Category: Research

Back in April we wrote about sheep at the University of Wisconsin who died of the bends.Seriously, we did.

Itâ??s going to be an out-of-this world night at the ballpark in Madison tonight. Brooke Norsted, head of outreach for the Wisconsin Astrobiology Research Consortium, admits a night at the Madison Mallards game is not your typical science event. Astrobiology night at Warner Park Stadium features interactive science stations, extremophile trading cards, a researcher throwing out the first pitch and researchers dressed as planets and moons.

Two University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists each will receive $200,000 unrestricted research prizes from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. The 2010 Shaw Scientist Award grants will go to Anjon (Jon) Audhya, an assistant professor of biomolecular chemistry, and Eric Strieter, assistant professor of chemistry.

UW-Madisonâ??s Institute for Research on Poverty is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Summer Research Workshop next week by offering five free talks that are open to the public.

The keynote speeches, which take place Monday through Wednesday, will center on issues related to the poor in the United States, and efforts to reduce poverty.

A Wisconsin judge has appointed a special prosecutor to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against nine University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and officials responsible for experiments that killed sheep.

A Dane County judge, siding with a petition brought by the Madison-based Alliance for Animals and national group PETA has determined that UW-Madison officials may be subject to criminal penalties for fatal decompression experiments involving sheep and has authorized the appointment of a special prosecutor to review the matter further.

A judge appointed a special prosecutor Wednesday to weigh animal cruelty charges against nine University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and officials responsible for experiments that killed sheep.

Two University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professors will receive the 2010 Shaw Scientist Awards, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation announced on Wednesday.

Anjon Audhya, assistant professor of biomolecular chemistry, and Eric Strieter, assistant professor of chemistry, each will get a $200,000 unrestricted prize from the James D. and Dorothy Shaw Fund. The funding provides needed support to young scholar-scientists engaged in groundbreaking research in the fields of genetics, cell biology and cancer research at critical stages in their careers, according to a release from the UW-Madison news service.

Fridayâ??s departure of nuclear engineer Arden Bement after 6 years as director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), to head a new science policy institute at Purdue University, has left the $7 billion foundation in the hands of acting director Cora Marrett.

In an effort to raise awareness of astrobiology research on the UW-Madison campus, members of the Wisconsin Astrobiology Research Consortium WARC will set up interactive science stations and hand out “extremophile” trading cards prior to Friday nights Madison Mallards baseball game at Warner Park.

At the bottom of the world here, astronomers are building an observatory that uses the ice cap of Antarctica as a lens and the planet Earth as a filter.

UW-Madison professor Gary Splitter conducted his infectious disease research in one of the universityâ??s highest security labs. To work with brucella, a restricted germ, he and his staff had to pass FBI background checks and fill out piles of paperwork. Despite the precautions, at least two of his staff got infected with brucellosis â?? one with cysts in the brain. And in a separate incident, members of Splitterâ??s lab broke federal rules by creating an unauthorized, drug-resistant strain of the disease. The problems in Splitterâ??s lab highlight potential risks of dealing with biological materials. An investigation into the unauthorized experiments cost him dearly â?? he lost his lab privileges for five years â?? but it also revealed serious deficiencies in the universityâ??s biosafety system. Two reports show UW-Madison allowed its Office of Biological Safety to crumble in recent years, at the same time that research on campus was growing dramatically.

They are the highly trained, generally well-paid employees in the vanguard of American innovation: people who work in biotechnology labs. But the cutting edge can be a risky place to work.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires all companies to provide safe work environments for their employees. But when it comes to the special risks faced by biotechnology workers, OSHAâ??s current rules are spotty.

There are plenty of reasons oxytocin is referred to as the cuddle chemical. Levels of the hormone surge during caresses, and researchers think it evolved as a way to reduce stress and fear of others long enough to enable contact necessary for procreation. It also helps facilitate bonding between mothers and newborns. But for the first time, scientists have found that Momâ??s innate ability to soothe â?? and to boost oxytocin levels â?? is as powerful whether sheâ??s offering a hug in person or consolation over the phone.

Seven universities, led by the University of California system, were among the 300 organizations awarded the most United States patents in 2009, according to a compilation by the Intellectual Property Owners Association. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which manages patents for the University of Wisconsin at Madison (173rd, with 115 patents) was ranked third.

** In a key step to creating computers that could work millions of times faster than existing devices, a team of scientists unveiled a transistor that is made up of just seven atoms, according to AFP.

The research was led by the University of New South Wales, with key contributions from those at UW-Madison.

** Just a reminder that UW-Madison will conduct an all-day, full-scale emergency response exercise on campus Wednesday. This training event will take place around Bradley Residence Hall, 1900 Willow Dr., and UW Lot 34, 1480 Tripp Circle.

Called Operation Badger One, the event is designed to simulate an incident on campus that will need a response from a number of emergency organizations in Dane County. The exercise will include actors posing as victims and police officers with weapons drawn.

The expansion of Wisconsinâ??s bear population has motivated researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to initiate a study focused on bear movement at the southern extent of the animalâ??s range. The study, now in its fifth year, tracks bears in the central and western part of the state and the public is encouraged to report bear sightings.

Karen Strier, a biological anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, previously gave no thoughts to what would happen to her data, equipment, funding, and lab personnel — the graduate students, postdocs, and research technicians — should she die. Then she lost a colleague and a student in short succession.

