Ever wonder why the word â??railroadingâ? came into use to describe a plan or idea being pushed ahead too quickly or forcefully? Just picture the scene in â??Back to the Future Part IIIâ?, where Doc Brownâ??s tricked-out locomotive goes soaring over the edge of a cliff after the time machine disappears in flaming tire tracks.
Dr. Hector Valdivia, a physiology professor at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison is isolating the paralyzing poisons that scorpions use to immobilize their victims. The ability of these toxins to mysteriously penetrate cell membranes — with lethal results for unfortunate victims — could end up benefiting mankind, by delivering drugs to otherwise impenetrable cells.
Wisconsin is a far cry from being Americaâ??s fruit bowl. But a collaboration between Dale and Cindy Sechers of Carandale Farm and the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems is aimed at making our brutal climate more fruit-friendly. Since 2003, the Sechers have been growing and evaluating 42 unusual and forgotten fruits with a goal of finding perennial fruits that are easy to grow without a lot of labor or chemicals, nutrient-rich and appealing to consumers, able to provide a healthy income for the farmer while being easily affordable for customers and produce jobs that lead to regional development.
About 150 Madison-area residents are apart of a UW-Madison study asking if meditation or exercise can ward off colds and the flu. The research is especially relevant this fall as swine flu levels have soared before enough vaccine against the H1N1 virus is available, leaving millions of Americans wondering how to stay healthy. The seasonal flu vaccine also is in short supply. Scientists know meditation reduces stress and exercise can prevent chronic diseases. But they donâ??t know if either activity makes the immune system better able to fight respiratory infections, said Dr. Bruce Barrett, a UW Health family physician heading up the research. The study, which started last month, features eight weekly classes in meditation or exercise.
FluGen, a Madison company based on research by UW-Madison scientist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, has produced swine flu vaccine without using eggs, the company announced Thursday. The companyâ??s use of cell lines to grow vaccine against the H1N1 virus is an alternative to the egg-based method used by most manufacturers, which has been blamed in part for the current shortage of vaccine.
Creating energy from methane produced in cow manure could lead the way to local farmers generating their own electricity, said Tom Drendel, the former superintendent of the Marshfield University of Wisconsin Agriculture Research Station.
Some UW-Madison faculty members are opposing a plan that would shake up the universityâ??s internal structure by creating a new office to oversee research. A resolution from the sociology department will be presented at Mondayâ??s Faculty Senate meeting, alleging that the proposed reorganization has been presented without a detailed written plan or proper consideration of its implications. The plan from Provost Paul DeLuca would put oversight of research under a new vice chancellor, rather than where they’re currently housed in the graduate school.
Joanne Cantor’s son was 5 years old when he passed an elaborate Halloween exhibit with a scarecrow oozing “bloody” macaroni-and-ketchup intestines.
Halloween is a tricky time for the 5 and under set. On one hand, they get orange M&M’s, school parades and face paint. On the other, they have to contend with slithering snakes, 8-foot ghost skeletons and bloody animatronic ghouls.
Cantor, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of “Mommy, I’m Scared: How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them,” has advice for parents trying to navigate the spookiest holiday.
University of Wisconsin agricultural research stations that conduct research and testing on a variety of vegetables will be sending their food surpluses to local food banks and other food redistributors as the weather gets colder.
Noted: University of Wisconsin paleontologist Ewan Wolff, lead author of the report, the holes in Sueâ??s jawbone are not shaped like teeth. “They are perfectly round. What theyâ??re not, is teeth-shaped,” he said. They also occur in exactly the same place as in modern birds with trichomonosis, Wolff said.
University of Wisconsin history Professor Jeremi Suri is working on his next book: a history of nation building that will be published around the time of the 10th anniversary of that sad day we call 9/11.
Suri has become one of the countryâ??s leading historians, even before heâ??s reached the age of 40. His most recent major book, “Henry Kissinger and the American Century,” is still getting rave reviews for its insight into what drove the former secretary of state and longtime U.S. diplomat.
For early naturalists such as Charles Darwin, cataloging new species wasn’t just extraordinary because of its effects on science, but also because of the amazing stories of danger and discovery their travels produced.
Many of those accounts have been overshadowed by the impressive science that lives on. Darwin’s theory of evolution that he famously laid out in his 1859 Origin of Species still is a source of controversy.
