Category Science & Technology
Washington Post’s Helmuth is UW Science Writer in Residence
Laura Helmuth, the newspaper's health, science and environment editor, will spend a week visiting classes, working with students and faculty, and exploring the UW–Madison research landscape.
Science-A-Thon celebrates a day in the life of a scientist
Scientists from around the world will share photos of a typical day for the social media campaign, designed to exhibit and promote diversity in science and raise funds for scientific mentoring. Participating scientists will post 12 photos over 12 hours on social media, an hour-by-hour snapshot of a day in the lab, field or classroom, using the hashtag #dayofscience.
Red-hued yeasts hold clues to producing better biofuels
The work is a key step toward large-scale production of isobutanol, which has has a higher energy content, blends better with gasoline, causes less corrosion, and is more compatible with existing engine technology, than ethanol.
Tracking dragonflies, citizen scientists gain insight to Arboretum’s wetlands
This past summer, volunteers began the Arboretum’s first-ever effort to systematically track dragonfly populations, in hopes of gaining insight into the many waterways the Arboretum is charged with protecting.
Faculty awarded funding for high-risk, high-reward research
Darcie Moore, Nasia Safdar (above) and Srivatsan “Vatsan” Raman will receive more than $6.8 million from the National Institutes of Health for high-risk, high-reward studies in the medical field. And Jan Huisken received one of 10 Transformative Research Awards from NIH.
Go Big Read author will share appreciation of, and concern for, Great Lakes
Dan Egan's full-time beat covering the Great Lakes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has evolved into a book, “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes,” which is this year's selection for UW–Madison’s common-reading program.
Researcher wins “high risk, high reward” NIH grant
Jan Huisken is part of an ambitious project to develop a complete cellular blueprint of zebrafish development, from the first ball of cells to an adult fish. The project could have great benefit to regenerative biology.
Successful mouse couples talk out infidelity in calm tones
The quality of their conversations between pairs of California mice after one partner has been unfaithful can help predict which mouse pairs will successfully produce a litter of mouse pups and which males are good fathers, according to a new UW–Madison study.
Addressing our biggest challenges — and mysteries — at the Wisconsin Science Festival
Among the hundreds of events offered around the state during the Wisconsin Science Festival, which runs Oct. 11 – 14, are four in-depth discussions in Madison on some of the most significant challenges science is addressing — and universal questions science is answering.
New fuel cell concept brings biological design to better electricity generation
A new approach addresses the high cost of fuel cells, which is one reason that there are only a few thousand vehicles running on hydrogen fuel currently on U.S. roads.
Stem Cells @ 20: The Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine center galvanizes stem cell research
In Wisconsin, key to growing and empowering the community of stem cell researchers is the UW–Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center.
Set in amber, fossil ants help reconstruct evolution of fungus farming
New UW–Madison research makes it clear that the constant threat of crop parasites repeatedly pushed evolution in ants in strikingly similar directions, creating structures that helped the ants reinforce their partnership with bacteria.
Researchers find value in unusual type of plant material
UW-Madison scientists have shown that a recently-discovered variety of lignin, catechyl lignin (C-lignin), has attributes that could make it well-suited as the starting point for a range of bioproducts.
In dangerous fungal family’s befriending of plants, a story of loss
Researchers show that gene loss — not the evolution of new genes — helped drive the fly amanita mushroom into its symbiotic relationship with plants.
Solar cell, married to liquid battery, achieves record efficiency
The technology Professor Song Jin is advancing – unifying solar electricity generation with storage – could first be used in off-grid, standalone energy systems.
Morgridge, UW researchers win top prize in Nikon International Small World imaging contest
Two UW–Madison researchers won first place in the 2018 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition for a video depicting neural development in a zebrafish embryo.
Breaking ground with Grace
Grace Wahba, who retired in August, was the first female faculty member in the Department of Statistics at UW–Madison. Her work centered on the extraction of information from large data sets, particularly in the medical field.
Go Big Read author coming to UW–Madison
In “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, Dan Egan writes, “Like generations of the past, we know the damage we are doing to the lakes, and we know how to begin to stop it; unlike generations of the past, we aren’t doing it."
New generation: Unique technology could turbocharge electrical efficiency
Mechanical engineering Professor Sage Kokjohn is developing technology roughly twice as efficient as conventional fossil fuel-based power plants, which would provide more environmentally friendly power.
A warming climate means profound changes for U.S. National Parks
The analysis of all 417 of America’s national parks, conducted by UW–Madison’s Center for Climatic Research, found that average temperatures increased at twice the rate as the rest of the nation over the past century.