The problem of energy storage has led to many creative solutions, like giant batteries. For a paper published today in the journal Chem, scientists trying to improve the solar cells themselves developed an integrated battery that works in three different ways. It can work like a normal solar cell by converting sunlight to electricity immediately, explains study author Song Jin, a chemist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. It can store the solar energy, or it can simply be charged like a normal battery.
Category: Research
Water Flea Giving Birth Makes a Big Splash in ‘Small World’ Videos
Giving birth has never looked as easy (and weird) as it does in a video captured by photographer Wim van Egmond. In it, a wee see-through daphnia, or water flea, expels a wriggling, googly-eyed larva, its body just as transparent as its mama’s. Seconds after emerging into the water surrounding its mother, the young water flea darts swiftly away.
Climate destruction will hit U.S. national parks the hardest
National parks will see less annual rainfall than other parts of the country and certain parks could warm by 16 degrees within the next 80 years, according to the analysis released Monday by University of California-Berkeley and University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists.
Monkey sanctuary in central Wisconsin is retirement home for primates used for medical research
Noted: Kerwin and her staff are busy building the sanctuary on 17 acres of land, which consists of a concrete building and a couple of geodesic domes. Taking a break last week from constructing walkways for the monkeys to travel outside from their indoor enclosures, Kerwin said she decided while working at the Harlow Center for Biological Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to someday open a sanctuary.
New grant will help define best practices for no-till organic grain production
With partners in Wisconsin, Iowa and Pennsylvania, researchers will have the opportunity to conduct trials at various sites to test planter technologies, cover crop types, planting dates, weed management strategies and more in the first three years of the grant-funded project.
UW–Madison, apple growers, bring data to the orchard
One crucial decision concerns timing a treatment that will eliminate more than three-quarters of the tiny fruits, says Amaya Atucha, a UW–Madison assistant professor of horticulture and Extension fruit crop specialist, who has been leading the effort to introduce the new technology.
UW CALS partners with WI dairy farm to help cows keep their cool
Since she joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty last spring as an assistant professor of dairy science and extension animal welfare specialist, she has traveled the state to meet with milk producers, processors and others concerned about the well-being of Wisconsin’s signature farm animal.
Climate change: National parks at greater risk, study says
A new study published Monday has warned that climate change has adversely and uniquely affected many of the 417 national parks spread across the United States and its territories, according to scientists from the University of California at Berkeley and University of Wisconsin.
Climate Change Science: National Parks Affected Worse Than the Rest of US
In the study, published in Environmental Research Letters, scientists from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison show that temperatures in the national parks increased by 33.8 °F from 1895 to 2010.
In Sprawling Farm Bill, a $200 Million Corporate Research Subsidy Goes Unnoticed
FFAR is working with The Land Institute, a nonprofit research body in Kansas, to fund a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student’s research into perennial grains, which can continue to produce food for a decade or more, saving farmers all the costs of having to replant every year.
UW biomedical engineers to use modeling technology in research of ovarian cancer
Experts hope to develop a better understanding of disease, which will hopefully lead to better diagnosis.
Climate change is affecting national parks much more than the rest of the US
America’s national parks are baking — more than the rest of the country, a new study from UC Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports.
Study Eyes Climate Change Impact on National Parks
Emissions from cars, power plants and deforestation are leading to the increase in wildfire burn zones, the melting of glaciers as well as shifting vegetation, according to the study, which was conducted by University of California, Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
National Parks Warming Twice as Fast as Rest of Country, Study Says
Temperatures have risen 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit in the 417 national parks between 1895 and 2010, twice the rate of anywhere else in the country, according to the study by the University of California Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wisconsin Study Finds Binge Drinking Differences Between Men & Women
With few exceptions, the legal drinking age in Wisconsin and the rest of the United States is 21. UW-Madison researcher Jason Fletcher wanted to focus on other problems that crop up when people start drinking legally. So, he looked at data from Add Health, a long-term national study covering adolescent to adult health.