But how these groundbreaking naturalists gathered their research is as historic as their contributions to modern biology, said Sean B. Carroll, professor of molecular biology and genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
An environmental studies institute at the University of Wisconsin is putting on a free environmental film festival.
Nearly 50 films will be shown during the three-day festival, called “Tales from Planet Earth.” It starts Nov. 6 and takes place in Madison.
The last of five town hall meetings for the proposed restructuring of the graduate school brought hundreds of faculty and community members to the Humanities building Friday.
Also present for the first time were Chancellor Biddy Martin and Dean of the Graduate school Martin Cadwallader.
UW-Madison faculty, staff and students continued to scrutinize Provost Paul DeLucaâ??s graduate school restructuring proposal at his fifth and final town hall meeting Friday, while Chancellor Biddy Martin offered several reassurances.
The proposal would decouple the schoolâ??s current structureâ??where Martin Cadwallader acts as both dean of the graduate school and vice chancellor of research. According to supporters, it would increase UWâ??s influence within federal grant agencies and address increasingly complex financial and safety regulations required for federal grants management.
Two University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering alumni have been named as two of Popular Science magazineâ??s “Brilliant 10” shaking up science today.
J. Adam Wilson has been tabbed by the magazine as a genius for his work in brain-computer interface technology. He demonstrated the technology when he posted a Twitter update by thought. Wilson earned his doctorate in biomedical engineering from UW-Madison in May. He is now doing research in New York.
Dennis Hong, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, is on the “Brilliant 10” list for his work in robotics. Hong got his bachelorâ??s degree in mechanical engineering from UW-Madison in 1994.
The University of Michigan has received 13 federal stimulus grants worth $6.8 million for stem cell research — a sign of the stateâ??s growing clout since voters last year eased restrictions in the emerging field that seeks treatments and cures for numerous diseases.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health is one of seven research centers taking part in a clinical trial involving the H1N1 flu.
The November 2009 edition of Popular Science magazine recognized two University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering alumni as two of its â??Brilliant 10,â? the 10 young geniuses shaking up science today.
UW-Madison leaders say they need to create a new position to handle the universityâ??s vast research enterprise, sparked in part by run-down animal facilities that could have cost the school millions in federal funding.
Stem cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison told members of the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine that techniques that allow scientists to change human skin cells into something almost identical to embryonic stem cells will change the way new drugs are developed in the next 10 or 20 years.
A UW-Madison doctoral student will hold a first of its kind position in Wisconsin: dairy sheep specialist.
A University of Wisconsin professor has been honored with a nomination for the competitive National Book Award for his work that collects stories from evolutionary scientists over the past two centuries.
Most mothers with depression in the United States do not receive adequate treatment for their disease, according to a new study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.
The problem is greatest among working mothers, the uninsured and minorities, according to the paper published this week in the Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.
This week is National Chemistry Week and one chemistry professor is traveling around the county, trying to get kids interested in science.
Dr. Bassam Shakhashiri from the University of Wisconsin visited Mary Baldwin College Tuesday to perform experiments that show how science applies to everyday life and can translate into a job.
Our skulls and our genes show that weâ??re still evolving, but not always in the ways you might expect.For example, the typical human head has actually been getting smaller over the past few thousand years, reversing the earlier evolutionary trend. Meanwhile, East Asians are becoming lighter-skinned – and appear to have more sensitive hearing than their ancestors did 10,000 years ago. John Hawks, an anthropologist and blogger at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, points to such trends as evidence that “recent evolution is real.”
Noted: Schweitzer completed the display on Oct. 8 with the help of UW-Madison zoology professor Karen Steudel, who fact-checked his research. He plans to keep the exhibit up through October.Schweitzer, an adjunct professor at UW-Madisonâ??s law school and an attorney for the state Department of Regulation and Licensing, has set up similar displays before.
A book by Sean Carroll, a UW-Madison professor of molecular biology and genetics, has been nominated for the National Book Award.
UW-Madison officials continue to debate Provost Paul DeLucaâ??s plan to restructure the graduate school, and will hold another town hall meeting Friday for further discussion.
UW-Madison ranks third in the nation as one of the top research universities, according to new statistics from the National Science Foundation. UW-Madison ranked behind Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at San Francisco.
