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Category: Research

UW Acquires 60,000 Rare Lichen Specimens

Wisconsin Public Radio

The University of Wisconsin has recently acquired a rare collection of lichen specimens – about 60,000 of them, to be exact. The director of the Wisconsin State Herbatarium talks about the collection, and what we can learn from lichen about the world’s ecosystem.

Study shows seasonal CO2 from crops growing more extreme

Daily Cardinal

New research released Wednesday shows an increase in crop production has caused levels of carbon dioxide to rise and fall seasonally to a larger degree, with fluctuations growing by 50 percent in the last five decades, according to a UW-Madison news release.

Isthmus on WORT: What r04040 died for

Isthmus

Isthmus contributor Bill Lueders reported on the life, death and research of r04040 at UW-Madison in the November 13 issue, and discussed his story with WORT producer Dylan Brogan on that day’s edition of In Our Backyard.

UW lab animal chief cries ‘foul’ over activist tactics to expose monkey care violations

Capital Times

Anyone interested (in) the use of animals in research at UW-Madison can now go to its animal research page and read about incidents involving the escape of 36 primates, deaths of three monkeys and burning of another that brought four citations this fall for failing to comply with USDA standards. But that’s only because of the work of an Ohio-based animal rights group with tactics that Eric Sandgren, director of UW’s Research Animal Resources Center, says are “inappropriate.”

UW professor recently finds fatter turtles swim better

Badger Herald

A coalition of scientists from University of Wisconsin, Florida Atlantic University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have made a discovery: Fat turtles are better swimmers than their thinner counterparts. The findings were so unexpected, researchers thought they made a mistake at first, Warren Porter, a professor of zoology at UW who worked on this project, said.

Lack of racial diversity in research labs hurts students, UW

Badger Herald

The University of Wisconsin has a lot to be proud of – but there is one dark spot. Even as one of the nation’s top schools, with one of the best athletic departments in the Big Ten and nationally recognized professors, diversity issues on campus remain the elephant in the room that no one seems to want to focus on.

UW wins $70 million grant for asthma research

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The School of Medicine and Public Health has won the largest grant in its history — $70 million over seven years for its continuing work on a project called the Inner-City Asthma Consortium. The work, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is part of a nationwide effort aimed at preventing asthma and reducing its severity in inner city children.

On the death of my monkey

Isthmus

My monkey died as he lived — in seclusion, for the benefit of others. His name was r04040. He was euthanized on April 28, 2010, two days after his sixth birthday. More than four years would pass before I made the records request that reacquainted me with his reality, and apprised me of his fate.

Twitter boosts science audience

The Australian

Twitter is becoming a must for researchers after a US analysis found it can boost their profile by more than 50 per cent. A University of Wisconsin-Madison study has found Twitter is an indispensable outreach tool, amplifying the benefits researchers reap by engaging with traditional media.

Nuclear reaction: How complex cells evolved is a mystery. A new idea may come close to the truth

The Economist

When David Baum was an undergraduate at the University of Oxford, he pondered, as students are wont to in the small hours after the bar has closed, one of biology’s most basic questions. It was this: how did eukaryotic cells (the complex sort that make up every plant and animal as well as lots of unicellular creatures like amoebas) evolve from prokaryotic ones (bacteria and their kin) which are much simpler?

Family supports UW-Madison research on eye disease

Wisconsin State Journal

A cure for Usher syndrome is far from reality. But Dr. David Gamm of UW-Madison’s Waisman Center is among those working on it. UW System Regent David Walsh, whose family is affected by the disease, helped raise more than $1 million for Gamm’s research. The money jump-started the ophthalmologist’s lab and brought in other grants.

UW-Madison researchers react to Robin Vos’ ‘ancient mating habits of whatever’ remark

Capital Times

It may come as no surprise that state Republican leaders, in the flush of electoral victory, are targeting University of Wisconsin funding in the next legislative session. But the scorn for the university evident in Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ post-election remarks struck some observers.

Evolution: Nuclear reaction

The Economist

When David Baum was an undergraduate at the University of Oxford, he pondered, as students are wont to in the small hours after the bar has closed, one of biology’s most basic questions. It was this: how did eukaryotic cells the complex sort that make up every plant and animal as well as lots of unicellular creatures like amoebas evolve from prokaryotic ones bacteria and their kin which are much simpler?

UW-Madison to Close Soil & Plant Lab

Wisconsin Ag Connection

The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has announced it plans to close its Soil and Plant Analysis Laboratory on the west side of Madison and consolidate services at the Soil and Forage Analysis Laboratory located in Marshfield. The move will happen gradually over the next year and is expected to be completed by November 2015, says Richard Straub, CALS senior associate dean.

Dalai Lama enlightens and enraptures contemplative scientists in Boston

Noted: Joining the Dalai Lama on the platform was Richard Davidson, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the first scientists to work with the Dalai Lama. “I’m reminded how lonely the journey was at the beginning,” said Davidson. “There were fewer than 10 people doing this research on the planet.”

Maria Cancian: Evolution of Custody

Academic Minute

A great deal has been written about the changing face of the traditional family.With these changes in family dynamics, come similar shifts when divorce enters the picture. Dr. Maria Cancian, a professor of Public Affairs and Social Work at The University of Wisconsin Madison, takes a look at the landscape of divorce and custody in modern times.

Reading the heavens with your phone

symmetry magazine

Justin Vandenbroucke, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Levi Simons, director of citizen science at the LA Makerspace in Los Angeles, lead one group, which for the past four years has been working to build an app that teachers and students can use to create their own cosmic ray experiments. It’s called DECO, Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory.

Cellular Dynamics International awarded National Eye Institute contract

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has played a major role in the rise of regenerative medicine, which uses our own cells, tissues and organs to promote healing. The field came of age with the isolation of human embryonic stem cells by James Thomson at UW-Madison in 1998 and the successful reprogramming of mature human cells back to their embryonic origin in 2007 by Thomson and Shinya Yamanaka in Japan.

Why the Government Shouldn’t Be Stopping Flu Research

Popular Mechanics

The federal government last week announced it was taking the unusual step of temporarily stopping funds for certain types of studies involving influenza, SARS, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The government asked all scientists involved in such work?called gain-of-function (GOF) research?to voluntarily halt their studies for a review of their potential risks and benefits. This looks like a case of misplaced priorities.