A study co-authored by a Wisconsin researcher says that when humans showed up on Earth, changes came to a plant-animal association that had lasted 300 million years.
Category: Research
Grant will help researchers address achievement gaps in schools
Noted: The $5.25 million grant will span four years. The money will support research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison through the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the Institute for Research on Poverty, officials said.
UW researcher receives global award
A University of Wisconsin researcher known worldwide for his work on influenza and ebola is the winner of a prestigious award from the United Nations.
Study: Streams, Rivers Play Bigger Role In Climate Change Than Originally Thought
An analysis of rivers and streams finds the waterways — collectively — are a bigger source of the greenhouse gas, methane, than previously estimated, according to a study led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor.
UW-Madison researchers sign letter opposing ban on fetal tissue research
The letter, which was written by three UW-Madison scientists, contends that the bill “would severely restrict promising avenues of biomedical research for conditions such as diabetes, Down syndrome, heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury and more.”
Tracking Coyotes And Foxes In Urban Areas
Interviewed: David Drake of the Urban Canid Project and its efforts to find out more about the coyotes and foxes that make their homes in urban areas.
An ice-free winter on Mendota? Lake expert says it’s a possibility
Noted: UW limnology professor John Magnuson says Mendota could soon go the way of other large lakes in the region and occasionally miss winter freezes.
There’s a Wausau connection to Nobel winner
Doug Todd of Wausau treasures the astonishingly gracious letter he received from Nobel Prize-winner William C. Campbell.
Japanese Professor Wins Carlos J. Finlay UNESCO Prize
The Japanese professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka won the 2015 edition of Carlos J. Finlay UNESCO Prize for Microbiology, to be awarded on December 21 in a ceremony at the Cuban Academy of Sciences, in Havana.
Wisconsin HOPE helps hungry, homeless students
The issue of food and housing insecurity on community college campuses across the country is now at the forefront of many discussions thanks in part to a report published by the Wisconsin HOPE Lab on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dairy, police projects approved at UW
Two projects at UW-Madison are going forward after approval Wednesday by a state panel.
The state building commission approved the renovation of the Babcock Hall dairy plant so it can house the Center for Dairy Research.
The building commission also okayed money for an addition to the UW-Madison police department on Monroe Street.
Science, beer pair well at brewery
If you like your lager or ale served with a side of science, you might want to head up to Minocqua in the coming months.
Virtually real
In February 2014, staff from UW-Madison’s Living Environments Laboratory arrived at a Mazomanie residence where a murder had recently been committed.
Wisconsin scientists head to Antarctica to study weather
(Video) Karin Swanson talks to a group of Wisconsin scientists heading to Antarctica to study weather. Quoted: Matthew Lazzara, principal investigator of the Antarctic Automatic Weather Station Program, and Lee Welhouse, instrument technician.
William C Campbell warns of decline in scientific research
Irish-born Nobel Prize laureate William C. Campbell has warned of the great cost of a decline in the kind of scientific research that lead to him beating the parasitic infection that leads to river blindness.
The Future Of Gene Editing
Alta Charo interviewed on Central Time about the future of gene editing and the implications it could have for treating disease and much more.
UW Urban Canid Project finds healthy coyotes, foxes roaming city neighborhoods
The project is researching the size and behavior of packs of coyotes and foxes on and around the UW-Madison campus by capturing the animals and putting radio collars on them. Physical examinations and bio-testing of anesthetized animals provides data for the eventual mapping of the transmission of disease from wild canids to domestic dogs, said David Drake, a professor in the UW-Madison Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology and UW Extension wildlife specialist.
UW survey finds half of community college students risk hunger, homelessness
More than half of community college students surveyed at 10 schools in seven states are at risk of hunger or homelessness, according to a new study released Friday by the Wisconsin HOPE Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
New method creates yeast hybrids for new flavours of beer, wine and better biofuels
Makers of beer, wine and other products using yeasts may soon produce new flavours and entirely new products with a new method that creates yeast interspecies hybrids. The method delivers more strains of yeast for the industry to conduct experiments with and enhance their production.
Using Card and Board Games to Keep Minds Sharp
Research released in 2014 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that “participants who engaged in cognitive activities like card games have higher brain volume, in specific regions, compared to peers who played fewer or no games,” said Ozioma C. Okonkwo, an assistant professor of medicine at the university and the study’s senior author.
Japanese probe primed for second run at Venus
Akatsuki’s 2-year mission aims to peel away some of the mystery of Venus’s dense, cloudy atmosphere. Mostly carbon dioxide, it includes a 20-kilometer-thick layer of sulfuric acid clouds, and it sweeps over the planet at speeds exceeding 300 kilometers per hour, or 60 times faster than Venus itself rotates. What drives the superrotation “is a fundamental physics question,” says Sanjay Limaye, a planetary scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and member of the Akatsuki scientific team. To try to answer it, the probe will use a suite of cameras to observe cloud formation and movement as well as heat flux from the planet’s surface to the upper atmosphere. It will also record lightning flashes and send radio signals through the atmosphere to receivers on Earth to probe its temperature and composition.
