Category Science & Technology
Dwindling wind may tip predator-prey balance
Bent and tossed by the wind, a field of soybean plants presents a challenge for an Asian lady beetle on the hunt for aphids. But what if the air - and the soybeans - were still? Read More
Researchers study vital ‘on/off switches’ that control when bacteria turn deadly
No matter how many times it’s demonstrated, it’s still hard to envision bacteria as social, communicating creatures. But by using a signaling system called “quorum sensing,” these single-celled organisms radically alter their behavior to suit their population. Helen Blackwell, a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has been making artificial compounds that mimic the natural quorum-sensing signals, including some that block a natural signal from binding to its protein target. Read More
Down syndrome helps researchers understand Alzheimer’s disease
The link between a protein typically associated with Alzheimer's disease and its impact on memory and cognition may not be as clear as once thought, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Waisman Center. The findings are revealing more information about the earliest stages of the neurodegenerative disease. Read More
Campus botany gardener: transplant master
To hear master gardener Mo Fayyaz tell it, raising plants is straightforward: Get the right light, temperature, soil and water. Keep your eyes open. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else. And if everything fails, choose another plant. “You cannot just plant a rose in the shade and expect much,” he says. In 1984, Fayyaz secured his present job, director of UW–Madison’s Botany Garden and Greenhouse, and he began a long campaign to nurture and expand a garden that supports teaching and research in the biological sciences. Read More
Journal Sentinel’s Mark Johnson to be Science Writer in Residence
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Mark Johnson will bring his experience and expertise to campus as the fall 2014 University of Wisconsin–Madison Science Writer in Residence. Read More
Project prepares collection for 21st-century challenge of invasive species
At the Wisconsin State Herbarium, director Kenneth Cameron is spearheading a new, three-year project to “digitize” images and data on aquatic and wetland plants, mollusks and fish from the Great Lakes basin. The $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will also be disbursed to natural history museums at UW campuses in Stevens Point, Milwaukee and La Crosse, and in every other Great Lakes state. Together, these institutions expect to digitize 1.73 million specimens related to Great Lakes invasives. Read More
Yogic breathing shows promise in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
One of the greatest casualties of war is its lasting effect on the minds of soldiers. This presents a daunting public health problem: More than 20 percent of veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a 2012 report by RAND Corp. Read More
Wisconsin Science Festival to celebrate scientific discovery, community
Thousands of visitors, young and old, will have the chance to indulge their “inner scientist” during the 2014 Wisconsin Science Festival, with more than 20 communities statewide joining Madison in the event. Now in its fourth year, the festival will be held from Oct. 16-19. Read More
Cool Science Image collection debuts at McPherson Eye Research Vision Gallery
The winning images from the 2014 Cool Science Image (CSI) contest will be on display beginning Sept. 2 at the Mandelbaum & Albert Family Vision Gallery, part of the McPherson Eye Research Institute. Read More
In directing stem cells, study shows context matters
In a new study, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison has added a new wrinkle to the cell differentiation equation, showing that the stiffness of the surfaces on which stem cells are grown can exert a profound influence on cell fate. Read More
New motor under development by UW–Madison spinoff
A tabletop motor using an entirely new driving principle is under development at the headquarters of C-Motive Technologies, a startup business that is commercializing technology from the College of Engineering at UW–Madison. Read More
PSL: Still making amazing instruments after all these years
A century ago, physicists used a tabletop “cloud chamber” to explore the motion of otherwise invisible particles. Today, they need giant machines to explore the bizarre frontiers of modern physics. And significant components of the most important modern physics experiments in China, Switzerland, the United States and the South Pole can trace their roots to a lab across the road from a cornfield near Stoughton, Wisconsin — the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Physical Sciences Laboratory, or PSL. Read More
A touching story: The ancient conversation between plants, fungi and bacteria
The mechanical force that a single fungal cell or bacterial colony exerts on a plant cell may seem vanishingly small, but it plays a heavy role in setting up some of the most fundamental symbiotic relationships in biology. In fact, it may not be too much of a stretch to say that plants may have never moved onto land without the ability to respond to the touch of beneficial fungi, according to a new study led by Jean-Michel Ané, a professor of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read More
UW center teams up with five states to address asphalt issues
More than 80 percent of major roads in the United States are still surfaced with asphaltic mixtures - and the liquid asphalt, a byproduct of oil refining, remains a bit of a chemical mess, an inconsistent, complex mix of hydrocarbons. So to understand how different kinds of asphalt will hold up under the weight of vehicles and the punishment of the elements, road engineers must use physical methods, from ovens to hydraulic testing devices, to inflict stress and extreme temperatures upon the mixtures. Read More
UW-Madison chosen for federally funded cloud computing research
Cloud computing, which allows users of technology to tap into remote, shared infrastructure and services, is a major facet of today’s world. Whether or not we realize it, countless aspects of our daily lives — from social media to drug discovery — are now enabled by cloud computing. The University of Wisconsin–Madison has been chosen to be part of a National Science Foundation-funded project called CloudLab — a joint effort of university and industry teams for the development of cloud infrastructure and fostering the high-level research that it supports. Read More
University spinoff aims to hit the mark precisely with brain-scanning tool
As brain surgeons test new procedures and drugs to treat conditions ranging from psychiatric disorders to brain cancer, accuracy is becoming an ever-greater issue. Read More
Legend in genetics at forefront of book about heroism during 20th century’s darkest hours
Waclaw Szybalski, 92, a genius of genetics who has been repeatedly mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize, grew up as an aspiring scientist during World War II in the eastern part of Poland. Many of Szybalski's most significant wartime roles concerned a decidedly applied type of science: He cooked TNT so the Polish resistance could sabotage rail lines. He participated in smuggling typhus vaccine to Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. And he fed lice and supervised "louse feeders." Read More
Herbarium director receives award for telling the story of plants
Ken Cameron, director of the Wisconsin State Herbarium, received the Peter Raven Award from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists Aug. 5. Cameron, also a professor of botany at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is a world expert on the orchid family. Read More
No one-size-fits-all approach in a changing climate, changing land
As climate change alters habitats for birds and bees and everything in between, so too does the way humans decide to use land. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Aarhus University in Denmark have, for the first time, found a way to determine the potential combined impacts of both climate and land-use change on plants, animals and ecosystems across the country. Read More