Category Science & Technology
Chemical dial controls attraction between water-repelling molecules
Abbott, Gellman and a group of University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have provided new insights on hydrophobic interactions within complex systems. In a study published today in the journal Nature, the researchers show how the nearby presence of polar (water-attracted, or hydrophilic) substances can change the way the nonpolar hydrophobic groups want to stick to each other.
Carbon nanotube finding could lead to flexible electronics with longer battery life
University of Wisconsin–Madison materials engineers have made a significant leap toward creating higher-performance electronics with improved battery life — and the ability to flex and stretch. Led by materials science Associate Professor Michael Arnold and Professor Padma Gopalan, the team has reported the highest-performing carbon nanotube transistors ever demonstrated. In addition to paving the way for improved consumer electronics, this technology could also have specific uses in industrial and military applications.
Infamous study of humanity’s ‘dark side’ may actually show how to keep it at bay
In 1961, with memories of Holocaust atrocities and the prosecution of Nazi officials at Nuremburg still fresh, psychologist Stanley Milgram undertook a series of now infamous experiments on obedience and reprehensible behavior.
UW grant program seeds promising ideas, like safer batteries
State Economic Engagement & Development (SEED) grants are administered by the Office of Industrial Partnerships to support research that interests a researcher and a spinoff he or she founded. During fiscal year 2015, its first year, SEED started disbursing $700,000 to five laboratories. The next round of grants is budgeted at $625,000, and applications are due Feb. 15.
In its first year, BioHouse brings opportunity for students in science
BioHouse is the newest of 10 UW–Madison residential learning communities — clusters of students in residence halls who choose to live with others active in a common interest area — three of which are designed for students interested in science. Focused on biological sciences, BioHouse — in partnership with WISCIENCE and University Housing — opened in fall 2014 with 66 residents.
Deer account for almost half of long-term forest change, study finds
A study released this week has linked at least 40 percent of species changes in the forests of northern Wisconsin and Michigan over the past 60 years to the eating habits of white-tailed deer.
Pecatonica without the ‘P’: Project cuts phosphorus levels in river
Conservation experts and farmers alike are rather pleased with the news out of southwestern Wisconsin. A seven-year pilot project in the 12,000-acre Pleasant Valley subwatershed of the Pecatonica River has helped to reduce the amount of phosphorus and sediment entering the river after major storms by more than a third.
Muddy forests, shorter winters present challenges for loggers
Stable, frozen ground has long been recognized a logger’s friend, capable of supporting equipment and trucks in marshy or soggy forests. Now, a comprehensive look at weather from 1948 onward shows that the logger’s friend is melting. The study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Environmental Management, finds that the period of frozen ground has declined by an average of two or three weeks since 1948.
Neal First, whose work led to cattle cloning, dies at 84
Emeritus Professor Neal First, a pioneer in cattle reproduction and cloning who studied animal physiology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for 45 years, died Nov. 20 from complications of cancer.
New theory suggests alternate path led to rise of the eukaryotic cell
As a fundamental unit of life, the cell is central to all of biology. Better understanding how complex cells evolved and work promises new revelations in areas as diverse as cancer research and developing new crop plants.
New studies power legacy of UW–Madison mitochondrial research
Dave Pagliarini recently published two studies shedding more light on coenzyme Q and how it’s made, one in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) in October and another today in Molecular Cell.
With new professor, university-industry effort to focus on energy storage
With expertise in energy storage systems for electric vehicles, smart-grid technology and military applications, Deyang Qu will be the first Johnson Controls Endowed Professor in Energy Storage Research.
Internet of Things Lab focuses on tech-savvy inventions
If six young technologists at University of Wisconsin–Madison have their way, bike thieves around campus will face a new obstacle: bikes capable of “talking” to Internet-connected bike racks.
Collaboration yields new organic sweet corn variety
When the time comes for Wisconsin’s organic farmers to decide which crops to plant next year, they’ll have a tasty new variety of sweet corn — with a particularly sweet name — among their choices. The new variety, called “Who Gets Kissed?,” is the first in a series of organic, open-pollinated sweet corns being developed through a plant-breeding project led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Organic Seed Alliance (OSA). Farmers and professional breeders are also involved.
Open-source tools will benefit military and Wisconsin vehicle makers
Dan Negrut, a University of Wisconsin–Madison associate professor of mechanical engineering, has received a $1.8 million grant from the Army to harness the power of supercomputers to set up a simulation software infrastructure and allow both military and civilian vehicle makers to better understand — and predict — how vehicles will respond to deformable terrain, such as sand, mud or riverbeds.
Letting off steam: Gas discharge terminates galaxy’s star formation
With the help of a radio telescope in the French Alps, an international team of astronomers, including two from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has observed a never-before-seen stage of galactic evolution. Writing in this week’s Nature, a group that includes UW–Madison astronomers Aleks Diamond-Stanic and Christy Tremonti, reports measurements of dense, cold hydrogen gas being blasted from a distant star-forming galaxy, the first direct observation of the “blow out” phase of a galaxy’s evolution.
UW team explores large, restless volcanic field in Chile
If Brad Singer knew for sure what was happening three miles under an odd-shaped lake in the Andes, he might be less eager to spend a good part of his career investigating a volcanic field that has erupted 36 times during the last 25,000 years. As he leads a large scientific team exploring a region in the Andes called Laguna del Maule, Singer hopes the area remains quiet.
Study models the past to understand the future of strengthening El Niño
El Niño is not a contemporary phenomenon; it’s long been the Earth’s dominant source of year-to-year climate fluctuation. But as the climate warms and the feedbacks that drive the cycle change, researchers want to know how El Niño will respond. A team of researchers led by the University of Wisconsin’s Zhengyu Liu will publish the latest findings in this quest Nov. 27 in Nature.