Turtles With Transmitters Could Be Key To Their Survival
Tiffany Bougie is a UW-Madison graduate research assistant. She says after the hatch, the young turtles were humanely captured and the turtles that were strong enough to carry the small transmitters were set up.
Tony Evers’ Tax Increase Ideas: Shifting ‘Priorities’ Or ‘Recipe For Economic Disaster’?
A study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy found more than 42,000 jobs were created between 2013 and 2016 thanks to the Manufacturing and Agriculture Credit.
What is threat of climate change to national parks?
“A higher fraction of national parks are in extreme environments,” said Patrick Gonzalez, a forest ecologist at University of California, Berkeley who authored the study with UC Berkeley colleagues and scientists at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Newly discovered aspects of fragile X spur next wave of drugs
Even though the mice in the study are young adults, “we can still rescue and treat the learning and memory deficit,” says lead investigator Xinyu Zhao, professor of neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Party drug used for depression at UW Health amid research on psychedelics
About three dozen patients have taken ketamine for depression at UW Hospital since last year. A campus study of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” found the drug to be safe in healthy volunteers. Researchers are planning trials of psilocybin for people with depression or addiction to opioids or methamphetamine.
Children are the latest test subjects of FluGen’s universal flu vaccine
FluGen, founded in 2007, has been working on a universal flu vaccine designed to cover whatever strain of influenza is circulating, based on research from the laboratory of noted UW-Madison professor of virology Yoshihiro Kawaoka.
Party drug used for depression at UW Health amid research on psychedelics
About three dozen patients have taken ketamine for depression at UW Hospital since last year. A campus study of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” found the drug to be safe in healthy volunteers.
Volunteer wheat needs managing
There is potential in 2018 for abundant volunteer wheat in late-summer-seeded alfalfa stands, says Mark Renz, University of Wisconsin-Extension weed specialist.
NEW GRANT WILL HELP DEFINE BEST PRACTICES FOR NO-TILL ORGANIC GRAIN PRODUCTION
“We hope to define a set of best management practices for maximizing organic grain production yield while minimizing environmental impact and improving soil health,” says Brian Luck, assistant professor of biological systems engineering at UW–Madison and project lead.
Climate Change Causing Huge Rainstorms
On the Aug. 30, 2018 edition of Wisconsin Public Radio’s Route 51 show, two University of Wisconsin System scientists discussed where Wisconsin stands in the bigger picture of climate change. The ripple effects vary around the world — wildfires in California and above the Arctic Circle in Sweden, a deadly heat wave in Japan, the bleaching of coral in the Great Barrier Reef, and, closer to home, a worrisome toxic algal bloom on Lake Superior.
Split filter DECT improves tumour visibility for radiotherapy planning
To address this challenge, a team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has investigated the ability of split-filter dual-energy CT (DECT) to improve pancreatic tumour contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) for radiotherapy planning.
Humans have been messing with the climate for thousands of years
“There is a huge difference between the very gradual and accidental warming trend that early farmers probably caused, versus the much more rapid climate changes that our modern industrial world is effecting knowingly,” said Stephen Vavrus, a senior scientist in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Climatic Research who conducted the study, which recently appeared in the journal Scientific Reports.
The ‘dunce robots’ of Japan will help children learn
Joseph Michaelis, a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained that social robots “interact with humans using natural social cues like gestures, tone of voice, or head and eye movements to convey meaning.”
Signal d’alarme chez les plantes
C’est en fait le calcium, un nutriment de la plante, qui produit un signal chimique et électrique pour donner l’alarme, comme vient de le montrer, dans une étude parue dans la revue Science du 14 septembre 2018, une équipe américano-japonaise dirigée par Silmon Gilroy, professeur de botanique à l’université du Wisconsin-Madison.
New Discoveries Made in How Plants Warn Each Other of Danger
The research comes from a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor of Botany Simon Gilroy and postdoc researcher Masatsugu Toyota collaborated on the find. The pair has since collected over a dozen videos displaying the reaction of plants in response to stress.
