“If you accept the arguments about water and life on Mars, then why shouldn’t we include Venus in that?” Sanjay Limaye, a planetary scientist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, told Eos. “Venus had liquid water. It could have had the chance to evolve or sustain life that could be living in the habitable clouds.”
Category: Research
Which spare body parts will stem cells deliver first?
On 6 November 1998, the world woke to news of an astonishing discovery. James Thomson and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison had generated stem cells from human embryos. Unlike other types of stem cells, these were ‘pluripotent’ – meaning they had the potential to generate any type of body tissue if given the right signals.
Election results 2018: $39.7 million Pewaukee schools referendum approved
Noted: The district said that increasing enrollment over the last eight years means district schools are getting close to the district’s capacity of 2,924 students, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Applied Populations Laboratory.
Oneida County Seeks Input From Voters On Mining Referendum
A recently released study by the Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison estimated a metallic mine in the county would create up to 700 jobs, as well as an additional 1,274 jobs during construction over two years.
Tango therapy rejuvenates Parkinson’s Disease patients
Kristen Pickett, an assistant professor of occupational therapy in UW’s kineseology department, brought the class to Madison four years ago after finding through her experience with Parkinson’s patients, they’re not always on board with exercise.
Missed opportunity? UW’s Waisman Center chose not to participate in developing new autism blood test
What if a simple blood test could determine if your child — as young as 18 months — has the developmental issues associated with autism spectrum disorder? That outcome could both speed up the diagnosis and treatment of an often-devastating childhood disease.
What 7 statistics tell us about immigration and crime
In a release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison announcing the study’s findings, Light, a sociology professor, said it’s important to look at data as the immigration debate continues.
UW researcher using stem cells to create ‘spare part’ for blindness
Scientists in Dr. David Gamm’s lab at UW-Madison can coax stem cells to grow into three-dimensional retinas in a dish and show that the tissue responds to light.
At UW-Madison, 500 scientists studying stem cells 20 years after discovery
Randolph Ashton is using human embryonic stem cells to grow neural tubes, which give rise to the brain and spinal cord.
UW-Madison furthers research legacy through investigation of financially vulnerable families
To continue UW-Madison’s long history in research, the Center for Financial Security will participate within a five-year agreement to study the fiscal well-being of those who are most financially vulnerable.
Where the coyotes roam
Gentle hints of rain tap on yellow-leafed trees as a cardinal’s chorus echos through the forest like surround sound at the Lakeshore Nature Preserve.
Manage heifer inventory strategically
To use data that applies specifically to their dairy, producers can use an online “Heifer Replacement” tool developed by Victor Cabrera, a dairy science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Badger Swine Symposium set for November 9
Wisconsin pork farmers are invited to join University of Wisconsin-Extension, the Wisconsin Pork Association, and the UW-Agriculture Colleges (Madison, Platteville, and River Falls) for the Badger Swine Symposium on Friday, November 9, 2018. The Badger Swine Symposium is being hosted at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station.
20 years after the growth of human embryonic stem cells at UW, science faces new frontiers
For months, James Thomson rose at 5 in the morning, hours before his day job, and hustled off to a secret scientific project in a lab next to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s in vitro fertilization clinic. His chest felt tight, as if he’d been holding his breath, worrying constantly.
UW researcher reflects on stem cell breakthrough 20 years ago
James Thomson’s earth-shattering discovery garnered immense media attention, now he can appreciate the past.
UW researchers, students partner with with local brewing company
University researchers and Wisconsin Brewing Co. use Sheboygan yeast strain to brew Wisconsin’s first ’wild’ lager.
After 20 years, stem cells mean business in Wisconsin
When James Thomson and his team succeeded in growing human embryonic stem cells in 1998, biology, health science and the biotech business sector began to fundamentally change. Today, at least 10 Wisconsin enterprises depend – in one way or another – on pluripotent stem cells, either human embryonic or induced pluripotent cells (iPS).
UW center issues pro-mining report ahead of Oneida County mining referendum
Just in time for a Nov. 6 referendum on mining in Oneida County, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economics professor released a report this week touting the benefits of tapping into state mineral resources.
The Words of a Young Jewish Poet Provoke Soul-Searching in Lithuania
In July, I accompanied Freund, of the University of Hartford, and two geoscientists, Harry Jol, from the University of Wisconsin, and Philip Reeder, from Duquesne University, to find Matilda’s final resting place.
The Arb wins an Oscar: Well, it was back in ‘54, but it still matters
As UW Arboretum heads into the fall burn season, we rediscovered a piece sent to Isthmus by Thomas J. Straka, a forestry professor at Clemson University in South Carolina. While studying forestry at UW-Madison, Straka spent much time at the Arboretum and he wants our readers to know about the Arb’s role in the Oscar-winning documentary, The Vanishing Prairie (available at Amazon.com).
