Category Science & Technology
John Hawks explores how celiac disease evolved
Celiac disease is an evolutionary paradox, says University of Wisconsin–Madison anthropologist John Hawks.
A shot of anxiety and the world stinks
Researchers using powerful new brain imaging technologies are revealing how anxiety or stress can rewire the brain, linking centers of emotion and olfactory processing, to make typically benign smells malodorous.
Marginal land in demand: researchers explore farmer willingness to grow energy crops
In their quest to make cellulosic biofuel a viable energy option, many researchers are looking to marginal lands - those unsuitable for growing food - as potential real estate for bioenergy crops. However, few people have asked: how do farmers feel about using their marginal lands for fuel production?
Wisconsin Science Festival features Nobel, Pulitzer Prize winners and NPR host
The Wisconsin Science Festival starts Sept. 26 with four jam-packed days, inviting people of all ages and interests to unleash their curiosity.
Decades on, bacterium’s discovery feted as paragon of basic science
Over time, the esoteric and sometimes downright strange quests of science have proven easy targets for politicians and others looking for perceived examples of waste in government - and a cheap headline.
Brain pathways tie together mental maps
To find its way in the world, your brain has to decipher a set of directions muddled by different points of view.
Researchers capture speedy chemical reaction in mid-stride
In synthetic chemistry, making the best possible use of the needed ingredients is key to optimizing high-quality production at the lowest possible cost.
UW-Madison alumnus wins major award for exploring chemistry of the nervous system
Richard Scheller, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a B.S. in biochemistry in 1974, has shared the 2013 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for work explaining how messenger chemicals move between nerve cells.
Weather: More data + more computers = better forecasts
Been beefing about weather forecasts? Did the “experts” miss a thunderstorm, botch the rainfall prediction, mistake cloudy for sunny or windy for calm? You’re not alone. Forecasts of weather are already way better than forecasts of, say, unemployment or grain harvests, but that doesn’t lead us to predict that the caterwauling over weather forecasts will dampen.
In whole-lake experiment, have invasive crayfish met their match?
Four years ago, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers wrapped up a multi-year effort to dramatically reduce the population of a destructive invasive species in a northern Wisconsin lake.
Improved computing provides a better look at the cosmos
Building a neutrino telescope - a unique instrument that detects extremely small, high energy particles - out of 5,000 optical sensors embedded in a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice, a tremendous engineering feat, was just the first challenge.
Retired Dow exec joins UW, will focus on innovation
An industry executive who has spent his entire career translating inventions into products that are both profitable and beneficial to society has joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Massive storm pulls water and ammonia ices from Saturn’s depths
Now, thanks to near-infrared spectral measurements taken by NASA’s Cassini orbiter and analysis of near-infrared color signatures by researchers at UW–Madison, Saturn’s superstorm is helping scientists flesh out a picture of the composition of the planet’s atmosphere at depths typically obscured by a thick high-altitude haze.
Informatics of ‘making’ aims to unite computing, materials and manufacturing advances
Materials science, computing and manufacturing have all evolved into formidable forces on their own in recent years. Support for materials innovation is surging; computing and information are taking on an ever more powerful role in research; and American manufacturing faces a transformation at the hands of the “maker” movement and of major government and industry initiatives.
Microbiome and human health workshop
The opportunity to couple this emerging field and a traditional strength of UW–Madison — large longitudinal studies such as the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study; the Beaver Dam Eye Study; MIDUS, Midlife in the United States; and the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort — will be explored in a small, one-day workshop to be sponsored by the Center for Demography of Health and Aging and the Center for Demography and Ecology.
Tasty Solution: Better beverages for people who have trouble swallowing
After having a stroke in 2008, Jan Blume lost the ability to swallow for two full years. As she slowly regained that vital function, she faced a new challenge: drinking the thickened beverages that are recommended for people with swallowing problems, or dysphagia. She found the drinks almost intolerable.
Geoscience field camp takes the classroom to the mountains
Tina Porter (B.S.’13, Geology and Geophysics) left the flat farmlands of Wisconsin for the rugged terrain of the Utah mountains this summer to put her geology skills to the test.
Tuberculosis genomes portray secrets of pathogen’s success
By any measure, tuberculosis (TB) is a wildly successful pathogen. It infects as many as two billion people in every corner of the world, with a new infection of a human host estimated to occur every second.
Discovery of new enzyme could yield better plants for biofuel
For nearly a decade, scientists have thought that they understood how plants produce lignin - a compound that gives plant tissues their structure and sturdiness, but can limit their use as a source of biofuels.
Swimming through complex bodily fluids gets simpler
It's an uncomfortable truth of life that our bodily fluids are chock full of microscopic swimming organisms - maybe even more uncomfortable to researchers that those little swimmers do laps faster than the theories describing their motion would allow.