The study from the Water Sustainability and Climate Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says a 14-year effort to clean up Lake Mendota failed because of changes in farming, land development and climate change.
Category: Research
From infants to Buddhist monks, investigating healthy minds and teaching well-being
For 45 minutes, an infant is swaddled and snoozed into a cozy fMRI machine. That’s all it takes for researchers at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds to observe how structures inside the child’s brain communicate with each other.
UW grad creates hit chemistry comic book
Veronica Berns lives for biology, chemistry and all those other subjects the rest of us actively avoid – and that’s why she decided to become a scientist.
25 years after launch, Hubble still holds wonder, pride for UW scientists
When Jay Gallagher saw the first fuzzy image, he figured the camera simply needed focusing.
UW’s Space Place celebrates 25th anniversary of Hubble Telescope
VIDEO: The famed Hubble Telescope marks its 25th anniversary in space Friday. The first telescope was built in a clean room at the UW Space Science and Engineering Center on Dayton Street. Jim Lattis runs the Space Place and talks about the telescope’s anniversary.
Why Well-Being Is a Skill That Can Be Learned
“I kept doing the body scan to feel calm,” a fifth grade student explained to my colleagues as he recollected coping with a stressful situation at home. A “body scan” involves checking in with your body and noticing how it feels in the present moment. There’s no action required other than observing experiences as they unfold.
As a neuroscientist applying the insights of my center’s research to the real world, including in classrooms, I hear similar stories from people of all ages expressing a desire to calm their minds, to take baby steps to reduce negative emotions, improve well-being and respond with resilience to factors outside of our control.
UW virologist works on developing Ebola vaccine
The solution for an Ebola vaccine could come from someone doing research in Madison. A University of Wisconsin virologist is working on a whole-virus vaccine.
UW researcher says his Ebola vaccine nearing trials on humans
Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka presented his Ebola research at the State Capitol Tuesday. He is conducting it with other international infectious disease specialists who are using funding provided by the Japanese government.
Study: State poverty rate rises on low-wage jobs of economic recovery
An economic recovery dominated by the creation of low-wage jobs means that the percentage of Wisconsin residents living in poverty rose in 2013 despite increases in employment, says a new report by the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW-Madison.
How comics helped one woman translate her chemistry thesis for the masses
Veronica Berns digs science. She gets it. She speaks its language. Veronica Berns. But not everyone is like that. There are people who don’t know how to talk about quasicrystals in casual conversation. People like … oh I don’t know, the person writing this blog post, for instance. Just one example!
U Wisconsin-Madison Project Tackles Big Data Question in Astronomy
An astronomy project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made inroads on two questions: how to track neutral hydrogen in the “distant” universe and how to scale up the capacity to maintain and manage the data generated through such work.
Study Wisconsin Poverty Rose In 2013 Despite Job Gains Section
A new study shows poverty rose slightly in Wisconsin from 2012 to 2013, despite some job gains. The report released Tuesday by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers said the Wisconsin Poverty Measure rose to 10.9 percent in 2013, up from 10.2 percent in 2012. That measure was roughly 2.5 percentage points lower than the official Wisconsin poverty rate from the federal government.
UW-Madison Researcher Says He’s Two Years From Testing Ebola Vaccine
A leading researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison estimates that he is two years away from formal testing of his Ebola vaccine, and he is now hoping to get a drug company’s financial support for clinical trials.
Amid Current Bird Flu Outbreak, UW Virologist Says Some Research Is Stalled
The current outbreak of bird flu is a different strain from the one that caused an uproar in the scientific community in 2012, but a University of Wisconsin researcher at the center of a debate over biosecurity said it underscores the need for more experiments that some critics consider risky.
Albee Messing new director at UW’s Waisman Center
Albee Messing, interim director of the center since May 2014, was named director on April 14, said Robert Golden, dean of the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.
Despite job gains, poverty in Wisconsin ticks up, report says
Despite modest improvement in employment, poverty rose slightly in Wisconsin between 2012 and 2013, according to a study released Tuesday by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.
People who live in diverse and multicultural areas are better at reading facial expressions
Researchers led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found people who live in countries that have benefited from migrants from a wide range of countries over time, are more emotionally expressive.
Chemistry Ph.D. Student Turns Thesis Into Comic Book
MADISON, Wis. AP – Late last spring, a doctoral student worked late into the night. As she doodled, her chemistry thesis took on a life of its own, transforming into a comic book.
Yogurt by-product could bring additional profit to dairy companies
Dairy researchers at UW’s Center for Dairy Research are figuring out how acid whey could be beneficial in some other items you consume, as the production of Greek yogurt has taken off in the past several years. Quoted: John Lucey, professor of food science and director of the Center for Dairy Research.
