Category Science & Technology
Large-scale nuclear materials study shapes national collaborations
In Kumar Sridharan's laboratory on the University of Wisconsin–Madison engineering campus, just one ill-timed sneeze might have catapulted his next three years' worth of nuclear reactor materials research into oblivion.
Common soil mineral degrades the nearly indestructible prion
In the rogues' gallery of microscopic infectious agents, the prion is the toughest hombre in town.
Nations that sow food crops for biofuels may reap less than previously thought
Global yields of most biofuels crops, including corn, rapeseed and wheat, have been overestimated by 100 to 150 percent or more, suggesting many countries need to reset their expectations of agricultural biofuels to a more realistic level.
Can you see me now? Flexible photodetectors could help sharpen photos
Distorted cell-phone photos and big, clunky telephoto lenses could be things of the past.
Protein that regulates hormones critical to women’s health found in pituitary
University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have solved the mystery surrounding a "rogue protein" that plays a role in the release of neurotransmitters and hormones in the brain.
Study: Can nature’s leading indicators presage environmental disaster?
Economists use leading indicators - the drivers of economic performance - to take the temperature of the economy and predict the future. Now, in a new study, scientists take a page from the social science handbook and use leading indicators of the environment to presage the potential collapse of ecosystems.
Expectant brains help predict anxiety treatment success
A network of emotion-regulating brain regions implicated in the pathological worry that can grip patients with anxiety disorders may also be useful for predicting the benefits of treatment.
Scientists isolate genes that made 1918 flu lethal
By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" - a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease - researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus.
Photo essay: Cold digger
Fifty years ago, UW scientist Charlie Bentley made his maiden voyage to a frigid, faraway land – and he’s been returning ever since.
Cognitive computing: Building a machine that can learn from experience
A UW–Madison researcher says the goal of building a computer as quick and flexible as a small mammalian brain is more daunting than it sounds.
Q&A: Professor provides analysis of work on nanotechnology research
Life sciences communication professor Dietram Scheufele provides Wisconsin Week with a more in-depth look at his research on nanotechnology and religion.
For nano, religion in U.S. dictates a wary view
When it comes to the world of the very, very small - nanotechnology - Americans have a big problem: Nano and its capacity to alter the fundamentals of nature, it seems, are failing the moral litmus test of religion.