Category Science & Technology
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.
New materials repel oil underwater, could better clean up oil spills
University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have announced a significant step forward in the development of materials that can ward off oil - a discovery that could lead to new protective coatings and better approaches to cleaning up oil spills.
Patent office director visits for discussion about innovation and opportunity
UW-Madison, a world leader in producing patents, will welcome Michelle K. Lee, director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, on Wednesday for a tour of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery and discussion of the future of intellectual property and innovation.
High-power laser spinoff proves versatility is strength
Since lasers were invented in 1960, they have penetrated countless scientific, industrial and recreational fields: from eye surgery to DVD players, from cutting steel to triggering ignition in missile stages.
Solution-grown nanowires make the best lasers
Take a material that is a focus of interest in the quest for advanced solar cells. Discover a "freshman chemistry level" technique for growing that material into high-efficiency, ultra-small lasers. The result, disclosed today [Monday, April 13] in Nature Materials, is a shortcut to lasers that are extremely efficient and able to create many colors of light.
Science meets art: 2015 Cool Science Images unveiled
Whether a close-up of a leafcutter ant, or a micrograph of the neurons derived from marmoset stem cells, or an MRI of the hidden pathways in the human brain, submissions to UW–Madison’s 2015 Cool Science Image Contest continue to put science and nature on eye-catching display.
Advancing engineering for a better society: Los Alamos leader named UW–Madison Grainger Institute director
In June, Dan Thoma will become the first director of the Grainger Institute for Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Funded in 2014 with $25 million from The Grainger Foundation of Lake Forest, Illinois, the institute is an incubator for transdisciplinary research in the UW–Madison College of Engineering.
Final Four brings together research powerhouses
The university communities of UW–Madison, Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State may have basketball foremost on their minds this weekend, but year-round those minds are performing extraordinary research.
Plowing prairies for grains: Biofuel crops replace grasslands nationwide
Clearing grasslands to make way for biofuels may seem counterproductive, but University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers show in a study today (April 2, 2015) that crops, including the corn and soy commonly used for biofuels, expanded onto 7 million acres of new land in the U.S. over a recent four-year period, replacing millions of acres of grasslands.