Lucid dreaming is like observing physical actions
Three researchers — Stanford University’s Philip Zimbardo and Stephen LaBerge; the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Benjamin Baird — tackled the longtime question of whether dreaming mimics perception or imagination, finally proving the former.
New research on how to reduce the number of unvaccinated children
Adding more steps to opt out of mandatory vaccinations could cut the number of unvaccinated children, according to new UW-Madison research. Researchers from the university’s Applied Population Laboratory analyzed how a law change in California affected the rate of unvaccinated children in kindergarten.
Foxconn Committed to Wisconsin Development
Alvarez explains why Foxconn has partnered with Wisconsin for ginseng market development. “With ginseng, we also think that there are medical benefits. And so we’re partnering with UW-Madison and looking with the Carbone Cancer Center and looking at what some of those benefits can be. So we’re looking forward to selling those products not only in Asia but also here in the US.”
Foxconn Signs Deal To Jointly Develop Wisconsin Ginseng
Foxconn says it will also work with the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center to promote the study of American ginseng’s health benefits, including in cancer prevention and treatment.
Chemical in cigarette smoke may damage important aspect of vision
“This particular aspect of vision is really important because it affects your ability to see the end of a curb or put a key into a lock in low light,” said lead author Adam Paulson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, School of Medicine. “It’s something that at this point in time there’s no way to correct, unlike visual acuity, which you can easily correct with glasses or contact lenses.”
Signal d’alarme chez les plantes
C’est en fait le calcium, un nutriment de la plante, qui produit un signal chimique et électrique pour donner l’alarme, comme vient de le montrer, dans une étude parue dans la revue Science du 14 septembre 2018, une équipe américano-japonaise dirigée par Silmon Gilroy, professeur de botanique à l’université du Wisconsin-Madison
The Next Marketing Skill You Need To Master: Touch
Noted: Altogether, that means our sense of touch can impact our buying decisions. But don’t take my word for that. Ask Joann Peck, a marketing professor at the Wisconsin School of Business; she’s one of the foremost experts on the study of haptic marketing.
How studying chicken butts cracked the inner workings of our immune system
The missing piece, which was languishing largely unnoticed in Poultry Science, got to Cooper when some hormone researchers at the University of Wisconsin noticed the chicken paper and relayed it to Cooper’s advisor, Robert Good (an immunologist who would eventually perform the first successful bone marrow transplant).
6 Reasons Why College Campus Diversity Matters
A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that ideas generated by diverse teams were of better quality in terms of feasibility and effectiveness. The research showed that critical analysis and suggested solutions were more nuanced when they came from diverse teams. They also noticed that input from individuals with diverse backgrounds offered alternatives to problems that weren’t previously raised.
Babcock Hall expansion project moves forward
UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said this project, however, is a unique one in that it has been six years in the making and includes one of the largest private/public partnerships in the university’s history. In eight months, almost 200 partners came together to donate $16 million toward the project.
UW Involved In Teen Tech Study
Facebook and the U-W School of Medicine and Public Health will partner to study teens’ use of digital technologies – and their mental and social health.
Blazes of light reveal how plants signal danger long distances
UW-Madison Botany Professor Simon Gilroy reveal a communication system within plants.
Video: Pedaling for cancer research
Amy Carlson sits down with two cancer researchers from UW Carbon Cancer Center to talk about The Ride.
Plants have feelings too! Shrub leaves warn their neighbours of danger through a nervous system
Plants have a sense of touch – and they can even ’feel’ you picking their leaves.A new study has shown how plant leaves can fire pain signals, which are similar to those found in humans, to warn neighbouring leaves of impending danger.
Plants use blazes of light to communicate
Science is just beginning to understand the subtle but intricate ways that plants — once thought of as an inert branch of life — can communicate and process information about the world around them. Now new research out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has revealed nervous system-like mechanisms within plants that might be our most stunning look yet into the communicative world of flora.
