Category: Research

A US expert says innovation is the best way to tackle a changing climate. Last night, Professor Molly Jahn from the University of Wisconsin delivered the RD Watt lecture at the University of Sydney saying innovation in agricultural and food systems is imperative for society?s survival and development.

Noted: Other bills of note allow University of Wisconsin System researchers to perform classified national security work in campus facilities, give county jailors more authority to strip search inmates, and legalize nonprofits? rubber-duck race fundraisers. The state Justice Department has warned such races amount to illegal gambling.

Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have for the first time used infant hair to examine the hormonal environment to which the foetus was exposed during development.

A research team that includes bacteriologists from University of Wisconsin-Madison has been awarded a $16 million grant from the National Insititutes of Health to find new antibiotics to replace those that no longer work.

If you?ve been looking for a natural pick-me-up, get like Thoreau and move to the woods. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that people who live in communities with more green space reported feeling lower levels of depression and anxiety.

The direction you?re moving can play tricks with your mind. That can mean trouble not only for travel but for human relations too

And how the heck did it travel to Bavaria hundreds of years ago? OK, this story from the University of Wisconsin, Madison on the mysterious origins of bottom-fermenting lager yeast is a little “inside baseball” — for the anorak brigade, as the Brits might say — but it is interesting to brewers and beer lovers.

Lager drinkers can thank the birds for their favourite tipple. That is the conclusion of US scientists who say the yeast involved in making their beloved amber nectar could have been spread round the planet by migrating birds.

A belowground experiment at the South Pole has now discovered three of the highest-energy neutrinos ever found, particles that may be created in the most violent explosions of the universe. These neutrinos all have energies at the absurdly high scale of peta?electron volts ? roughly the energy equivalent of one million times a proton?s mass. (As Albert Einstein showed in his famous E = mc2 equation, energy and mass are equivalent, and such a large amount of mass converts to an extreme level of energy.) The experiment, called IceCube, reported the discovery of the first two ? nicknamed Ernie and Bert ? last year, and announced the third Monday here at the American Physical Society meeting. ?Internally, it?s known as Big Bird,? said IceCube physicist Chris Weaver of the University of Wisconsin?Madison.

SAVANNAH, Ga.?A belowground experiment at the South Pole has now discovered three of the highest-energy neutrinos ever found, particles that may be created in the most violent explosions of the universe. These neutrinos all have energies at the absurdly high scale of peta?electron volts?roughly the energy equivalent of one million times a proton?s mass. (As Albert Einstein showed in his famous E = mc2 equation, energy and mass are equivalent, and such a large amount of mass converts to an extreme level of energy.) The experiment, called IceCube, reported the discovery of the first two?nicknamed Ernie and Bert?last year, and announced the third Monday here at the American Physical Society meeting. ?Internally, it?s known as Big Bird,? said IceCube physicist Chris Weaver of the University of Wisconsin?Madison.

Not many people care about where the yeast that makes much of modern beer possible came from. But science cares.

The changing landscape of academic research calls for a change in the structure of UW-Madison research and graduate school administration, says a faculty work group.

A few decades ago, inequality started rising in countries around the world. That came as a shock to many economists who originally thought inequality tended to go down overtime. They wondered how inequality could rise in so many different places at once. Well, now a new book by one of the world?s leading experts on the topic suggests an answer to that mystery. Jacob Goldstein of our Planet Money team reports. Quoted: Steven Durlaf, professor of economics.

An American forensic lab announced Monday it has independently confirmed through DNA testing that the remains recovered from a German ossuary in France are indeed U.S. Army Pfc. Lawrence S. Gordon, who was mistakenly buried with the enemy after World War II.

After playing in every game for some 14 years in baseball, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees – “The Iron Horse” – took himself out of the lineup because his manager wouldn?t. He had been dropping balls, unable to get to routine plays, hitting in the low .100s, shuffling rather than running.

?The winter is a pretty incredible time of year,? Jonathan Pauli told me. Looking out the window of his office at Wisconsin?s stubborn crust of snow, it occurred to me that ?incredible? might not be the most popular adjective, especially this year, as a harrowing winter slowly releases its grip on the United States.

UW coaches, like Bo Ryan, and Google Glass are helping a team of UW-Madison surgeons improve their skills.

A new study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 of every 68 children in the U.S. has autism. This is means autism is more than twice as common as it was seven years ago. A researcher explains why the increase in numbers and whether we should be concerned by them.

MADISON, Wis. ? University of Wisconsin institutions could conduct classified national security research under a bill that has passed the state Senate.

The results of a longitudinal study, which tested diet and aging in monkeys, shows that consuming calorie-restricted food leads to a significant reduction in mortality and age-related diseases, a discovery that is expected to help scientists develop drugs and other treatments to increase longevity and improve health among humans.

Reducing calorie intake by just 10 per cent could make people live longer, new research suggests.

Extreme calorie counting boosts lifespan in monkeys, according to new research.

For decades, a group of rhesus monkeys has been under observation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Half were randomly selected to eat as much as they desired for the rest of their lives, while the rest were stuck on nutritious, but heavily restricted diets consisting of 30 percent fewer calories. The number of monkeys has slowly dwindled over the years, with scientists taking notes on how each one died.

A group of professors from Johns Hopkins, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Illinois and elsewhere now say they have discovered that a second NSA tool exacerbated the RSA software?s vulnerability.

Noted: It?s not just the type of screen that matters, but what is on that screen. “The best research suggests that the content children view is the best predictor of cognitive effects,” says Heather Kirkorian who studies cognitive development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Children will learn from what they watch, whether that means learning letters and numbers, slapstick humour or aggressive behaviour,” she says, adding that children who watch age-appropriate, educational TV programmes often do better on tests of school readiness.

Extra sales taxes on soda may curb soda consumption, but that doesnt mean it reduces calorie intake, according to new research from health economist Jason Fletcher of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Health advocates have proposed ?sin taxes? as a way to curb behavior like smoking or snacking, but a new study suggests extra sales taxes on soda won?t decrease obesity.

Soda taxes don?t lead to lower obesity rates. That?s the finding of a study by UW Madison sociology professor Jason Fletcher. He said higher soda prices might lead to fewer purchases, but that?s not the end of the story.

If interactive robots were able to pause during conversation and take a moment to gaze off into the distance as if pondering what the user was saying, research suggests this small change could make them seem less robotic.

NASA has released an interactive mosaic of infrared images of the Milky Way. It is the “clearest infrared panorama of our galactic home ever made,” according to the voiceover in the video below.

Most of us will never leave the Earth — but that doesn?t stop us dreaming of the stars. There are a few tools that let you explore, though, and NASA has just launched a killer.

Do yourself a favor. Don?t read this article just yet?first, take a moment to zoom around this incredible panorama of our galaxy and soak in the splendor: