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Category Science & Technology

Monkeys get a groove on, but only to monkey music

September 1, 2009

Music is one of the surest ways to influence human emotions; most people unconsciously recognize and respond to music that is happy, sad, fearful or mellow. But psychologists who have tried to trace the evolutionary roots of these responses usually hit a dead end. Nonhuman primates scarcely respond to human music, and instead prefer silence. Read More

UW-Madison’s ‘good ideas’ get lift from stimulus funds

August 26, 2009

The university has drawn more than $38 million in funding for more than 120 research projects and programs from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The work is spread across the range of academic disciplines, including public health, computer science, psychology, economics and engineering. Funding comes from agencies such as NSF, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Energy and the National Endowment for the Arts. Read More

Snaring bigger bugs gave flytraps evolutionary edge

August 25, 2009

Carnivorous plants defy our expectations of how plants should behave, with Venus flytraps employing nerve-like reflexes and powerful digestive enzymes to capture and consume fresh meat. The evolutionary history of these botanical oddities is now a bit clearer, thanks to new work. Read More

Slide show: Starry Night

August 24, 2009

Wisconsin team grows retina cells from skin-derived stem cells

August 24, 2009

A team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health has successfully grown multiple types of retina cells from two types of stem cells - suggesting a future in which damaged retinas could be repaired by cells grown from the patient's own skin. Read More

A new ‘bent’ on fusion

August 20, 2009

Success in cellular fusion - as occurs at the moment of conception and when nerve cells exchange neurotransmitters - requires that a membrane be bent before the merging process can begin, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have shown. Read More

Late blight pathogen spreads to state’s potato crop

August 19, 2009

The plant pathogen best known for causing the Irish potato famine - Phytophthora infestans - was just discovered in two commercial potato fields in two separate Wisconsin counties. Before this, the outbreak of late blight, as the disease is known, had been confined to tomato plants. Read More

New approach to wound healing may be easy on skin, but hard on bacteria

August 19, 2009

In a presentation today (Aug. 19) to the American Chemical Society meeting, Ankit Agarwal, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, described an experimental approach to wound healing that could take advantage of silver's anti-bacterial properties, while sidestepping the damage silver can cause to cells needed for healing. Read More

Engineered protein-like molecule protects cells against HIV infection

August 17, 2009

With the help of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and molecular engineering, researchers have designed synthetic protein-like mimics convincing enough to interrupt unwanted biological conversations between cells. Read More

Future angst? Brain scans show uncertainty fuels anxiety

August 17, 2009

Anyone who has spent a sleepless night anguishing over a possible job loss has experienced the central finding of a new brain scan study: Uncertainty makes a bad event feel even worse. Read More

Curiosities: How big is space?

August 17, 2009

Space is probably infinite, but we can see only the part that contains stars or galaxies whose light has been able to reach us, says… Read More

Scientists make multiple types of white blood cells directly from embryonic and adult stem cells

August 11, 2009

In an advance that could help transform embryonic stem cells into a multipurpose medical tool, scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have transformed these versatile cells into progenitors of white blood cells and into six types of mature white blood and immune cells. Read More

Curiosities: How long can bacteria live outside humans?

August 10, 2009

Bacteria have vastly different survival abilities, says Jeri Barak, an assistant professor of plant pathology at UW–Madison. Many species normally live in soil… Read More

GLBRC receives $8 million in Recovery Act funding

August 6, 2009

The Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) has received $8.099 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide crucial support for plant cell wall imaging and sustainability research. Read More

Slide show: Tiny Art

August 5, 2009

Curiosities: How many galaxies have humans discovered?

August 3, 2009

“We don’t know,” says Ed Churchwell, professor of astronomy. “We know it’s a very large number.” It’s in the hundreds of billions, Churchwell… Read More

Team discovers gene for age-related cataracts

July 31, 2009

Participants in the University of Wisconsin–Madison's long-running Beaver Dam Eye Study have contributed to the discovery of a gene involved in cataracts in both aging humans and in mice. Read More

Will a well-mixed, warmer lake doom invasive fish?

July 30, 2009

The rainbow smelt, an invasive fish that threatens native species such as walleye and perch, may soon be feeling the heat - literally. Read More

Curiosities: Does a dark-colored car heat up more in the sun than a light-colored car?

July 27, 2009

The external color does not significantly affect how much the inside of a car heats up in the sun, says Sanford Klein, director of… Read More