Author: jplucas

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=4348729
If scientists could produce a tiny robot that could travel through your body and heal damaged tissue, eradicate disease-carrying microbes, and even wipe out a cancerous tumor, would you support their efforts?

Maybe not, especially if you are an American. Skepticism of experimental science is rampant, and scholars across the land are struggling to understand why, and what they can do to change attitudes. Studies sponsored by the National Science Foundation have found a widespread suspicion among the public that too many scientists are trying to “play God” by manipulating life, and that the government is inept when it comes to protecting its people.

“The United States is a country where religion plays an important role in peoples’ lives,” Dietram Scheufele, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of life sciences communication told participants at a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “European countries have a much more secular perspective.”

A star UW stem cell researcher will play a key role at a new private research center in Madison.

James Thomson is named director of regenerative biology for the Morgridge Institute for Research being built on campus.

Thomson was first to isolate human embryonic stem cells in 1998. Last year, his team succeeded in turning skin cells into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells.

University leaders hope Thomson’s appointment will help recruit scientists to conduct breakthrough research.

MADISON, Wis. — A world-renowned stem cell scientist and researcher has accepted a key position with the Morgridge Institute for Research, the private, not-for-profit division of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

Jamie Thomson, the first member of the scientific team at the research facility, will be the director of regenerative biology. Thompson is currently a professor of anatomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and will retain that position in addition to his new role. The announcement was made at a news conference at the UW Health Sciences Learning Center on Monday afternoon, WISC-TV reported.

CUNA Mutual Group is planning a major mixed-use project on and around its west-side Madison campus, reopening old wounds over how some of this land was acquired.

Back in the early 1980s, relates former Mayor Paul Soglin, CUNA Mutual said it needed more land for eventual expansion. “They gave some kind of alert or signal: We may leave,” says Soglin, now working for a union representing CUNA workers.

The UW-Madison, prodded by business and civic leaders including then Mayor Joel Skornicka, agreed to sell the company 60 acres of University Research Park land.

Barack Obama’s message of hope and change is moving voters and getting them to the polls.

A new study out today also shows that he’s spending far more to get that message out.

Before Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary, which he handily won, he spent five times more than Hillary Clinton on TV ads and started airing them six days before she did, according to the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project.

One of the keys to Obama’s 17-point Wisconsin win? Per a University of Wisconsin Advertising Project study, he outspent Clinton nearly 5-to-1 on TV ads in the state. Overall, the four Dem and GOP candidates aired more than 8,000 spots in the state, spending a combined $2.1 million.

The folks at the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project report that Barack Obama hit the airwaves hard in that state ahead of last week’s primary — and it apparently paid off.

Obama spent five times more on television ads than Hillary Clinton, and more than twice what all the other campaigns (including the two Republicans) spent combined. The four candidates spent about $2.1 million to air more than 8,000 spots, according to the report.

WAUKESHA – Most Americans believe nanotechnology is morally unacceptable because of strong ties to faith that may skew perception about the basis of the minuscule science, a recent study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison said.

Dietram Scheufele, a UW-Madison professor of life sciences communication who helped conduct the study, said deeply-rooted religious views are dictating peoplesâ?? views on nanotechnology. The results of the study show an urgent need to better explain the scientific practice to the public, he said

MADISON â?? Barack Obama spent five times as much as Hillary Rodham Clinton on television advertising in advance of Wisconsin’s primary, a study released today showed.

Obama beat Clinton on Tuesday 58 percent to 41 percent.

Obama also beat Clinton to the Wisconsin airwaves by a full six days. His first ad aired Feb. 6, one day after Super Tuesday, while Clinton didn’t run one until Feb. 12.

Controlling the airwaves is seen as important because candidates can reach millions of people, help define the issues in a race and sway voters’ opinions.

The two Democratic presidential candidates and Republicans John McCain and Mike Huckabee spent a combined $2.1 million on television advertising in the state, according to the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project. It analyzed data from the TNS Media Intelligence Campaign Media Analysis Group.