Category Science & Technology
Court puts stem cell researchers back to work, for now
A panel of appellate judges removed barriers to embryonic stem cell research funded by federal grants in a decision Thursday, Sept. 9 reversing a suspension of funding ordered in August by another federal judge. Read More
New director takes over at Primate Center
It is not likely, by a long shot, to be his biggest challenge, but reorienting his collegiate athletic allegiances and keeping peace in the family will be one pressing priority for neurophysiologist Jon Levine, the Northwestern University researcher who takes the reins of the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) this month. Read More
Curiosities: Why are yellow jackets most noticeable in late summer?
Often mistaken for bees, German yellow jackets are social wasps that cooperate to build their nests and support their queen, and they… Read More
Fellowship a boost for budding energy researchers
A pair of young fusion researchers will be working with the support of the Department of Energy as they work on graduate degrees at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read More
Curiosities: Why do sharks have to swim constantly?
For two reasons, says James Kitchell, professor of zoology at UW–Madison. First, sharks lack the swim bladder that most fish use to adjust their buoyancy. Read More
Plants give up some deep secrets of drought resistance
In a study that promises to fill in the fine details of the plant world's blueprint for surviving drought, a team of Wisconsin researchers has identified in living plants the set of proteins that help them withstand water stress. Read More
Renewed partnership keeps $60 million satellite center in Madison
It was a deep history in satellite meteorology that first got the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration interested in Madison in the 1970s. Read More
Long collaboration with sewer district helps city, university
The passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 ushered in a revolution in sewage treatment. Faced with tightening restrictions on the water and solids it must release after treatment, the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) turned to experts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for advice. Read More
By design, camps for students with disabilities take anxiety out of step to college
"I know what you're all thinking, 'What the heck?'" says 16-year-old Adam Proue, waving his hands and holding up his own presentation. "But this is going to make sense eventually." Read More
Curiosities: Is it safe to reuse plastic knives and forks?
Single-use kitchen plastics — such things as plastic eating utensils, cups and containers from cottage cheese, sour cream, chip dip, margarine, and milk — are… Read More
UW-Madison biochemist Henry Lardy dies at age 92
Henry A. Lardy, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, passed away on Aug. 4 at the age of 92. Read More
Native pollinators: Key to sustainable fruit production?
As a group of students ogles wild flowers on a sunny day at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, the blooming dotted mint, iron weed and black-eyed susans are certainly glorious. But these adult students are not concentrating on the flowers. Instead, they are focusing on the insects busily pollinating those blooms. Read More
H1N1 flu virus used new biochemical trick to cause pandemic
The influenza virus, scientists well know, is a crafty, shape-shifting organism, constantly changing form to evade host immune systems and jump from one species, like birds, to another, mammals. Read More
Study details autism’s heavy toll beyond childhood on marriages
The parents of grown children with autism are more likely to divorce than couples with typically developing children, according to new data from a large longitudinal study of families of adolescents and adults with autism. Read More
Curiosities: Is it true that cell phone use can cause health problems?
The major concern with the electromagnetic radiation from cell phones is brain cancer, but most studies find “nothing definitive,” says Bruce Thomadsen, a professor… Read More
Students size up seismic sensor sites
University of Wisconsin–Madison students Matthew Kogle and Kelly Hoehn logged thousands of miles this summer driving rural Wisconsin roads, scanning the landscape. When they found a promising spot, they knocked on the door of the nearest farmhouse and tried to interest the owners in their cause. Read More
IceCube spies unexplained pattern of cosmic rays
Though still under construction, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole is already delivering scientific results - including an early finding about a phenomenon the telescope was not even designed to study. Read More
Curiosities: What’s the difference between dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent and dish soap? Why aren’t they interchangeable?
All detergents — whether intended for hands, hair, clothes or dishes — work on the same principles: Break up oils and dirt and wash them… Read More
Curiosities: Why do people sometimes develop late in life an allergy that never bothered them before?
Most allergies — especially to airborne allergens associated with runny noses and itchy eyes — come on in the teenage years or early twenties, according… Read More
Global grassroots lake science network has roots in Wisconsin
Inspired and led by freshwater scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, researchers eager to understand global ecosystems from end to end are now monitoring a series of buoys in lakes on every continent except Africa. Each buoy carries instruments to measure fundamental data on the weather above the water and the temperature and chemistry below it. Read More