klez Fest Midwest, this special SoundWaves event will feature more live music than ever, with
From the mellowest Labrador to the wiliest coyote, experts in animal behavior & wildlife management discuss human interactions with canines. Join UW–Madison’s Dr. David Drake and Carroll University’s Dr. Mindy Waite for an engaging Crossroads of Ideas conversation exploring the dynamic relationship between humans and animals, both wild and domestic. From what we can teach
This academic year, SoundWaves is exploring scales. In this second edition, we will be zooming in on the micro scale! Our second SoundWaves event of the season explores the Micro Scale, looking at things that are very small in size. What is a microbiome? What’s going on in the Earth’s water? What is microeconomics? What
Presented in celebration of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Quantum science might sound like it belongs in the lab or a science fiction novel, but its impact is already woven into our daily lives—from the technology in our phones to the future of computing and medicine. Join the Wisconsin Quantum
Part I in our Productive Failure Mini-Series
What failure in AI can teach us, and how it can inspire innovation, critical thinking, and resilience.Failure is part of progress, especially in the fast-moving field of artificial intelligence. This Crossroads of Ideas event, part of our three-part mini-series on “productive failure,” brings together David Fields (UW-Madison Department of East Asian Studies) and Rob Nowak
This academic year, SoundWaves is exploring scales. In this second edition, we will be zooming out to the macro scale!
How do we manage when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines? What are our options?
This academic year, SoundWaves is exploring scales. In this final edition, we will be zooming WAY out to the Astronomical scale!
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