Category Science & Technology
Giving freight rail tracks a boost
The big chunks of rock - crushed limestone or dolomite that engineers call ballast - that keep railroad tracks in place look like a solid footing even as freight cars rumble overhead.
Brazilian beef industry moves to reduce its destruction of rain forests
Expansion of cattle pastures has led to the destruction of huge swaths of rain forest in Brazil, home to the world's largest herd of commercial beef cattle. But a new study led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Holly Gibbs shows that market-driven "zero deforestation agreements" have dramatically influenced the behavior of ranchers and the slaughterhouses to which they sell.
University Summer Forums invite community members to study chemistry, Chinese painting
The University of Wisconsin–Madison opens its doors to the community with the annual University Summer Forums from June through August. Offered free to the public, these four-week academic courses feature leading UW–Madison professors in an engaging classroom setting.
As the river rises: Cahokia’s emergence and decline linked to Mississippi River flooding
As with rivers, civilizations across the world rise and fall. Sometimes, the rise and fall of rivers has something to do with it. At Cahokia, the largest prehistoric settlement in the Americas north of Mexico, new evidence suggests that major flood events in the Mississippi River valley are tied to the cultural center’s emergence and ultimately, to its decline.
UW honors noted entrepreneurs with achievement awards
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Entrepreneurial Achievement Awards this year honor a graduate of the Department of Computer Sciences who co-founded the company that’s now WebMD, and a Department of Animal Sciences professor who has turned his patented technologies into startup companies.
McArdle’s Bradfield named interim WID director
Christopher Bradfield, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of oncology, has been appointed interim director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID).
Bigger bang for your buck: Restoring fish habitat by removing barriers
A few years ago, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Limnology created the first map of all the road crossings and dams blocking the tributary rivers that feed the five Great Lakes. These tributaries serve as migratory highways, providing fish like walleye and lake sturgeon access to headwater breeding grounds.
2015 Wisconsin Science Festival seeks proposals
Planning for the 2015 Wisconsin Science Festival, to be held Oct. 22-25 in Madison and around Wisconsin, is actively underway.
UW-Madison startup marries digital, physical worlds
A startup business that wants to link the realm of physical objects to the digital world of the Internet is basing its future on low-cost, highly engineered, one-of-a-kind plastic stamps.
Business will implement new phosphorus recycling process in Midwest
A University of Wisconsin–Madison startup is helping Midwest cities remove pollutants from wastewater through a new process that will benefit local farmers, too.
Compact UV lasers could identify substances from a distance
For soldiers in the field, the ability to identify an object or substance based on how it responds to light could mean the difference between life and death. They could, for example, determine from a safe distance if an approaching person or vehicle is carrying an explosive device or dangerous biological agent.
In Sierra Leone, a chance to learn from Ebola
When Yoshihiro Kawaoka and members of his research team first arrived in Sierra Leone in December 2014, the consistent wail of ambulance sirens was a frightening reminder that the Ebola virus was there, too.
Engineered softwood could transform pulp, paper and biofuel industries
Scientists have demonstrated the potential for softwoods to process more easily into pulp and paper if engineered to incorporate a key feature of hardwoods. The finding, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could improve the economics of the pulp, paper and biofuels industries and reduce those industries' environmental impact.
Messing named director of Waisman Center
Albee Messing, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of comparative biosciences and an international leader in research on Alexander disease, has been named director of the Waisman Center, UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden announced April 14.
Deep national history of immigration predicts wide cultural comfort displaying emotion
People who live in countries built on centuries of migration from a wide range of other countries are more emotionally expressive than people in more insular cultures, according to research led by University of Wisconsin–Madison psychology Professor Paula Niedenthal.
Better battery imaging paves way for renewable energy future
In a move that could improve the energy storage of everything from portable electronics to electric microgrids, University of Wisconsin–Madison and Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers have developed a novel X-ray imaging technique to visualize and study the electrochemical reactions in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries containing a new type of material, iron fluoride.
Faster, smaller, cheaper: Technique could speed biologic drugs
Antibodies are specific molecules that can lock onto a particular cellular structure to start, stop or otherwise temper a biological process. Because they are so specific, antibodies are at the forefront of drug discovery. So drug companies want a faster route to step one: identifying which of the millions of possible antibodies will work against molecules that cause disease.
Patent office director offers views on intellectual property, diversity
The director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office spent Wednesday conversing with the UW–Madison community about the opportunities and challenges of intellectual property protection.