Category: Research

Noted: At least one major oil company has dabbled in the field. In 2008, Royal Dutch Shell invested an undisclosed amount in Virent Energy Systems, a company based in Madison, Wisconsin. The collaboration aims to improve Virentâ??s processes to take sugars generated from cellulosic waste and catalytically react them with water to produce fuel molecules. “Itâ??s a premium high-octane [petrol] weâ??re generating,” says Randy Cortright, the companyâ??s founder and chief technical officer, who co-invented the technology with chemical engineer James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The University of Minnesota is one of 18 research groups to participate in a $170 million study of stem and progenitor cells, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute announced Wednesday.

Five professors from the Universityâ??s Lillehei Heart Institute and the Stem Cell Institute will participate in the study, and will work closely with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their â??hubâ? will study the signals and regulating factors that direct stem cells to heart and blood cells and blood vessels.

UW-Madison researchers violated state law when 26 sheep died in experiments on decompression sickness, but Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard wonâ??t prosecute the university because the infraction is relatively minor, he wrote in an opinion.

Intel said Monday it had settled a patent lawsuit with a research foundation that accused it of using a patented technology in its processor designs without permission.The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation alleged that Intel used in many of its chips an invention of a circuit that executes instructions faster to boost performance. WARF is a private organization that patents and licenses inventions for the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s patenting arm has settled its infringement lawsuit against computer chip maker Intel Corp. involving technology used in a popular computer processor.The case was expected to go to trial Monday, but both sides notified the court Friday they had agreed to a settlement. Details were not released.

As football fans and players prepare for Saturdayâ??s showdown between Wisconsinâ??s Badgers and Minnesotaâ??s Gophers at the new TCF Bank Stadium, itâ??s obvious to those close to this industry that the biotech rivalry between the two states is just as spirited. And that Minnesota is the underdog.

UW-Madison nutritional sciences professor Pete Anderson grows brussels sprouts, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes in his Madison backyard every summer, but soon he’ll be harvesting his salad fixings in February.

Anderson is building two “hoop houses,” metal-and-plastic greenhouse-like structures that are gaining popularity in northern urban areas as part of the “grow local” food movement. The structures extend the growing season by several months and can be far less expensive than a greenhouse.

Until now, the fearsome reputation of Tyrannosaurus rex has been pretty solid. Seven tons. More than 40 feet long. Huge head. Powerful jaws and meat-shredding teeth.

What could possibly pose a threat to such a beast, the king of the dinosaurs?

Ewan D.S. Wolff, a vertebrate paleontologist and a veterinary student at the UW-Madison, has discovered a surprising answer. T. rex, a new study by Wolff and other researchers has shown, may have often been laid low not by deadly combat with other dinosaurs but instead by a tiny parasite.

This is how desperate the fight to keep Asian carp from invading Lake Michigan has become: Biologists are talking about turning to sandbags. University of Wisconsin Sea Grantâ??s Phil Moy said Tuesday that Lake Michigan may be just one big rainstorm away from an infestation of the super-sized jumping carp that fishery experts fear could ravage whatâ??s left of the big lakeâ??s natural food chain.

A new study says Sue, the Tyrannosaurus Rex on display at the Field Museum, may have died from a lowly parasite.

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison indicates and the University of Queensland, Australia, suggests that the scars on Sue’s jaw are not from a battle with another dinosaur, but from trichomonosis, a parasitic infection that still infects modern birds.

Sue, the biggest, meanest meat-eating dinosaur known to history, probably was not killed by some other monster after a battle 65 million years ago, as scientists and schoolchildren used to believe.

Instead, the Field Museum’s celebrated Tyrannosaurus rex may have died with a whimper, felled by a puny, one-celled parasite that gave her a killer sore throat. In fact, she may even have starved to death.

Did Sue the dinosaur die of a really bad sore throat?

An international team of scientists thinks so after studying holes in the jaw of the 13-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton on display at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Until now, the fearsome reputation of Tyrannosaurus rex has been pretty solid. Seven tons. More than 40 feet long. Huge head. Powerful jaws and meat-shredding teeth.

