Category Science & Technology
Symposium showcases gamut of student research, some of it already making lives better
A record 683 students took part in the annual celebration of undergraduate research.
Genetics and stress interact to shape human health and well-being
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Waisman Center have shown one way in which human genetics and chronic stress interact to shape health and well-being later in life.
Protein’s flexibility helps its response to diverse pollutants
How some industrial pollutants or abnormal levels of cellular metabolites contribute to diverse human diseases is now more clearly understood, based on a new study from the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center (UWCCC) and the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.
Bacterial supermachine reveals streamlined protein assembly line
Biochemists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany have revealed the defined architecture of what is called the “expressome.”
Antibiotic alternatives, delivered by friendly microbes
A University of Wisconsin–Madison professor is looking to probiotics as a way to sneak in antibiotic-free treatment for Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, a resilient gastrointestinal pathogen.
They look like surgeons: UW Health women surgeons spark meme
Take a magazine cover drawn by a French artist, add in the feminist spirit of Wisconsin surgeons, and you get a Twitter meme that travels the world.
Madison company obtains FDA approval for sleep-data software
Ensodata, a UW–Madison spinoff that sifts through mountains of data from studies at sleep centers, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration on April 11 for its main product to be a medical device.
UW project brings Milky Way’s ionized hydrogen into focus
Building on efforts to tease out a new and mostly hidden feature of our galaxy, UW–Madison astronomers developed a spectrometer capable of detecting the faint, diffuse light emanating from the space between the stars.
Spinoff that puts phosphorus in its place signs key contract
In a bit of high-tech judo, a UW–Madison spinoff has started selling a technology to transform phosphorus at wastewater treatment plants from a major headache into an asset.
Road salt is making North America’s freshwater lakes, well, saltier
Road salt is making North America’s freshwater lakes saltier, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Internet Atlas maps the physical internet to enhance security
A thorough understanding of the internet’s physical makeup has only recently emerged, thanks to painstaking work by UW–Madison researchers and their collaborators.
UW–Madison launches STEM Diversity Network
The University of Wisconsin–Madison has launched the STEM Diversity Network, a website and collection of resources for students, faculty and staff in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Renewable plastic precursor could grow cellulosic biofuel industry
A team of chemical and biological engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has found a way to produce from biomass a valuable compound used in plastic production that they estimate could lower the cost of ethanol produced from plant material by more than two dollars per gallon.
NSF selects 18 UW–Madison students for competitive graduate research award
“The GRFP program is looking not just for great scientists, but for great scientists who will be the scientific leaders and communicators of the future,” says Prof. Robert Hamers.
Experiments test how easy life itself might be
UW scientists are trying to understand how life could arise from lifelike chemical reactions under the right conditions, with implications for understanding how common life might be in the universe.
Catching some rays
A team of researchers at UW–Madison is building cameras that can see the arrival from space of gamma rays, marked by a cascade of subatomic particles created when the rays smash molecules in the atmosphere.
Simpler detection for ketosis helps support state dairies
“Advances like KetoMonitor help us keep the herd healthy, and allow us to stay competitive,” says Roxbury dairy farmer Mitch Breunig. “That’s the kind of help we really need.”
Massive, computer-analyzed geological database reveals chemistry of ancient ocean
Why did easy-to-see and once-common structures called stromatolites essentially cease forming over the long arc of earth history?
Author Erik Vance is UW–Madison science writer in residence
Vance will spend a week on the UW–Madison campus, staring April 3, working with students, faculty and staff interested in science communication and science journalism.
When it comes to biological populations, expect the unexpected
More than three decades of data on the physical, chemical and biological variables in 11 Midwestern lakes show that while lake temperatures and nutrient concentrations rise within relatively expected ranges, biological organisms achieve high population extremes.