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Tag Research

In directing stem cells, study shows context matters

September 8, 2014

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

September 8, 2014

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

September 4, 2014

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

Campus does anything but cease in the summer

September 2, 2014

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is host to boundless opportunities, happenings, changes and more — even when school’s out for the summer. Whether you were around to experience some of the new developments yourself, or taking a break from the everyday bustle of campus life, there was no shortage of activity at the university over the summer. Read More

A touching story: The ancient conversation between plants, fungi and bacteria

August 27, 2014

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

Research and graduate education transition includes familiar, new faces

August 26, 2014

As UW–Madison’s research and graduate education programs begin an historic transition, there will be many familiar faces and a few new ones on the third floor of Bascom Hall. Read More

Marsha Mailick Q & A

August 26, 2014

Marsha Mailick recently talked with University Communications’ Terry Devitt about the administrative changes to come, the experiences that have prepared her for her new role, and the challenges UW–Madison faces in the areas of research and graduate education. Read More

No easy path, Mailick eager to take on one of university’s toughest jobs

August 26, 2014

If Marsha Mailick is at all intimidated by the prospect of taking on one of the hardest jobs on the UW–Madison campus, there is no hint of it in her demeanor, as she navigates the familiar territory of Bascom Hall. Read More

UW center teams up with five states to address asphalt issues

August 22, 2014

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

August 21, 2014

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

No one-size-fits-all approach in a changing climate, changing land

August 18, 2014

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

Grants fund UW technology projects on the road to commercialization

August 15, 2014

An exercise machine that helps stroke victims walk. An advanced technology for assessing the progress of prostate cancer. A faster process for making neural stem cells to investigate new treatments for injury and disease. A cheaper, more beautiful LED light bulb. A game to teach meditation. These projects, and a dozen more, are beneficiaries of the first round of awards by the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Discovery to Product, or D2P, program, which began operating in March. Read More

New analysis links tree height to climate

August 14, 2014

What limits the height of trees? Is it the fraction of their photosynthetic energy they devote to productive new leaves? Or is it their ability to hoist water hundreds of feet into the air, supplying the green, solar-powered sugar factories in those leaves? Read More

Fall Competition aims to set standard for research excellence

August 12, 2014

UW–Madison researchers are being encouraged to apply for competitive funding through the Fall Competition sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education (VCRGE). Read More

Two faculty members named Steenbock Professors

August 12, 2014

University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty members Jin-Yi Cai and Robert Hamers have been named Steenbock Professors. Read More

Climate conundrum: Conflicting indicators on what preceded human-driven warming

August 11, 2014

When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently requested a figure for its annual report, to show global temperature trends over the last 10,000 years, the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Zhengyu Liu knew that was going to be a problem. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science today, Liu and colleagues describe a consistent global warming trend over the course of the Holocene, our current geological epoch, counter to a study published last year that described a period of global cooling before human influence. Read More