Tag Research
Accumulated change courts ecosystem catastrophe
Subjected to decades of gradual change by humans, many of the world's natural ecosystems - from coral reefs and tropical forests to northern lakes and forests - appear susceptible to sudden catastrophic ecological change, an international consortium of scientists reports today, Oct. 11, in the journal Nature.
Advances
(Advances gives a glimpse of the many significant research projects at the university. Tell us about your discoveries by e-mailing: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.)…
Hemp won’t replace other crops: study
Even if industrial hemp production became legal, few U.S. farmers would find the crop profitable, according to a university study.
Emeritus engineering professor pulls plug on electric chair’s reliability
In the last 111 years, more Americans have died by legal electrocution — 4,324 — than through any other method of execution. But now the long era of the electric chair is drawing to a close, and Theodore Bernstein, emeritus professor of electrical and computer engineering, is one of the hands that is pulling the plug.
New study: Changing roles benefit men and women
Contrary to longstanding theories of gender and psychology, women and men can benefit by taking on more than one traditional social role, such as worker or parent, report two researchers in the October issue of American Psychologist.
Police remind fans about game day security measures
UW-Madison police remind all football fans that security measures enacted for last week's game remain in effect for this Saturday's contest between the Badgers and the Indiana Hoosiers.
UW-Madison to study charter schools
The La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW–Madison has been awarded a $650,000 federal grant to study how well charters schools are working in Wisconsin.
Molecular snippets hold viruses at bay
In a surprising find, scientists have uncovered the antiviral properties of an obscure class of peptides that may someday provide a powerful way to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
New method softens up germs
Scientists with the Food Research Institute have devised a promising way to keep microbes vulnerable to germ-killers using plant-derived compounds called sesquiterpenoids.
UW to develop Internet 2 ‘middleware’
The university has received a grant to facilitate online sharing of knowledge, instruments and other scientific resources, and foster Web-based collaboration.
Regents to discuss diversity plan
A progress report on Plan 2008, the UW System's 10-year initiative to enhance diversity, will lead into a discussion of campus climate and retention issues at the UW System Board of Regents meeting Oct. 4-5 at UW-Eau Claire.
Surveys to gauge health of older residents
Wisconsin's older residents may help improve state services simply by picking up the phone this month.
Pre-game pancake party gets students in Badger spirit
What's a Hoosier anyway? No one knows for sure - not even Indiana fans - but UW–Madison students will do their best to personify Hoosiers at the Hoosier Mascot Pre-Game Pancake Party before the Wisconsin vs. Indiana game Saturday, Oct. 6.
Researchers: Autumn color is nature’s sunscreen
Every fall, thousands of Americans head for the woods to see summer extinguished in a blaze of color. In Wisconsin, they celebrate Colorama. In New England, the visitors are called 'leaf peepers.' They travel hundreds of miles north for the yellows, the oranges and especially the reds.
UW receives $17 million to speed protein research
Shape is key to understanding how proteins make life work. Each gene in every organism contains information to make a specific and often unique protein. Researchers now want to catalog the three-dimensional structures of those proteins, and a UW–Madison team has received a four-year, $17 million grant to accelerate the process and reduce its cost.
Advances
(Advances gives a glimpse of the many significant research projects at the university. Tell us about your discoveries by e-mailing: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.)…
WARF amends stem cell suit
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation filed an amended complaint in federal court today, Sept. 24, to ensure broad access to the pharmaceutical, medical, scientific, research and development communities of the stem cell research products to which Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, Calif., asserts it has exclusive rights.
Ecologists to showcase research at campus symposium
Current faculty research will be the focus of the UW–Madison Ecology Group's Seventh Annual Symposium Sept. 20-21.
Ceremony to mark assembly of Thai pavilion
A traditional ceremony known as "Yok Sao Eak," which means "stand up the first pillar," will be held Thursday, Sept. 13, at 9 a.m. as Thai artisans begin construction of the Thai Pavilion at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The first day of assembly will involve the next day.
Gene transfer in primates a success
By successfully inserting a gene from a jellyfish into the fertilized eggs of rhesus monkeys, scientists have managed to make transgenic placentas in which the inserted gene functions as it does in the jellyfish.