The University of Wisconsin announced another jump in research expenditures this year â?? as well as the earning of another top three national ranking for research institutions â??amid contentious talks about the proposal to significantly restructure the graduate program.
* The University of Wisconsin-Madison put out a press release Friday noting that, according to statistics compiled by the National Science Foundation, the university is the nationâ??s third-largest research institution as measured by dollars spent.
….Other than Johns Hopkins, UW-Madison is the only institution that has ranked among the top five research universities for each of the past 20 years.
Due to this success, itâ??s at least somewhat surprising UW-Madison Provost Paul DeLuca is proposing a potential restructuring of the universityâ??s research enterprise.
Dear Editor: An animal biosafety laboratory for the purpose of studying bird flu and other highly infectious diseases will be built by the University of Wisconsin-Madison two blocks east of Camp Randall Stadium.
UW-Madison has been cited by the National Institutes of Health for violating the stringent regulations for the safe handling of infectious disease agents.
A full 42 percent of people in Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhoods smoke — more than twice the national U.S. average — sacrificing $9 on a pack of cigarettes even while most of the households reported earning less than $15,000 a year.
Even more troubling is the fact that a large number of these low-income smokers hold beliefs that make them less likely to quit, according to ongoing research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
How a father raises his offspring may be influenced by the care he received from his own father as an infant, new animal research suggests. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison observed the parenting skills of two sets of male California mice: those raised by castrated fathers and those whose fathers weren’t castrated. Castrating California mice makes them less attentive, hands-on fathers.
The University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s first permanent branch farming research station is gearing up for its 100th birthday.
The latest figures from the National Science Foundation confirm what many people in Wisconsin already knew: the UW-Madison is one of the nation’s leading research universities.
The numbers also underscore the fact that academic research and development isn’t confined to the labs and research offices of the state’s flagship university. Research and development work is taking place at colleges, universities and similar institutions across Wisconsin, and the total reflects a competitive edge most states would envy.
Johns Hopkins University led the nation in research and development spending in fiscal year 2008, according to a new National Science Foundation ranking, and most other Washington area institutions maintained their national R&D rankings in a down economy.
Hopkins has ranked as the top research university on the survey since 1979. The school reported $1.7 billion in R&D spending in fiscal 2008. The institutions ranked second through fifth — University of California at San Francisco; University of Wisconsin at Madison; University of Michigan and UCLA — all reported spending in the $800 million to $900 million range.
The closer you live to nature, the healthier youâ??re likely to be. “Itâ??s nice to see that it shows that, that the closer humans are to the natural environment, that seems to have a healthy influence,” said Dr. David Rakel, director of integrative medicine and assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Only 137 jobs, many of them held by students, were created or saved at the University of Wisconsin System thanks to $5.2 million in federal stimulus money.The universityâ??s audit, released Thursday, used a government formula to calculate the number of jobs based the number of hours worked on projects paid for with stimulus money. It did not say how many were new jobs or what the exact positions were.
The Johns Hopkins University led the nation in research and development spending in fiscal year 2008, according to a new National Science Foundation report, and most other area institutions maintained their national R&D rankings in a down economy.
Hopkins has ranked as the top research university on the survey since 1979. The school reported $1.7 billion in R&D spending in fiscal 2008. The institutions ranked second through fifth – University of California, San Francisco; University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of Michigan and UCLA – all reported spending in the $800 million-$900 million range.
Campuses in the University of Wisconsin System have been awarded roughly $83 million in federal stimulus funds for 263 projects, according to figures released by the UW System today.
Faculty and administrators voiced concern over the cost and effectiveness of implementing Provost Paul DeLuca Jr.â??s proposal to restructure the graduate school at a town hall meeting Wednesday.
This summer was one of the coolest on record. Despite recent trends, Dan Vimont, an atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison , believes much warmer conditions are ahead.Based on Vimontâ??s research, he expects Wisconsinâ??s climate to warm between 4 and 9 degrees by mid century.
University of Wisconsin officials recently unveiled a plan to restructure the graduate school after significant growth in the institutionâ??s research and graduate education programs.
A professor at the University of Wisconsin is studying endangered African monkeys, to better understand the spread of viruses, such as HIV/AIDS.
In an article released this week in the Journal of Virology, UW professor Tony Goldberg outlines his goal of tracking virus evolution across millions of years. Goldberg has studied the endangered Ugandan red colobus which only lives in the Kibale National Park in western Uganda.