What could possibly pose a threat to such a beast, the king of the dinosaurs?

Ewan D.S. Wolff, a vertebrate paleontologist and a veterinary student at the UW-Madison, has discovered a surprising answer. T. rex, a new study by Wolff and other researchers has shown, may have often been laid low not by deadly combat with other dinosaurs but instead by a tiny parasite.

UW-Madison is part of a new Wisconsin Center of Excellence in Genomics Science, created through an $8 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Campus researchers Lloyd Smith, Joshua Coon, Audrey Gasch and James Thomson are joining scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University in the center, coordinated by the Medical College. Smith, a U-W Madison professor of chemistry, is a co-director, as is Michael Olivier of the Medical College.

A team of Wisconsin researchers will receive $8 million to develop technology that provides new ways to study genes, the National Institutes of Health will announce Monday.The funding will go to the Wisconsin Center of Excellence in Genomics Science, a collaborative effort between the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University.

Dear Editor: Thanks for Todd Finkelmeyerâ??s recent article regarding primate research in Madison. The contradicting statements made by members of the Animal Care and Use Committee were astounding.

Eric Sandgrenâ??s position that this isnâ??t some old boysâ?? network is offset by Chairman Norlin Benevengaâ??s statement that it was like your pals deciding whether you are going to do this thing or that thing. Rob Streiffer says that all the researchers here that heâ??s encountered take their responsibilities very seriously, while Sandgren acknowledges that some investigators may not think about ethics at all. Hmm.

A global team of researchers has mapped the genetic code of the worldâ??s most popular vegetable – the potato.

The Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium began work in 2006. It has 16 institutional members in Argentina, Britain, Chile, China, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Russia and the United States. Michigan State and Virginia Tech are formal members of the consortium, and some work was done at the University of Wisconsin.

The UW-Madison has responded to Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchardâ??s request for more information on allegations that it is violating state law by using sheep in sometimes fatal decompression experiments. As Isthmus reported (“The Decompression of the Sheep,” 8/28/09), state law 951.025 states, “No person may kill an animal by means of decompression.” After hearing from local animal-rights activists, Blanchard asked the UW to explain. His initial review suggested a statutory exemption for scientific research “would not apply to a violation of 951.025.” (Second item.)

Dear Editor: Thank you for bringing to light the often-neglected topic of animal research. Perhaps it will encourage the university to be more open in answering questions as to what happens behind these closed doors. If the public is to judge the merits of such research, then we are entitled to know how the studies are conducted.

One best-selling book advocating fresh, local foods is shaking up America’s Dairyland.

Students across University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus, organic grocers, scientists, and dairy farmers large and small have jumped into the debate on how food is produced and eaten. The discussions started last month when the university began giving Michael Pollan’s book, “In Defense of Food,” free to all incoming freshmen and school officials urged professors to use it in class.

“In Defense of Food” is everywhere on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus this fall, and the best-selling book is sparking a lot of debate.

Author Michael Pollan’s book urging readers to “eat food, mostly plants, not too much” is the subject of a new program in which incoming freshmen can get the book free and many professors are using it in classes. Pollan will give a lecture on Thursday at the Kohl Center.

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eaterâ??s Manifesto, is scheduled to speak Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., as part of the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s new common book program known as Go Big Read.Local farmers are reacting to Pollanâ??s scheduled appearances by organizing a show of solidarity and have invited all farmers, students, agriculture professionals and â??people who are thankful for our safe abundant food supplyâ? to attend the event and wear the color green.

Dear Editor: Thanks to Todd Finkelmeyer for his article about experiments on monkeys.

Because most local media outlets and editorial boards, including the Wisconsin State Journal, have avoided the ethical, scientific, and financial arguments against these experiments, the public remains uninformed. So cruel, expensive, unnecessary, and fruitless research continues, while more useful and productive research goes unfunded.