UW’s challenge: Why does the world-class research institution struggle to work with industry?
Noted: Part I in a series.
It’s a story that Madison loves to hear.
Two plucky entrepreneurs, Kevin Conroy and Manesh Arora, are hired in 2009 to revive a moribund health-tech startup in Boston. They have the temerity to move it from the best-known metropolis in the country for medical innovation to the much smaller Madison, where Conroy had run Third Wave Technologies. Their company had but two employees.
UW discovery involving rare disease could offer insight into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists studying the cells of patients with the rare nervous system disorder Alexander disease have made a breakthrough that could shed new light on a host of more common diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Stressed out? Why SNIFFING your partner’s shirt can help you calm down
According to scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stress re-wires the brain so that previously neutral scenes become unpleasant.The greater the stress, the bigger the change in smell.
UW researchers gain insight into behavior of monogamous rodent species
New study explores vocal communication, infidelity in California mice, potential connection to humankind.
Calcium signals warn plants of attacks
Masatsugu Toyota led the work as a postdoctoral researcher in a UW-Madison laboratory. Those two collaborated with researchers from Michigan State University, the University of Missouri and the Japan Science and Technology Agency.
Immuto Scientific seeking to speed up drug development
An engineering research team at UW-Madison has invented a device which could dramatically speed up drug development.
UW-Madison studying placentas, premature births
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are studying placentas from births at a local hospital to identify structural changes in fetal membranes that could help determine when a premature birth is likely to occur.
Science-a-thon connects students with scientists at UW-Madison
This week is Science-a-thon, the weeklong celebration of science, and University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists celebrated by talking with high school girls about getting involved in careers in the sciences.
Flu shots urged as Madison’s FluGen plays role in effort for universal vaccine
FluGen, started in 2007 by UW-Madison flu researchers Yoshi Kawaoka and Gabriele Neumann, is using a different tactic. It is based on the idea that people who acquire the flu naturally generally don’t get it again for a year or more.
Kids’ sleep may suffer from moms’ tight work schedules
Buxton and colleagues are continuing this research to the next study, in the transition to young adulthood, how sleep health trajectories may contribute to the emergence and persistence of modifiable disparities in sleep and well-being.Lauren Hale, Stony Brook University, and Lawrence M. Berger, University of Wisconsin-Madison, also participated in this work.
US National Parks most vulnerable to human-caused climate change
Study co-authors outline actions general public can take to reduce carbon footprint, preserve future of environment.
Should $1.7 Billion In Research Funds Produce More Marketable Ideas and Goods?
About $1.7 billion is spent on academic research every year in Wisconsin, with the funding coming from a mix of government agencies and private investors. Some people who follow the money say more could be done with it.
Researchers and doctors working to better predict preterm birth
“What the study that the university of Wisconsin is hoping to accomplish, is look at other things that we haven’t maybe focused on before,” said Calkins. “Now we have the technology to look further into what some of those risk factors may be from a biological perspective and not just those environmental risk factors.”
How to Harness Your Anxiety
A large-scale study from the University of Wisconsin in 2012 demonstrated that how we think about anxiety and stress can change how those feelings impact us.
Ants Produced Antibiotics Millions of Years before Humans
“If the fungus dies, the ants die,” said Cameron Currie, a microbial ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies the fungal-farming ants and their mutually beneficial relationships with other species.
Professor’s book explores intersectionality of ableism, race through fantasy
Schalk, an assistant professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will discuss her book Wednesday in the East Rotunda of Powell Library, specifically addressing how able-mindedness is based on racial and gendered norms.
National parks getting hotter, drier
“A higher fraction of national parks are in extreme environments,” said Patrick Gonzalez, a forest ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley who authored the study with UC Berkeley colleagues and scientists at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Five things to know about the $59.8 million Cedarburg schools referendum
Noted: For the 2018-19 school year, the district’s enrollment is 2,970, an increase of 33 students from the previous school year. That number is higher than what the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Applied Population Laboratory (APL) projected in its study it completed for the district in June 2017. The APL’s projected number for the 2018-19 school year in its Residential Development Projections Model, located on page 26, was 2,950.
Wisconsin Science Festival draws young and old to explore scientific marvels
Crowds of all ages attended the annual Wisconsin Science Festival at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (WID) building this weekend.
Panelists agree state should do more to support startups, research
Wisconsin Technology Council President Tom Still estimates about $1.7 billion is spent on public research in the state each year, about $1.1 billion of which is at UW-Madison. He says the Medical College of Wisconsin makes up about $300 million, while UW-Milwaukee makes up $60 million.