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers generate cells that model primitive leukemia
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a way to generate cells similar to primitive leukemia cells, an advance that will allow researchers to study the disease in a lab dish and perhaps even find better treatments. The new work appears in the journal Stem Cell Research.
Search for new WARF director extended after top candidate deal fizzles
Eight months into the search, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation identified a candidate for its top job — which one observer called one of the most important openings in the state — but failed to clinch the deal.
UW-Health’s 30th anniversary of HIV/AIDS research
Quoted: “For those that acquire HIV, there is every reason to come in early to be on treatment to not have this disease have any important part of your life,” said Dr. Bennett Vogelman [Senior Associate Chair for Education for the Department of Medicine]. He’s one of the founding fathers of the UW Health HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Care Program. “It would be like treating high blood pressure or diabetes. We can control this and that’s a big change.”
Researchers to use $5.2M grant to reduce opportunity, achievement gaps
A grant will fund collaborative research between Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction and the University of Wisconsin-Madison [WCER] to narrow gaps in student opportunity and achievement levels, according to a release.
The $5.2 million U.S. Department of Education grant will fund research on data from all state public schools over the next four years, officials said. The goal of the research is to identify proven techniques that teachers can use to narrow gaps in student opportunity and achievement levels across all racial and ethnic backgrounds and family incomes.
Discussion on World AIDS Day about UW’s fight against the disease
(Video) On World AIDS Day, Dr. Ryan Westergaard talks about what UW is doing in the battle against HIV.
Updating the Dictionary of American Regional English
(Video) The Dictionary of American Regional English took researchers at UW 49 years to complete. The five volumes document dialects in all regions of the country. But they thought it would be time to update it. Joan Houston Hall talks about the project.
Did you leave your Berliner in your Rumpelkammer?
Sheepshead lives. So does the card game’s Germanic name, Schafskopf. Wisconsin residents still gulp water at bubblers and eat cannibal sandwiches (made from raw ground beef seasoned with onions, and also known as tiger meat).
Drop in academic R&D spending should worry policy-makers
The latest figures on academic research spending in the United States provide, on the surface, some reassuring news for Wisconsin. For starters, the University of Wisconsin-Madison held its position as the nation’s fourth-largest research and development powerhouse. Lurking under the waves, however, are currents that should send a chilling message to policy-makers who believe the state can continue to reduce support for higher education — especially basic research — without taking on water over time.
Are cranberries healthy? Probably, but science uncertain
Various kinds of cranberry juices, dried berries and supplements contain different levels of the compounds thought to promote health. That can make research findings unclear. “They’re not drugs, but we’re using a paradigm that has been really designed for clinical studies of drugs,” said Jess Reed, a UW-Madison animal sciences professor who studies cranberries.
5 UW scientists named fellows of national society
Five UW-Madison scientists have been honored as elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, according to the university.
New startup hub @1403 opening in heart of UW-Madison campus
Madison is about to get another startup hub. Nestled in the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, right across the street from the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, a (formerly purple, as some Madisonians know) brick building was christened “@1403,” named for its location at 1403 University Ave., last week.
UW-Madison 4th nationally in research spending despite shrinking revenue
UW-Madison retained its 4th place national ranking in research spending, despite a continuing erosion of federal and state funding, the university’s news service reported Tuesday.
Scientists have grown human vocal cords in a lab
Video: Associate Professor of Surgery Dr. Nathan Welham on the creation of lab-grown vocal cords.
$5.2 million grant targets student achievement gaps
A $5.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will fund a collaboration between the state Department of Public Instruction and the University of Wisconsin-Madison aimed at helping schools narrow the achievement and opportunity gaps among Wisconsin students, the DPI and the university announced Tuesday.
Acting globally
Caitilyn Allen has had an early glimpse at the devastation climate change might bring. A professor of plant pathology at the UW-Madison, Allen studies how climate change is likely to increase disease in crops and other plants. The possibilities aren’t pretty.
We Tried A Futuristic Cranberry. It Was Fresh And Naturally Sweet
Why are cranberries and sugar a seemingly inseparable pair? The typical fresh cranberry is an acrid thing to put on the tongue without sugar to balance it out.But maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. Cranberry breeders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed an experimental variety that’s naturally sweet. It’s called the “Sweetie.”
Poll: Nearly half of state voters oppose a ban on fetal tissue research
Top biological research institutions in Wisconsin fought a proposal to ban the use of fetal tissue obtained through abortion and nearly half the state’s voters agree it’s a bad idea, according to the latest Marquette University Law School Poll.
UW-Madison department gets large donation
UW-Madison’s computer sciences department has received a $5 million donation from a Milwaukee businessman and his wife.
The university announced the donation from Sheldon and Marianne Lubar on Friday. Other Badger alumni, John and Tashia Morgridge, matched $2 million of the Lubars’ donation, making the total donation $7 million.
UW, UWM ramp up efforts to attract grad student assistants
The state’s two public doctoral research universities are stepping up efforts to more effectively compete for top graduate students who play key roles in research and teaching undergraduates.
