Category Science & Technology
Late blight pathogen spreads to state’s potato crop
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
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
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
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?
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
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?
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
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
Curiosities: How many galaxies have humans discovered?
“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
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?
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?
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
Curiosities: Why do cats hate water?
Because we teach them to hate it. There are plenty of cats that love water, according to Sandi Sawchuk, a clinical instructor at the… Read More
Curiosities: Why do onions make us cry when we cut them?
Chopping onions unleashes a “chemical defense that onion plants have to protect themselves against insects and microbes,” says UW–Madison horticulture professor Irwin Goldman. We’re… Read More
Curiosities: Are there more geese in Wisconsin than there used to be?
The number of Canada geese in Wisconsin is very much on the rise, increasing exponentially since standardized bird counts began in 1966, according to… Read More
Faculty aim to strengthen technology, science education by blending them
A group of UW–Madison researchers and Thermo Fisher Scientific scientists will bring together high school students and teachers to build and use diagnostic equipment that would not be out of place in university research labs. Read More
UW-Madison symposium addresses science’s holiest grail: building life from scratch
While at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, biochemist Har Gobind Khorana helped crack the genetic code, completing a set of experiments that garnered him a Nobel Prize in 1968. Read More
Software tool helps Web developers identify seizure-causing content
In 1997, an episode of the popular Pok�mon cartoon gained worldwide attention when more than 800 Japanese children with photosensitive seizure conditions were admitted to the hospital after viewing the cartoon or the subsequent news coverage of it. Read More