One of the schools best positioned to teach student doctors about the new technology appears to be the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which began using a laboratory exercise in genetic testing some 20 years ago. Today, in the schoolâ??s medical genetics class, students sample their own DNA by scraping cells from their cheeks. Instructors then test the studentsâ?? DNA and provide them with anonymous results to analyze. The test, developed at UW with help from a local biotech firm, focuses on one particular gene that determines whether people taste a bitter compound when they eat vegetables such as broccoli.

A new committee would be tasked with the job of recommending whether the Dane County Board should officially “endorse” or “oppose” scientific experiments on monkeys in the county. But the proposed committee and County Board will have no authority over animal research policies at UW-Madison, where scientists conduct experiments on about 1,900 monkeys. Eric Sandgren, director of UW-Madisonâ??s animal program, said he doesnâ??t object to the ethical inquiry but questions why the County Board has taken up the issue.

Noted: The University of New South Walesâ?? Centre for Quantum Computer Technology (CQCT) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison created the transistor by manipulating atoms using a special microscope.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison was awarded five federal grants worth $3,682,798 to work on projects to advance nuclear energy research and development, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday.

University of Wisconsin officials suspended a professorâ??s laboratory privileges over unapproved tests involving an infectious disease, and said theyâ??ve sent a strong message about accountability for hazardous materials.

Saturdayâ??s State Journal highlighted a visit to Madison by the Dalai Lama, calling him both a “religious” and “political” leader. The visit is in conjunction with the opening of a secular mindfulness center at UW-Madison. The article reports that fifth-graders at two Madison public schools will be “trained in secular meditation methods intended to improve… concentration and reduce impulsive behavior.” Apparently, weâ??re to assume thereâ??s no connection between the teachings of His Holiness and the school study.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher suspended for unauthorized experiments was a member of the schoolâ??s biosafety committee, where he helped approve studies involving hazardous materials. Professor Gary Splitter played a key role in reviewing safety precautions for research involving the deadly 1918 flu strain, chronic wasting disease, tuberculosis and other viruses, according to minutes from committee meetings. Splitter served on the committee between August 2003 and February 2006. Federal regulators contend his lab started violating biosafety rules during that time.

Health care professionals credit biomedical research using aniamls with any number of A-list therapies — some relieve pain, others save lives. And yet, critics charge the research isnâ??t as useful as it could, or even should, be. And some feel itâ??s flatly unethical.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher suspended for unauthorized experiments was a member of the schoolâ??s biosafety committee, where he helped approve studies involving hazardous materials. Professor Gary Splitter played a key role in reviewing safety precautions for research involving the deadly 1918 flu strain, chronic wasting disease, tuberculosis and other viruses, according to minutes from committee meetings.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher sanctioned for unauthorized experiments was a member of the schoolâ??s biosafety committee.

Minutes of Institutional Biosafety Committee meetings show Professor Gary Splitter played a key role reviewing safety protocols for research involving the 1918 flu strain, chronic wasting disease, other viruses. He served on the panel between 2003 and 2006.

Health care professionals credit biomedical research using aniamls with any number of A-list therapies — some relieve pain, others save lives.

The Dalai Lama said Sunday heâ??s hopeful that science can make the world more peaceful by encouraging positive mental qualities like empathy and compassion.

The Dalai Lama made a stop in Madison this weekend encouraging positive mental qualities like empathy and compassion. 

The Dalai Lama — the exiled Tibetan leader and Buddhist teacher — came to Madison Sunday to promote a new research center on the UW campus.

Shawn Dohertyâ??s article on Prof. Nancy Langstonâ??s book, â??Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors and the Legacy of DES,â? didn’t make reference to the pioneering work done by Theo Colborn, as evidenced in her book, â??Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival? A Scientific Detective Story.â? Published in 1996, Colbornâ??s book builds on decades of research, tracing birth defects, sexual abnormalities and reproductive failures to their sources — synthetic chemicals that mimic natural hormones, upsetting normal reproductive and developmental processes.

Gary Splitter, the UW professor who lost his lab privileges for conducting unauthorized experiments with potentially dangerous drug-resistant germs, responds that the university failed to provide the right education. He apparently thinks he has no responsibility to know and follow the rules.

Fifty one years ago the era of satellite meteorology began on the campus of the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Madison is the mecca of satellite meteorology, thanks to the genius of the late professor Verner Soumi. He was a true visionary who understood that in order to accurately forecast the weather, you need to be able to see whatâ??s going on, not just over population centers, but over oceans, glaciers and especially the tropics.

After hearing about his cutting-edge research on the brain and emotions through mutual friends, the Dalai Lama invited Richard Davidson to his home in India in 1992 to pose a question.

Scientists often study depression, anxiety and fear, but why not devote your work to the causes of positive human qualities like happiness and compassion? the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader asked.

“I couldnâ??t give him a good answer,” recalled Davidson, a University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist.

The person who contracted brucellosis in UW-Madison Professor Gary Splitterâ??s lab didnâ??t catch the unauthorized, antibiotic-resistant strain that prompted the university to shut down his lab, said Bill Mellon, associate dean for research policy. Splitter lost his lab privileges for five years because two of his graduate students and a post-doctoral researcher inserted drug-resistant brucella germs into mice without permission from local or federal authorities. Someone in the lab later contracted brucellosis, which is an infectious disease that can cause fevers, joint pain and fatigue. He or she recovered.