Category Science & Technology
Researcher seeks ‘missing piece’ in climate change models
To most people, soil is just dirt. But to microbiologists, it is a veritable zoo of bacteria, fungi and nematodes. It's also a vast carbon dioxide factory. As these microorganisms consume carbon-based materials found in soil, they release carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere as a normal part of their metabolism. Read More
IceCube telescope construction exceeds season goals
As the austral summer wanes, so does the highly successful 2006-07 work season at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, which draws to a close Thursday, Feb. 15. Read More
Single-handed fishing kit reels in first place in invention competition
The Adaptive Fishing Kit, a kit that converts a standard fishing rod and reel so people can use it with only one arm, took the top prize and $10,000 in the 2007 Schoofs Prize for Creativity during the Innovation Days idea and invention competition at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read More
Nanotechnology meets biology and DNA finds its groove
UW-Madison scientists have developed a quick, inexpensive and efficient method to extract single DNA molecules and position them in nanoscale troughs or "slits," where they can be easily analyzed and sequenced. The technique, which according to its developers is simple and scalable, could lead to faster and vastly more efficient sequencing technology in the lab, and may one day help underpin the ability of clinicians to obtain customized DNA profiles of patients. Read More
Study profiles rate of autism in Wisconsin
A Wisconsin autism surveillance project reported today (Feb. 8) that approximately five out of every 1,000 Wisconsin children born in 1994 display symptoms indicative of autism. Read More
Nobelist MacDiarmid was UW–Madison graduate
Nobel laureate chemist Alan G. MacDiarmid, who died Wednesday at the age of 79, was a two-degree graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and was slated to receive an honorary degree from UW–Madison at the spring 2007 commencement. Read More
Second annual Darwin Day coming Saturday
The 198th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth will be celebrated on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007 on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. Read More
CALS Dean Molly Jahn: Biosciences can transform state economy
Few people have a better firsthand take on the value of university-industry collaboration than Molly Jahn, the University of Wisconsin–Madison's new dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Read More
Satellite leftovers to fuel weather, climate research
A spool of 1,600 gold threads, each thinner than one uncooked spaghetti noodle, formed the insides of the beer can-sized component in a space-bound refrigerator. The University of Wisconsin–Madison center responsible for this unit recently sold the leftover gold to fund remote-sensing research. Read More
Physicists find way to ‘see’ extra dimensions
Peering backward in time to an instant after the big bang, physicists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have devised an approach that may help unlock the hidden shapes of alternate dimensions of the universe. Read More
Undergraduate invention competitions slated for Feb 8-9
Ski bindings, a reclining wheelchair, digital window-front advertising, a page-turning machine and an online community are rarely found in the same context. But they and 15 other inventions, all conceived and built by University of Wisconsin–Madison undergraduate students, will be the center of attention at the annual UW–Madison Innovation Days competitions, to be held Feb. 8-9 in the Mechanical Engineering Building on the College of Engineering campus. Read More
Finding may unshackle the potential of composite materials
In an advance that could lead to composite materials with virtually limitless performance capabilities, a University of Wisconsin–Madison scientist has dispelled a 50-year-old theoretical notion that composite materials must be made only of "stable" individual materials to be stable overall. Read More
McKenna selected to head veterinary diagnostic lab
Thomas McKenna, an animal disease expert with 12 years experience dealing with the implications of livestock diseases at the national and international level, has been chosen to head the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Read More
Nutrition researchers provide the skinny on trans fats
This past holiday season, University of Wisconsin–Madison nutritionist Sherry Tanumihardjo made brownies with butter, not margarine. Like a lot of us, she wanted to avoid artificial trans fats. Read More
Enzyme plays dual role in cancer spread
Before cancer cells can migrate, or metastasize, to other parts of the body, they first have to disconnect from their neighbors in the tumor. A team of University of Wisconsin–Madison and Canadian scientists has made a surprising discovery: The same enzyme that controls the ability of cancer cells to move also governs a process that binds them tightly in place. Read More
Silicon medicines may be effective in humans
University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists have shown that silicon — the stuff of computer chips, glass and pottery — may have extraordinary therapeutic value for treating human disease. Read More
Campus plan aims to remove ash trees, head off emerald ash borer
Staying one step ahead of an aggressive, wood-boring beetle that is threatening ash trees in several states is the aim of a plan that will gradually remove many ash trees at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read More
Toxin-binding protein linked to cardiovascular health
New research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has revealed an unexpected role for a toxin-binding protein in regulating the carrier of so-called "bad cholesterol." Read More
UW-Madison college targets federal bioenergy initiative
The University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is leading efforts to bring a new federal bioenergy research and development center to Wisconsin, the college's dean told a group of bioscience industry leaders today. Read More
Study uncovers a lethal secret of 1918 influenza virus
In a study of nonhuman primates infected with the influenza virus that killed 50 million people in 1918, an international team of scientists has found a critical clue to how the virus killed so quickly and efficiently. Read More