After listening to University of Wisconsin-Madison botanist Don Waller talk about the fearsome adaptations of the Venus flytrap, one comes away thankful that the plants, through all their thousands of years of evolution, have remained small enough to dine only on insects.

The Chronicle of Higher Education took another look at “research results that donâ??t surprise us.”

Those who donâ??t pay close attention to such things might be amazed at the amount of research that goes on at an institution such as UW-Madison. To get an idea of the range of work taking place across campus, check out the universityâ??s “Ideas and Discoveries” web page. This page is especially cool because it lets one search for “Ideas and Discoveries” by subject. For example, there are 2,244 articles related to UW-Madison “research” going back to February of 1997.

While most of these findings are both important and interesting, there certainly are studies which cross this desk — or computer screen — that make one wonder why a researcher was given a significant amount of time and money to find the answer to X, Y or Z.

The leaves aren’t the only thing changing in the Badger state. Wisconsin’s evolving climate is at the center of a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study.

A group of scientists at the university said they have documented proof that changes are on the way for Wisconsin’s climate in the next century — changes that could make it feel like down south.

MADISON, Wis. — The leaves arenâ??t the only thing changing in the Badger state. Wisconsinâ??s evolving climate is at the center of a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study.

A group of scientists at the university said they have documented proof that changes are on the way for Wisconsinâ??s climate in the next century — changes that could make it feel like down south.

A UW-Madison study challenges the perception that scientists avoid the press and that journalists tend to seek out mavericks.

The image of scientists tucked away in a lab away from the public isn’t just a case of being media shy; it was once the professional culture. Former science writer Sharon Dunwoody says getting information on the record was tough because those who spoke to the press were often ostracized by their peers. Dunwoody says scientists in the 20th Century who were interested in interacting with the public, the iconic example is Carl Sagan, the astronomer from Cornell. These individuals essentially were punished by the scientific culture, they were critiqued. They were told that public communication an unacceptable activity. (Sixth item.)

Rick Marolt has spent parts of the past three years trying to get someone associated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to answer one question: Is experimenting on monkeys ethical?

Itâ??s a hot potato few are interested in handling directly.

So Marolt was a bit surprised this past spring when UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin sent him a letter that directed the 48-year-old business consultant and part-time business lecturer at Edgewood College and UW-Madison to take his inquiry to the All Campus Animal Care and Use Committee, a federally mandated body that must approve all experiments on animals within the university.

The first detailed research on Wisconsinâ??s climate is forecasting a jump in average annual temperatures of 4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit by midcentury, which could push humans and nature to adapt to weather conditions that at times resemble Missouri today.

The findings are unique for climate research in Wisconsin because researchers are making predictions about the future on a local scale. Climate scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said Monday that warming will be greatest in northern Wisconsin, with the smallest changes taking place in the south along Lake Michigan.

Injections with a steroid improved the eyesight of more than one-quarter of patients suffering from vision-robbing blood clots, a leading cause of blindness, researchers said on Monday.

If you’d like Wisconsin to be a little warmer on the average, just wait 40 years or so.

According to a University of Wisconsin study, the average temperature in the state should rise by between four and nine degrees by the year 2050.

Steroid shots in the eye can help people with blocked retinal veins see better, according to a national study released Monday and led by a UW-Madison ophthalmologist.

Wisconsin is getting warmer, research released Monday from UW-Madison suggests.

Dan Vimont, a UW-Madison professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, said the projection is based in part on climate data from the past 60 years that says Wisconsin has warmed 2.5 degrees on average in the winter and 1.3 degrees on average throughout the year.

Whales have songs, and so do birds, of course. But does music lift the spirits of a swallow? Do humpbacks hum to make themselves mellow?

Although bird songs and many other animal vocalizations have been the subject of intense scientific study, the effect of music on the moods of creatures other than humans has remained mysterious.

But a provocative new study, spawned by an unusual partnership between a cellist with the National Symphony Orchestra and a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, has provided some of the first evidence that humans are not the only species whose heartstrings are pulled by music.