Plants Have A Secret Code For Signaling Danger To One Another
A new study just published in the journal Science uncovered that plants can feel any tactile stimuli that touch their leaves, including the imperceptible movement of a caterpillar’s tiny toes. What’s more, they have a unique system of passing on the message to other leaves, warning them when an assailant is on the prowl and alerting them to brace for an imminent attack.
UW works with Facebook to study impact of social media on children
MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health is teaming up with Facebook for a study investigating the question parents want answered: How much does social media impact the health of our children?
Watch Plants Light Up When They Get Attacked
Plants have no eyes, no ears, no mouth and no hands. They do not have a brain or a nervous system. Muscles? Forget them. They’re stuck where they started, soaking up the sun and sucking up nutrients from the soil. And yet, when something comes around to eat them, they sense it.
UW-Madison scientists analyze Hurricane Florence, provide lifesaving information
A thousand miles from Hurricane Florence, in a room nicknamed the Cave, Derrick Herndon and a team of UW hurricane researchers in Madison study every angle and aspect of the storm to assist those on the front lines.
Watch a Mutant Plant Burst Into Action When Attacked
When plants are wounded, they send out warning signals that spread to other leaves, raising the alarm and activating defense mechanisms for the undamaged areas. Now, researchers have captured this burst of activity in a set of mesmerising videos that are helping to explain the tricky topic of plant “intelligence”.
Watch Plants Light Up When They Get Attacked
“You’ve got to think like a vegetable now,” says Simon Gilroy, a botanist who studies how plants sense and respond to their environments at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW-Madison scientists analyze Hurricane Florence, provide lifesaving information
A thousand miles from Hurricane Florence, in a room nicknamed the Cave, Derrick Herndon and a team of UW hurricane researchers in Madison study every angle and aspect of the storm to assist those on the front lines.
Facebook and UW team up to study wellbeing of youth
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is joining with Facebook to study the mental and social health ramifications of teens’ use of digital technologies.
Foxconn, UW-Madison partnership will be managed behind closed doors
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Foxconn Technology Group will manage their new research partnership largely behind closed doors, documents detailing the agreement show.
Watch the Awesome Way in Which Plants Defend Themselves Against Threats
New research published today in Science is providing an unprecedented view of the signaling action that happens within plants when they’re under attack. A second or two after a plant receives an injury, like a chomp from a caterpillar, a warning signal radiates from the location of the wound, spreading out through the entire plant in a process that takes fewer than 120 seconds.
Watch a Mutant Plant Burst Into Action When Attacked
“Plants look like they are just so intelligent—they do the right thing at the right time, they sense a huge amount of environmental information, and they process it”, says Simon Gilroy, who runs the botany lab that at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But they don’t have the brain, the information processing unit that we think should be necessary to make those really elegant calculations”.
LOOK: Plants Send Out Distress Signals In Response To Threats Such As Being Eaten
Researchers of a new study found that an injured leaf may send distress signals to other undamaged leaves when under threats such as being eaten. The fluorescent experiment shows how quickly plants’ internal communication really works.
An Amazing Reaction Happens When a Plant Gets Hurt, Making Them More Similar to Animals
According to new research, plants use the same signalling molecules that animals use in their nervous system. Our green friends don’t have nerves, exactly – but they certainly have something surprisingly similar.
UW works with Facebook to study impact of social media on children
The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health is teaming up with Facebook for a study investigating the question parents want answered: How much does social media impact the health of our children?
When Plants Sense Danger, They Cry Out With Calcium
Plants have a unique challenge in staying alive long enough to produce offspring. Unable to move and at the mercy of their surroundings, they present a tempting source of nutrition for bacteria and animals alike. But they’re not helpless. Botanists have long known plants are capable of sensing their environments and responding to them. They can grow differently in response to shade or drought, or release noxious chemicals to fend off predators, even as a caterpillar is mid-way through chewing on a leaf.