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Category Science & Technology

Like humans, ants use bacteria to make their gardens grow

November 19, 2009

Leaf-cutter ants, which cultivate fungus for food, have many remarkable qualities.

Sweet corn story begins in UW–Madison lab

November 19, 2009

This week, scientists are revealing the genetic instructions inside corn, one of the big three cereal crops. Corn, or maize, has one of the most complex sequences of DNA ever analyzed, says University of Wisconsin–Madison genomicist David Schwartz, who was one of more than 100 authors in the article in the journal Science.

Study: Can meditation sharpen our attention?

November 13, 2009

A new study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison suggests that people can train their minds to stay focused.

FDA-approved drugs eliminate, prevent cervical cancer in mice

November 9, 2009

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health have eliminated cervical cancer in mice with two FDA-approved drugs currently used to treat breast cancer and osteoporosis.

Now hear this: Mouse study sheds light on hearing loss in older adults

November 9, 2009

Becoming "hard of hearing" is a standard but unfortunate part of aging: A syndrome called age-related hearing loss affects about 40 percent of people over 65 in the United States, and will afflict an estimated 28 million Americans by 2030.

Fifty years of expanding girls’ horizons in science, math

November 3, 2009

The Expanding Your Horizons program, a daylong conference designed to expose young women to careers in science, technology, engineering and math, has touched thousands of Wisconsin women during its 50-year history at UW–Madison.

Middle East air-quality study bridges borders

October 27, 2009

An unprecedented effort to collect air pollution data in the Middle East has united researchers in a region mired in conflict.

Muscle mass maintenance under scrutiny

October 27, 2009

When muscles are not pressed into service, they begin to lose mass.

Curiosities: Is there a limit to how fast humans can be?

October 26, 2009

“In my opinion there are no limits,” says Tim Gattenby, a faculty associate in kinesiology at UW–Madison. “People said that no one could…

New material could efficiently power tiny generators

October 22, 2009

To power a very small device like a pacemaker or a transistor, you need an even smaller generator. The components that operate the generator are smaller yet, and the efficiency of those foundational components is critical to the performance of the overall device.

Carbon nanotubes may cheaply harvest sunlight

October 19, 2009

A new alternative energy technology relies on the element most associated with climate change: carbon.