Category: Research

Tiny particles that struck Antarctica years ago came from outside our galaxy, puzzling scientists hoping to unlock clues about the universe. Now, scientists think the source might be the center of a bright, violent galaxy some 9 billion light years away.

At the South Pole, a giant, underground block of crystal clear ice, picks up signals from the cosmos – signals that could ultimately help scientists better understand the universe.

The cause of autism remains largely unclear, but some scientists hypothesize the condition could be caused by the irregular production of neurons.

Habitat loss as humans reshape landscapes has loomed for decades as the main conservation problem for a lot of wildlife. It’s still important, says climate change ecologist Benjamin Zuckerberg of the University of Wisconsin?Madison. But along the southern boundary of the snowshoe hares’ range, climate change bringing skimpy snow covers has surpassed direct habitat loss as a threat, Zuckerberg and his colleagues say March 30 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists monitoring a neutrino telescope at the South Pole are celebrating a $35 million commitment from the National Science Foundation to keep the project going for five more years.

Even as mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus advance northward, lawmakers in 18 states are trying to block the fetal tissue research that might reveal the keys to unlocking the disease and preventing the massive birth defects associated with it.

Wisconsin deer hunters will be fashion trailblazers this fall: The state recently became the first to legalize blaze pink hunting gear. Most states require that all hunters wear blaze orange, also known as hunter orange, during deer hunting season to maximize their visibility to fellow hunters wielding firearms. Lawmakers say that approving blaze pink is an effort to provide hunters with another safe color option—and to recruit more women into hunting.

Two UW-Madison professors are helping analyze data on American science and health literacy with the National Academy of Sciences panel for a report to be released in 2017.

Dominique Brossard, a life sciences communication professor, and Noah Feinstein, a School of Education professor, serve as two of 12 members on the committee. The group observes what the average individual knows and does not know about science, given that members of the general scientific community have expressed concern over Americans’ knowledge of science compared to those in other countries.

A new study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison highlights the hefty cost of controlling aquatic invasive species in the state’s lakes.

The study found that the estimated cost of controlling a single invasive species, the spiny waterflea, in just one lake could range from $86.5 million to $163 million over 20 years. Researchers say the study’s results show that a broader measure of the costs of controlling aquatic invasive species should be taken into account.

Erik Iverson, who will become managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation this summer, helped get (the Gates Foundation) fund off the ground during his seven-year stint at the foundation. Launched with about $400 million, the fund is now in the billion-dollar stratosphere and reaping returns on its early investments.

Noted: Engineering professor Hongrui Jiang has spent about three years trying to figure out how to make eyes more sensitive to light. He found his answer in the Elephantnose fish of Africa. He replicated the fish’s eye, because it can see well in the dark.

A tiny flea with a massive appetite is causing big trouble in the Great Lakes. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Limnology say that the invasive spiny water flea could leave lakes choked with algae and cost billions of dollars in cleanup efforts.

A special House committee empaneled to investigate fetal tissue research is preparing to issue 17 subpoenas to medical supply companies and laboratories, seeking the names of researchers, graduate students, laboratory technicians and administrative personnel.

Worsening droughts in the United States create a double threat for forest fires, according to climate researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

A Q&A with Jeremy Hemberger, an entomology graduate student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who is trying to figure out where the pollinators in the area go, using tiny radio-frequency enabled tracking devices glued to bees’ backs.

A Wisconsin study has found that dealing with invasive species in the Great Lakes region might be more expensive than previously thought.

The U.S. practices mass incarceration more than any other country in the world.  In this hour, four members of UW’s School of Human Ecology approach the problem of mass incarceration, looking at the design of prison spaces, the impact on families of those behind bars, and the involvement of communities….

In its sixth year, the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s “Cool Science Image” contest has lived up to its name.

Between late April and the end of summer, lucky birders might catch sight of the elusive hooded warbler on Picnic Point, where at least one has been spotted in the last few years. Or they might do better venturing into Kettle Moraine State Forest’s thick understory, where the warblers nest in greater numbers.

Noted: The Dalai Lama is also a longtime friend of the Center for Healthy Minds’ founder, Richard Davidson. The UW-Madison neuroscience professor, who is a participant, is looking forward to seeing the Dalai Lama.

Said Davidson, “He may not have any formal scientific training, which he clearly does not have, but he has an extraordinarily sophisticated understanding of how the mind works, because he’s been so attentive to his own mind.”

Little is known about the Zika virus. First identified in 1947, the reach of the disease in both geographic and population terms was barely noticeable for decades. However, new cases have rapidly increased since May 2015, starting in Brazil and spreading as far as Mexico, Puerto Rico and even the continental United States.

On today’s Wisconsin Life we’ll be learning about a recent discovery at the Wisconsin State Herbarium: Century-old research specimens collected by the historically prominent scientist, George Washington Carver.

U.S. inventor George Washington Carver, known for his creativity with the peanut, has excited modern scientists with an unexpected find: century-old specimens of fungus.

Quoted: “We have a 50-foot well filled with ice, and at the bottom, we’ve got about six feet of rock. And we’re doing testing of both configurations or both media. So we’ll go through the 50 feet of ice and then drill some rock, which represents what we’ll be doing in Antarctica,” said Chris Gibson, the engineering project manager for the ASIG drill.