The modern climate change debate can draw ardent environmentalists and vociferous skeptics alike. Fifty years ago today, though, man finally got a better look at how the Earth retains and emits heat.
University of Wisconsin officials recently unveiled a plan to restructure the graduate school after significant growth in the institutionâ??s research and graduate education programs.
While Provost Paul DeLuca Jr.â??s plan awaits reports and recommendations from two university committees, the proposed changes have come under fire from faculty and staff.
PORT EDWARDS — A closed south Wood County facility has attracted the attention of two University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point professors developing a process to turn wood pulp into biofuel.
Don Guay, assistant professor of paper science and engineering, and biology professor Eric Singsaas said the project would greatly benefit from use of the closed Domtar paper mill in Port Edwards.
Traffic safety experts have long known that traveling rural roads can be more hazardous because of wildlife, geography and other conditions. Now a study indicates even when those factors are controlled, alcohol impairment for those driving in Wisconsin’s countryside appears to be a greater cause of fatalities than in urban areas.
Zachary Baesman is a medical student at UW-Madison. He analyzed motor vehicle fatalities in all Wisconsin’s 72 counties over an eight year period.
The dean of UW-Madisonâ??s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences has been appointed to a senior position in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to university officials.
Molly Jahn will serve as deputy undersecretary of research, education and economics, where she will be responsible for leading three units within the USDA.
Jahn will begin her new duties Nov. 9. UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin has granted her a one-year leave of absence from her duties as dean.
In response to what University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin called the â??single greatest complaintâ? she has received thus far as chancellor, a proposal has been constructed that would significantly change the structure of the graduate school, including the addition of a separate vice chancellor for research.
I was saddened greatly by the opinion piece “UWM as economic engine? Dream on” by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Marc Levine (Crossroads, Oct. 4). The central theme of that piece is disdain for Chancellor Carlos Santiagoâ??s leadership and vision of what UWM can do for Milwaukeeâ??s and Wisconsinâ??s economic futures.
It would be a tragic shame if anyone used Levineâ??s analysis as an excuse to deflect UWMâ??s current trajectory. I am absolutely convinced that UWM is on a path to become one of the nationâ??s great research universities and that the achievement of that goal is critical for the economic future of Milwaukee and all of Wisconsin (including, let me add specifically, the futures of Madison and UW-Madison), says former UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley in an op-ed column.
Noted: An ongoing experiment at the University of Wisconsin on rhesus monkeys, which began in 1989, portends similar results: compared with normal-weight primates on a regular calorie regimen, the monkeys on restricted diets are healthier and more vigorous and seem destined (at least at the moment) for a longer life.
University of Wisconsin-Madison officials are lashing out at new recommendations from an influential federal panel that could dramatically weaken patent protection for the university’s genetic research.
Among other things, the panel recommended essentially exempting genetic tests for cancer and other diseases from patent protection – meaning that anyone could use genetic diagnostic research from UW-Madison or any university without obtaining licenses.
Former Vice President Al Gore was the keynote speaker at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference Friday.
He spoke for an hour on climate change and the possibility the world will do something to stop it. “I choose to be very optimistic about the prospects.”
Former Vice President Al Gore shared his optimism about the “shifting momentum” of the climate change debate with about 500 environmental journalists Friday in Madison.
“We’re very close to that political tipping point,” Gore said at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference at the Madison Concourse Hotel. “Never before in human history has a single generation been asked to make such difficult and consequential decisions.”
In a fresh demonstration of scienceâ??s newfound ability to alter the basic units of human life, researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have turned the cells in human skin into those in the liver, work that opens new avenues for treating diseases of the liver without relying on organ transplants.
In April 2008, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) wrote to the UW-Madison, saying it was “extremely concerned” that experiments occurring here had “serious potential consequences to public health.”Documents recently released to me in response to an open records request show that a graduate student aided by others genetically modified undisclosed “select agents” to be resistant to antibiotics. They did it without NIH approval, which is required.
Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard has concluded that the UW-Madison is breaking the law every time it kills sheep through experiments involving decompression, just as local activists have charged (Watchdog, 8/28/09). The bad news, from their point of view, is that heâ??s not going to do anything about it.