WARF leader Gulbrandsen to retire in 2016
Carl Gulbrandsen, who since 2000 has led the organization that commercializes the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s research, will retire early next year, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation said Thursday.
Carl Gulbrandsen to retire as director of WARF
Gulbrandsen, 68, plans to retire early next year from WARF, where he has served since 1997 and been managing director since 2000. He said his retirement plans have been in the works for years and he is confident that WARF will remain a vital force long after his departure.
U.S. Patent Director visits Madison
A leader in the U.S. business world visited Madison on Wednesday in hopes of fostering more innovation. Michelle K. Lee, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, toured the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
Finance committee rejects proposal to exempt UW System research from public records laws
The state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee is nixing a provision in Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal that would’ve exempted some research at the University of Wisconsin System from open records laws.
U.S. Patent Director visits Madison
A leader in the U.S. business world visited Madison on Wednesday in hopes of fostering more innovation.
Michelle K. Lee, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, toured the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
Lee said she wants to identify ways that her office can better serve the innovators and entrepreneurs in the Madison area.
Proposal shielding UW research records removed from budget
A proposal that would have hid University of Wisconsin research from public view has been removed from Gov. Scott Walker’s budget, making it more difficult to pass the Legislature this session.
A look into outer space: UW professor one of original developers of Hubble Telescope
A University of Wisconsin professor of astronomy was one of the original developers of the Hubble Space Telescope, which changed the way people think about astronomy. Prior to his talk at the Space Place in Madison Tuesday, John Gallagher spoke to The Badger Herald about his involvement in the Hubble Space Telescope project.
Outbreak of dog flu caused by new strain of virus, researchers report
A canine flu outbreak that has sickened hundreds of dogs in the Midwest over the past couple of weeks is caused by a different strain of the virus than was earlier assumed, researchers have now concluded.
NIH Budget Boosters Get a Push From the Right
About 100 university scientists and their advocates gathered here on Tuesday as part of an annual ritual to convince lawmakers of the value of federal spending on medical research.
?Sharing the burden?: German, US scientists join forces to slow brain?s aging
As populations age, degenerative brain diseases will torment further millions worldwide. A new German-US partnership intends to stop these afflictions, but will settle for ameliorating their most devastating effects.
UW researches health impact of e-cigarettes
The University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention is launching a five-year, $3.7 million study looking into the health effects of electronic cigarettes. “Cigarettes have been studied intensively in the U.S. since the 1950s. E-cigarettes have just come on the market really in less than a decade ago,” said Dr. Doug Jorenby, UW-CTRI Director of Clinical Services.
UW officials: Top research candidates turned jobs down because of budget
UW-Madison had two top choices for researchers at the Carbone Cancer Center and at the nursing school, but medical officials there say the uncertainty of the budget led to their picks choosing somewhere else.
?/?-Peptides Could Offer Low-Cost Alternative To Antibody Drugs
UW–Madison chemistry professor Samuel H. Gellman, engineering professor William L. Murphy and bacteriology professor Katrina T. Forest have created and tested amino acids that could serve as cheaper, longer-lasting substitutes for antibodies in drugs (like some cancer treatments) that target large proteins in the body.
Two UW researchers win biomedical awards
Two researchers at UW-Madison, Christina Hull and Luis Populin, have been named winners of biomedical research awards, one for brain disease research and the other for work in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD. Each will get $100,000 a year for three years from the Hartwell Foundation, a Memphis-based foundation that grants awards to individuals for innovative, applied biomedical research to benefit children in the U.S.
Cats Listen, React to Cat Music at a Cat Cafe in New York City
Noted: To test the music, Teie partnered with Charles Snowdon from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Snowdon and his team visited 47 cats at 23 different homes and played the music to observe the results.
The environmental cost of corn
A new University of Wisconsin study, which shows farmers have recently converted millions of acres of grassland to plant crops like corn, highlights a not-so-obvious downside: converting grassland to cropland has a large carbon footprint.
Turning prairies into gas: study finds U.S. biofuel production has big impacts on grasslands
Corn and soybean cultivation soared in the late 2000s, as U.S. agribusiness rushed to respond to federal legislation rewarding biofuels production. Debate since the institution of the program has centered on the question of whether biofuel crop expansions have come at the expense of plowed-under biodiverse grasslands and prairie ecosystems. A new study largely settles that argument.
Study: Minn. converted more wetlands than any other state when crop prices spiked
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers published a study Thursday in the journal Environmental Research Letters that found corn and soybean prices went sky high between 2008 and 2012, and so did the number of acres that went under the plow in the U.S., including more wetlands in Minnesota than in any other state.
Final Four schools hype academics with #Final4Research
The Final Four schools represented in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament are powerhouses not only on the court, but also in the research lab.
Study: MN converted most wetlands between 2008-2012
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota converted more wetlands into farmland than any other state when crop prices spiked between 2008 and 2012.