In Parksinson’s Study, Scarlet Protein Seen to Prevent Damage Linked to Alpha-Synuclein
Lehigh University researchers, along with collaborators at University of Wisconsin-Madison, evaluated the role of a protein called scarlet in a fruit fly model of Parkinson’s disease.
UW researchers, doctors trying to better predict preterm birth
The university’s Morgridge Institute for Research is studying placentas from births at UnityPoint Health-Meriter to identify structural changes in fetal membranes that could be associated with preterm births.
Wisconsin Hydrogen Breakthroughs May Be Steps Toward Cleaner Energy
Another lab at UW-Madison is also reporting progress toward the hydrogen economy. A team led by Materials Science and Engineering professor Xudong Wang is part of an effort to use sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Solar energy would be a much cleaner way to obtain hydrogen gas. But the team ran into a problem: the silicon panel used as the catalyst doesn’t last long enough.
UW-Madison scientists find cause of rare blood disorder
After eight years of searching, UW-Madison scientists found the cause of a rare genetic blood disorder.
Beautiful science of small world showcased in video competition
Elizabeth Haynes and Jiaye He from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, shot the winning video of the developing zebrafish over 16 hours using selective plane illumination microscopy.
Starving bears and snowballs: talking science in a time of denial
A starving polar bear. A US Senator with a snowball. Images of the opposing sides of the issue of climate change.
Organic farming with gene editing: An oxymoron or a tool for sustainable agriculture?
Quoted: Bill Tracy, an organic corn breeder and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, says, “Many CRISPR-induced changes that could happen in nature could have benefits to all kinds of farmers.” But, the NOSB has already voted on the issue and the rules are unlikely to change without significant pressure. “It’s a question of what social activity could move the needle on that,” Tracy concludes.
Starving bears and snowballs: talking science in a time of denial
Noted: In the first article, the authors, experts in science communications, Michael Dahlstrom from Iowa State University and Dietram Scheufele from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, both in the US, argue that we must exert the utmost care in telling the stories of science.
Eerie Florida sky turns purple as Hurricane Michael storms through
Noted: According to research reported in Science Daily, this coloring of the sky is due to a phenomenon called scattering. “Scattering affects the color of light coming from the sky, but the details are determined by the wavelength of the light and the size of the particle,” University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists said.
‘Go Big Read’ event looks at Great Lakes
Each year the University of Wisconsin-Madison picks a common book for the entire campus to read and discuss called the Go Big Read program. The book for the 2018-2019 school year is “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” by Dan Egan, a Milwaukee Journal reporter and senior water policy fellow at UW-Milwaukee.
Madison brewery, UW-Madison students brew first North American wild lager
Wissconsin Brewing Co., Heineken and University of Wisconsin–Madison students are partnering to brew the first wild lager brewed in North America.
Editorial: Science is cool
Nobody does science like the Wisconsin Science Festival.
Watch science and art in action in these award-winning microscopic videos
This year’s top winners, Elizabeth Haynes and Jiaye “Henry” He of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, captured a time-lapse video of a zebrafish nervous system as it developed over 16 hours. The entire thing was condensed into a 40-second clip.
At 100 Wisconsin schools, most seniors miss chance for college aid through FAFSA
In Wisconsin, researchers have raised similar concerns by showing that schools with more low-income families tend to produce lower FAFSA completion rates. Ellie Bruecker, a University of Wisconsin-Madison doctoral student who studies FAFSA completion rates, said there hasn’t been much movement in Wisconsin’s numbers.
With teen vaping on the rise, health officials target schools, stores
Those who vaped and smoked, known as dual-users, were better able to do both than those who smoked only cigarettes, said Doug Jorenby, a UW-Madison professor of medicine and the center’s director of clinical services.
Research on alcohol access finds no substantial support for arguments to lower legal drinking age
New research at the University of Wisconsin surrounding the effects of alcohol access found no evidence to corroborate parental supervision arguments supporting a lowered drinking age.
How People Learn: A Landmark Report Gets an Update – Inside School Research
“People do not simply collect memories, knowledge, and skills in a linear fashion, but through myriad processes that interact over time to influence the way they make sense of the world,” said Cora Bagley Marrett, the former deputy director of the National Science Foundation, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and chair of the committee that conducted the report.
Bottling the sun: UW researchers combine solar cell, battery to store energy in liquid
Researchers at UW-Madison have helped develop a new system that could make it easier to capture clean energy from the sun and deliver electricity in remote areas.
COLD WEATHER WARNING: Freezing temperatures to be more common ‘extreme events’ coming
Scientists from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined precipitation data from 17 stations in the US and found dry or wet spells lasting four or more days occurred more frequently in recent decades.
UW-Madison could be instrumental in changing how corn is grown
“This has been kind of the holy grail for a long time,” said Joe Lauer, who grew up on a farm and is now a professor of agronomy at UW-Madison.