Category Science & Technology
Study challenges prevailing view of invasive species
Zebra mussels. Asian carp. Kudzu. Chances are you recognize these names as belonging to invasive species - plants or animals that are relocated from their native habitat to a foreign land, only to prove so prolific that they take over their new home. Except that's not how the story usually goes, according to a new study. Read More
H5N1 bird flu genes show nature can pick worrisome traits
In a study published today (Oct. 23, 2013) in Nature Communications, an international team of researchers shows how evolution can favor mutations that make avian flu more transmissible in mammals. Read More
Teatime becoming an institution at institutes
For David Krakauer, a cup of tea has long been as much a part of the research process as beakers, computers and lab benches. Read More
Hitchhiking virus confirms saga of ancient human migration
A study of the full genetic code of a common human virus offers a dramatic confirmation of the "out-of-Africa" pattern of human migration, which had previously been documented by anthropologists and studies of the human genome. Read More
WARF Innovation Award winners offer a better oat, infection disrupter
A new oat offering tasty ways to lower cholesterol and compounds capable of disrupting serious bacterial infections earned top honors in this year's Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Innovation Awards program. Read More
New techniques sharpen climate record found in fossil shells
Locked inside the fossil shells of a marine plankton are the secrets of past climate. Read More
Biomanufacturing center takes central role in developing stem-cell therapies
Developing a new drug takes enormous amounts of time, money and skill, but the bar is even higher for a promising stem-cell therapy. Many types of cells derived from these ultra-flexible parent cells are moving toward the market, but the very quality that makes stem cells so valuable also makes them a difficult source of therapeutics. Read More
Target of animal rights protests kicks off animal research ethics forum
Any research that includes animals presents ethical questions, but they are questions Dario Ringach believes we rarely address together. Read More
Study puts freshwater biodiversity on the map
When it comes to economic growth and environmental impacts, it can seem like Newton's third law of motion is the rule - for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction - and that in most cases, the economy prospers and the environment suffers. Read More
The sun also flips: 11-year solar cycle wimpy, but peaking
In a 3-meter diameter hollow aluminum sphere, Cary Forest, a University of Wisconsin–Madison physics professor, is stirring and heating plasmas to 500,000 degrees Fahrenheit to experimentally mimic the magnetic field-inducing cosmic dynamos at the heart of planets, stars and other celestial bodies. Read More
Microbiome meets big social science: What’s the potential?
Over the last decade or so, biologists have mustered an ever-growing appreciation for the essential role of microbial communities in a diversity of environments. Read More
WARF’s Bremer remembered as technology transfer legend
Sustained by a passion to improve people's lives, Howard Bremer's enduring commitment to innovation fueled his work and his life. Bremer, 90, a WWII U.S. Navy veteran and patent attorney with degrees in law and chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison passed away Friday, ending a remarkable career at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation that spanned 53 years. Read More
The chemistry of color: Energy researcher develops dye-based solar cells
University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers working at the intersection of basic and applied science focus on key factors like cost, environmental impacts ... and sometimes, color. Read More
UW’s bug-eating advocate had global impact
When Gene DeFoliart had his brainstorm in 1974, not even he thought his brainchild would be an easy sell. As a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, DeFoliart was focusing on how insects spread viral disease. Now he was captivated by an opposite proposition: using insects to foster human health — using them, to be specific, as food. Read More
Miron Livny: Collaborative spirit supports Nobel Prize-winning science
In 1964, François Englert and Peter Higgs theorized the existence of a subatomic particle that gives all other particles mass. Nearly 50 years later in 2012, a global team of researchers found evidence that supports the existence of the Higgs boson particle at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland. Read More
Physics Nobel awarded for Higgs particle; UW played key role in research
UW–Madison teams led by physicists Sau Lan Wu and Wesley Smith have played crucial roles in the development and operation of the two main experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that discovered the Higgs boson in July 2012. Read More
UW scientist sniffs out possible new tick species
In June 2012, Tony Goldberg returned from one of his frequent trips to Kibale National Park, an almost 500-square-mile forest in western Uganda where he studies how infectious diseases spread and evolve in the wild. But he didn’t return alone. Read More
Zinc discovery may shed light on Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have made a discovery that, if replicated in humans, suggests a shortage of zinc may contribute to diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which have been linked to defective proteins clumping together in the brain. Read More
UW-Madison chemist named ‘Friend of Education’
Bassam Shakhashiri, known far and wide for his annual holiday season exhibitions of chemistry, has been named a "Friend of Education" by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Read More
Mouse studies reveal promising vitamin D-based treatment for MS
A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is a hard lot. Patients typically get the diagnosis around age 30 after experiencing a series of neurological problems such as blurry vision, wobbly gait or a numb foot. From there, this neurodegenerative disease follows an unforgiving course. Read More