Category: Research

Governor Jim Doyle today broke ground on the Wisconsin Energy Institute, which will foster collaboration between the University of Wisconsin?s leading energy researchers and lead the development of clean energy that will grow Wisconsin?s future economy.

Gov. Jim Doyle and University of Wisconsin-Madison officials were on hand on Wednesday as workers broke ground on what they hope will be a groundbreaking research facility pursuing clean energy technology.

Ground has been broken on an energy research facility on the UW Madison campus. Governor Jim Doyle, who provided $50 million in state funding for the new Wisconsin Energy Institute in his 2009-2011 budget, said the work to be done there can decrease dependence on fuel sources from out of state.

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, which lies buried in the Antarctic ice sheet, records the collision of elusive sub-atomic particles called neutrinos.

The National Science Foundation has signed a five-year, $34.5 million agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to run the observatory located beneath the ice at the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Although managed by UW, the observatory?s construction included contributions from Germany, Belgium and Sweden.

From its orbit in an asteroid belt millions of miles in space to its dramatic fall to Earth last spring and now to a shelf in the UW-Madison Geology Museum, the trajectory of the Mifflin Meteorite has landed it smack in the middle of Wisconsin?s imagination. Eight pieces of the meteorite, named for the southwest Wisconsin town where it fell on April 14, are now star attractions at the museum, said Brooke Norsted, assistant director.

The National Science Foundation has signed a five-year, $34.5-million agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to operate a unique telescope–a cubic kilometer in volume–buried in the Antarctic ice sheet between 1,400 meters and 2,400 meters deep.

The meteorite that lit up the skies over southwest Wisconsin last spring has been officially dubbed the “Mifflin Meteorite” because it landed near Mifflin Township, and several of its pieces are now part of the permanent collection of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Geology Museum.

Our brains pay less attention to aspects of the world that appear to remain the same. We need this mental relief to experience life without being overwhelmed, but it can keep us from noticing when patterns change.

Quoted: Heidi-Lynn Ploeg, an amateur bike racer and associate professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison.

In a remarkable demonstration of the ability of calorie restriction to blunt the effects of aging, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have succeeded in delaying age-related hearing loss in mice. Reporting Thursday in the journal Cell, the researchers described experiments with mice showing that a 25% reduction in calories activated a single enzyme, Sirt3, that helped preserve hearing.

UW-Madison scientists have advanced anti-aging research. They?ve demonstrated how calorie restriction delays one of the most common signs of getting old: losing one?s hearing.

Months of volcanic restlessness preceded the eruptions this spring of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, providing insight into what roused it from centuries of slumber.

Scientists are a step closer to creating an anti-ageing drug, after they discovered a key anti-ageing enzyme that stops our cells from decaying.It has long been known that reducing calorie intake can dramatically slow the process of ageing and improve health in later life. Now researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have identified a key enzyme called Sirt3, which causes this dramatic effect in cell molecules.

Scientists may have discovered a way to slow the ageing process and extend life span. The US research is the first to conclusively show how a process inside cells has a direct role in how fast we age. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Tokyo have discovered a biochemical substance in cells known as Sirt3.

In those volcanoes that kids (or their parents) build for elementary school science fairs, the style is generally simple: There?s one chamber in which the baking soda rests, ready to meet the vinegar and erupt.

American scientists have discovered the key to how eating less can lead to a longer, healthier life — an enzyme that curbs cell damage. The discovery, by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, could lead to new drugs designed to slow aging and to enhance health in the golden years.

The University of Wisconsin has teamed up with a major bike company, to create a new line of gloves designed to help prevent aches in cyclist?s hands. UW-Madison engineers — and Trek Bicycles of Waterloo — say the gloves will alleviate what?s called ?cyclist?s palsy?. The condition is caused by high pressure on the hand?s ulnar nerve during long rides, resulting in lingering numbness in the fingers.

Scientists from Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands have spent months pouring over older records and also data from 2009 and 2010 prior to the eruption. They believe they can now tell the full story of how Eyjafjallajökull woke from centuries of slumber to cause the biggest disruption to European air transport since the second World War.

?If you watch a volcano for decades you can tell when it is getting restless,? stated co-author Dr Kurt Feigl of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Parts of the dormant volcano began to swell, a sure sign that liquid rock or magma was percolating into chambers under the mountain.

Geological events leading up to the eruption have been documented, and they show that the volcano had been rumbling for many months before it blew its top. Kurt Feigl, a professor of geosciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a co-author of the study, said the volcano had been showing signs of restlessness.

A group of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studied the claims. The result? David Noyce from the School of Engineering said the whistles failed miserably.

A non-profit group has raised concern over the proposed location for building a new foreign animal disease research center on the Kansas State University campus because of the area?s high number of tornadoes and its proximity to large numbers of cattle.

Smokers who kick the habit may improve their levels of “good” HDL cholesterol within one year, a study of nearly 1,000 people suggests. HDL levels shot up despite the weight gain commonly associated with smoking cessation, says Adam D. Gepner, MD, of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison could influence federal policy on how to handle coal ash ? the byproduct of burning coal, typically to generate electricity. Although some environmental advocates consider it hazardous waste, it?s long been used in the state as aggregate material for road and construction projects. Wisconsin?s rules on recycling of fly ash, enforced by its Department of Natural Resources, could become a national model for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Since James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison became the first person to derive and grow human embryonic stem cells in 1998, the accomplishment has remained a considerable challenge for labs. The cells, which can become any cell in the human body, are notoriously finicky.

Now, a team from UW-Madison has developed a fully defined culture system that should result in more uniform cells, according to an article in the journal Nature Methods. Although human embryonic stem cells are not yet approved for use in therapy, the new culture system should also make them safer for such a use.

Leaf-cutter ants put on quite a show. In established colonies, millions of “workers” cut and carry sections of leaves larger than their own bodies as part of a well choreographed, highly functioning society. “Anyone who has ever come across a trail of ants cutting leaves and watched that trail run through the forest can recognize how charismatic, and what kind of large impact they have on the tropical ecosystems in which they occur,” says bacteriologist Cameron Currie.

UW-Madison researchers will begin tests on a mind-training program that would provide a drug-free alternative to treat children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or high-functioning autism.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., gave a grim outlook to a University of Wisconsin crowd Friday on the future of government help in the basic sciences, saying she believes the recent shift to a Republican majority in the House of Representatives does not bode well for its future.

Peanut wasn?t feeling well.

The 4-year-old guinea pig had an abscess in her jaw, the second one this year, and her owner had been told by her veterinarian that Peanut?s teeth might need to be pulled.

Toni Wanserski loves her pet, didn?t want to see her in pain and really did not want Peanut to lose her teeth. So her veterinarian in Plover suggested she take Peanut to the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and its exotic species program.

John Lee, a researcher at the UW, is using a $300,000 driving simulator to study how activities like texting are impacting drivers today and how features like personal computers will affect the drivers of tomorrow.

Visitors entering the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery at the UW-Madison at its Dec. 2 grand opening will encounter a striking blend of the past and the future.

Scientists will soon begin testing and developing a mind-training program that provides a drug-free alternative for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and high functioning autism in children.

The stakes were high last week in Katey Shirey?s 11th-grade physics class at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington County. Students worked diligently, wrapping reflective Mylar around cardboard boxes, thinking through the physics of their creations: solar ovens.

William J. Borucki and David G. Koch, both of whom received degrees from University of Wisconsin-Madison before going on to leadership positions with the Kepler space mission, were joint recipients of the first Lancelot M. Berkeley-New York Community Trust Prize for Meritorious Work in Astronomy.