Couple donates $5 million to UW computer department
A Milwaukee businessman and his wife have donated $5 million to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s computer sciences department.
At Wisconsin, innovation is in the ‘eye’ of the beholder
Throughout history, the natural world has inspired important scientific breakthroughs. For example, the Wright brothers incorporated the concepts of lift and drag into airplane designs after they observed how birds in flight tilted their wings back and forth.
Local students learn plasma is heart of the matter
Mike Randall knows what it takes to spark children’s interest in science. On Thursday the former rocket scientist with a Santa Claus bearing donned a suit of chain mail and stepped between musical Tesla coils.
Vocal Cord Tissue Grown In Lab For First Time
Vocal cords are small and complex — and, when badly damaged, they’re difficult to treat. Now, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have engineered lab-grown vocal cord tissue for the first time.
These Lab-Grown Vocal Cords Sound Like The Real Thing
A team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has bioengineered vocal cord tissue capable of vibrating and generating sound as well as natural tissue. The feat is being hailed as a scientific first.
Lab-grown vocal cords could soon replace damaged ones
People with damaged vocal cords may one day sing again with the help lab-grown vocal cords.
Vocal Cord Tissue Grown In Lab For First Time
Vocal cords are small and complex — and, when badly damaged, they’re difficult to treat.
Vocal cords grown in the lab stretch, vibrate, and make sound in scientific first
For the first time, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have grown this superhero-like tissue in the lab, using human vocal cord cells as their raw ingredients. Their hope is to one day implant these engineered vocal cords into patients so they can recover their voices.
UW-Madison scientists grow functional vocal cord tissue in lab
UW-Madison scientists have grown human vocal cord tissue in a dish, which made sound when transplanted into voice boxes from cadaver dogs — a development that could lead to better treatments for people with voice disorders.
Scientists have grown human vocal cords in the lab for the first time
In an experimental first, scientists reported Wednesday that they have grown about 170 human vocal cords in a lab, starting from cells taken from four surgical patients and one cadaver. “We never imagined that we would see the impressive level of function that we did,” said study senior author Nathan Welham of the University of Wisconsin Medical School at a briefing for reporters.
UW neuroscientists offer a window into the brain responding to PTSD
What is happening inside the brain when a soldier experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder is badly startled by a loud noise?
Lab-grown vocal cords offer hope of treating voice disorders
From mom’s comforting croon to a shout of warning, our voices are the main way we communicate and one we take for granted unless something goes wrong. Now researchers have grown human vocal cords in the laboratory that appear capable of producing sound – in hopes of one day helping people with voice-robbing diseases or injuries.
Nature’s critical warning system
Nestled in the northern Wisconsin woods, Peter Lake once brimmed with golden shiners, fatheads and other minnows, which plucked algae-eating fleas from the murky water. Then, seven years ago, a crew of ecologists began stepping up the lake’s population of predatory largemouth bass. Today, largemouth bass still swim rampant. “Once that top predator is dominant, it’s very hard to dislodge,” said Stephen Carpenter, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who led the experiment.
UW-Milwaukee chancellor works to quash rumor about research mission
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone sent a campuswide email Tuesday to squelch a rumor that top-level discussions were underway to possibly drop research from the Milwaukee campus’ mission.
Licensed trainers should be at HS football games and practices, UW study says
With concussions cut in half among high school football players in Wisconsin this year, a new study from UW-Madison is recommending athletic trainers be on the sidelines at games and practices, to better manage injuries.
UW-Madison electron storage ring named historic site
The American Physical Society named a UW-Madison electron storage ring a historic site Friday, recognizing it as an imperative tool for many scientific studies over its 20 years of operation.
The electron storage ring, named Tantalus, was the world’s first source of synchrotron radiation in 1968, according to a university release. It used a powerful magnetic field to force fast-moving electrons to change direction, creating synchrotron light.
Wisconsin Life: The Beet Goes On
Interviewed: Irwin Goldman UW-Madison professor and vegetable breeder who develops new strains of beets and other vegetables.
Study: You can tell politicians are lying when their lips keep moving
Politicians spoke longer making statements that registered “false” or “pants on fire” on the Politifact truth-o-meter than did politicians saying something that registered as “true,” research conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found.
To Educate a Diverse Nation, Topple the Ivory Tower
Coauthored by Clif Conrad:
Visit an American college campus today and you’ll see a more diverse student body than ever before. Over the last 30 years, the number of Hispanic students has risen five-fold, Asian and Pacific Islander enrollment has tripled, black enrollment has risen 150 percent and Native American enrollment has doubled.But the graduation rate for minority students falls far below the nationwide average. Our colleges and universities are not succeeding at educating students with diverse backgrounds. In an increasingly competitive global economy, our country cannot afford this waste of time, money and talent.
With Edmund Fitzgerald in mind, scientists confirm rogue waves on Lake Superior
DULUTH, Minn. — Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have confirmed the phenomenon of rogue waves on Lake Superior — waves double the size of others at the same time and which have been named as a potential cause of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.