Tag Research
Global mercury pollution experts to meet here July 14-18
More than three dozen experts from 11 nations will be meeting at the UW–Madison Fluno Center for Executive Education this week to discuss the status of mercury as a global pollutant. Seven experts have agreed to be available for media interviews from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, July 14, in Room 203 of the Fluno Center, 601 University Ave. Their areas of expertise are detailed later in this release. Read More
Huntington’s cure in flies lays groundwork for new treatment approaches
Boosting levels of two critical proteins that normally shut down during Huntington's disease, researchers at UW–Madison and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have cured fruit flies of the genetic, neurodegenerative condition. Read More
TIP: UW–Madison scientists advance homeland security efforts
With the London terror attacks triggering renewed discussion about homeland security, reporters may be interested in a year-old federal project at the University of Wisconsin–Madison that is helping the United States prioritize possible terror targets and develop effective risk-reduction and resource-allocation strategies. Read More
Forestry project will map likely habitat of endangered butterfly
A grant from the University of Wisconsin–Madison Graduate School's Technology Transfer Program will fund a project that uses computer mapping and statistical modeling to identify likely habitat of the endangered Karner blue butterfly. The project could help Wisconsin land managers save thousands of dollars on field surveys required to protect the rare insect. Read More
TIP: Perspectives on terror attacks
Reporters seeking local perspectives on today's series of terror attacks in London may consider the following experts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Faculty on this list can offer insight on terrorism and on the political, economic and diplomatic implications of the attacks occurring during the start of the G8 Summit. Read More
UW-Madison scientists receive $20 million award for protein study
Researchers at the Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics, based at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, have received a $20 million award to fund Phase II of the Protein Structure Initiative over the next five years. Read More
Embattled Curtis Prairie a test bed for new restoration techniques
To the ordinary eye, the world's oldest restored tall-grass prairie is an idyllic postcard picture. Long, slender grasses sway in the breeze, and playful blackbirds swoop everywhere. Read More
New vet school oncologist offers cancer treatment options
Ruthanne Chun, a clinical veterinary oncologist who joined the staff this month of the School of Veterinary Medicine, is dedicated to finding new and better ways to treat animals with cancer. Read More
Study shows eutrophic lakes may not recover for a millennium
Although it has taken just 60 years for humans to put many freshwater lakes on the eutrophication fast track, a new study shows their recovery may take a thousand years under the best of circumstances. Read More
Scientists streamline method for making key virus
By devising a novel way to package the genome of a common human tumor virus - the virus that causes common warts, genital warts and that is implicated in prevalent cancers - scientists have paved the way for making the pathogen far more accessible to biomedical science. Read More
Technique provides path to manufacturing complex nano-electronic devices
In the time it takes to read this sentence, your fingernail will have grown one nanometer. That's one-billionth of a meter and it represents the scale at which electronics must be built if the march toward miniaturization is to continue. Reporting in the June 3 issue of the journal Science, an international team of researchers shows how control over materials on this tiny scale can be extended to create complex patterns important in the production of nano-electronics. Read More
Making a better cheddar
Whether it's a stretchy mozzarella or an easy-to-slice Swiss, cheesemakers aim to provide consumers with high quality, consistent products. To this end, they often try to improve texture and flavor by controlling for factors like acidity and the breakdown of milk proteins by enzymes. However, the key to better Cheddar may lie in undissolved calcium salts, according to a report by UW–Madison cheese scientists published recently in the International Dairy Journal. Read More
Farmers’ insurance choices range from too costly to too little to none at all
Health care is something that most people working in Wisconsin's offices, factories, stores and other places of employment don't have to worry about. For Wisconsin farm operators, the story is different. Read More
Wildlife scientists work in the eye of a biological and political firestorm
Wildlife managers stunned Wisconsin's conservation community in 2002 when they announced that three whitetail deer shot near Mt. Horeb had tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. This was the first time CWD had been found in the wild east of the Mississippi River . Unchecked, the incurable brain-wasting disease could seriously disrupt Wisconsin 's much-loved (and hunted) deer herd. Read More
Scientists build consensus on building buffers between field and stream
Maximizing crop yields is fairly simple -- good soil, cooperative weather, a productive hybrid with plenty of fertilizer. But we're no longer living in a simple world. Fifty years ago, most farmers -- and many university researchers — worked to maximize yields. Today, the big challenge is to minimize environmental impacts while maintaining farm profits. Read More
Enterprising scientists turn discoveries into useful technologies
Patents and business plans were far from Jiwan Palta's mind when he joined the faculty of the College of Agricultural and Life Science's horticulture department in 1982. Twenty-three years later, he's well acquainted with both. Read More
The case of the missing milk money: Farmers enlist a posse to corral a profit robber
Dairy farmers wear a lot of hats during a typical day - mechanic, nutritionist, agronomist, accountant, and veterinarian. They do those jobs well, but sometimes a fresh look at a farm operation can come in handy - like when potential profits are slipping away and none of the usual tricks seem to staunch the flow. Read More
Future dairy leaders from two countries cross paths and borders
Hundreds of UW–Madison students head to Mexico each spring. Almost all of them spend their time at beach resorts, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other U.S. students. They return with great suntans. UW–Madison students Chad Staudinger and Kristin Noeldner also went to Mexico. They spent their time in central Mexico, shoulder to shoulder with Mexican farm crews and hundreds of cows. Read More
New technique provides path to manufacturing complex nano-electronic devices
By merging the latest principles of lithography and self-assembly block-copolymer techniques, researchers at UW–Madison and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland developed a hybrid approach that maximizes the benefits and minimizes the limitations of each approach to nanomanufacturing. Read More
Green diesel: New process makes fuel from plants
College of Engineering researchers have discovered a new way to make a diesel-like liquid fuel from carbohydrates commonly found in plants. "It's a very efficient process," says researcher George Huber. "The fuel produced contains 90 percent of the energy found in the carbohydrate and hydrogen feed. If you look at a carbohydrate source such as corn, our new process has the potential to create twice the energy as is created in using corn to make ethanol." Read More