Final Four schools hype academics with #Final4Research
The Final Four schools represented in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament are powerhouses not only on the court, but also in the research lab.
The war on bugs
Kate McCoy was out with her 4-year-old son when she got a call from her husband. Their 5-month-old son, Neil, had started having trouble breathing, and they were both now at American Family Children’s Hospital.
Kentucky fan gets life-saving stem cell donation from Wisconsin
Die-hard Kentucky basketball fan Scott Logdon may think twice before rooting against the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night. Nearly two years ago, Logdon received a life-saving stem cell donation to combat his acute myeloid leukemia. 22-year-old University of Wisconsin student, Chris Wirz, donated those cells.
Bedspread said to be from Lincoln’s deathbed tested for bloodstains
Madison — In the frantic, desperate minutes after John Wilkes Booth fired a fatal shot into the president’s head 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln’s unconscious body was carried across the street from Ford’s Theatre to a rooming house.
How high income inequality is hurting America’s health
The widening divide between rich and poor is impacting more than the bank accounts of the have and have-nots. It’s also putting measurable stress on Americans’ health.
Wildlife expert says baiting and feeding bill could be lethal for Wisconsin deer population
Timothy Van Deelen, an assistant professor of forestry and wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the practice is associated with putting the deer at risk of contracting CWD. He said baiting and feeding puts deer in close contact with one another, allowing the disease to spread.
Marsha Mailick named UW-Madison research and graduate education vice chancellor
The former head of UW-Madison’s Waisman Center has been selected as the university’s first vice chancellor for research and graduate education.
Antarctica hits highest temp recorded, and here’s what it means
One week of extreme temperatures in Antarctica isn’t something to worry about by itself, but it’s something to watch closely in the coming months and years, says a meteorological expert at the the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
New Study Finds That Cats Follow The Beat Of Their Own Drum
You may not even think twice about turning on the radio in your home to start or end your day, but your cat may have noticed it for completely different reasons.
Science on Tap Discusses Great Lakes Ecosystems, Water Quality
Science on Tap this week is looking at water quality in the Great Lakes.Director of UW Madison’s Aquatic Sciences Center Jim Hurley says the nature of Great Lakes pollution has changed over the years, now coming from more diffuse sources instead of point ones.
County Populations May Be Down, But One Demographer Says Not To Worry
While it may seem worrying that the latest U.S. Census Bureau numbers show declining populations in almost half of all Wisconsin counties last year, one demographer says it’s important to look at the bigger picture.
UW-Madison professor gets corny with new seed variety called ‘Who Gets Kissed?’
UW-Madison agronomy professor Bill Tracy and his graduate students created a new variety of sweet corn — a non-hybrid with ears that don’t all look the same, as most farmers and gardeners these days have come to expect.
VA program records veterans life stories to personalize medical care
Noted: Pyle began volunteering this month as part of public service requirement for a literature and medicine class at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She’s graduating in May with a degree in neurobiology and is applying to medical schools. Pyle is enjoying the experience so much that after her class finishes, she plans to continue volunteering until she goes to medical school next year.
A Real Ebola Vaccine May Be on the Way
As worldwide panic over Ebola quiets down to a murmur, researchers are hard at work trying to stop the next pandemic. Now a new vaccine may be on the way, thanks to a group of research scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
More Dangerous Ebola Strain Unlikely, Study Shows
In the same issue of Science, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported positive results from clinical trials of a new “whole virus” Ebola vaccine.
Ebola vaccine ‘effective in monkeys’
WASHINGTON – An experimental Ebola vaccine has been shown to effectively protect monkeys against the often-deadly virus, according to a study published Thursday.
UW research will target how toxins affect the human body
A $6 million grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency will fund a Human Models for Analysis of Pathways Center at University of Wisconsin, to analyze how these chemical materials are affecting human physiology, according to a UW statement.
UW-Madison vaccine protects monkeys from Ebola
The vaccine was created in the lab of campus virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka. It protected monkeys from Ebola virus infection in experiments conducted at a high-level containment facility in Montana, Kawaoka reported in the journal Science.
UW-Madison Ebola virus vaccine protects monkeys
A group led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor developed an Ebola whole virus vaccine that has been shown to effectively protect monkeys exposed to the virus, according to a release from UW-Madison.
Group led by UW scientist develops whole virus Ebola vaccine
Another vaccine has joined the race against the often fatal Ebola virus, and this one was developed by a group led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist Yoshihiro Kawaoka and his colleagues using a novel experimental platform, published Thursday in the prominent journal Science.
More dangerous Ebola strain unlikely, study shows
Noted: In the same issue of Science, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported positive results from clinical trials of a new “whole virus” Ebola vaccine.