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Category Science & Technology

Teatime becoming an institution at institutes

October 22, 2013

For David Krakauer, a cup of tea has long been as much a part of the research process as beakers, computers and lab benches.

New techniques sharpen climate record found in fossil shells

October 18, 2013

Locked inside the fossil shells of a marine plankton are the secrets of past climate.

Biomanufacturing center takes central role in developing stem-cell therapies

October 17, 2013

Developing a new drug takes enormous amounts of time, money and skill, but the bar is even higher for a promising stem-cell therapy. Many types of cells derived from these ultra-flexible parent cells are moving toward the market, but the very quality that makes stem cells so valuable also makes them a difficult source of therapeutics.

The sun also flips: 11-year solar cycle wimpy, but peaking

October 16, 2013

In a 3-meter diameter hollow aluminum sphere, Cary Forest, a University of Wisconsin–Madison physics professor, is stirring and heating plasmas to 500,000 degrees Fahrenheit to experimentally mimic the magnetic field-inducing cosmic dynamos at the heart of planets, stars and other celestial bodies.

Microbiome meets big social science: What’s the potential?

October 15, 2013

Over the last decade or so, biologists have mustered an ever-growing appreciation for the essential role of microbial communities in a diversity of environments.

UW’s bug-eating advocate had global impact

October 10, 2013

When Gene DeFoliart had his brainstorm in 1974, not even he thought his brainchild would be an easy sell. As a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, DeFoliart was focusing on how insects spread viral disease. Now he was captivated by an opposite proposition: using insects to foster human health — using them, to be specific, as food.

Zinc discovery may shed light on Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s

September 30, 2013

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have made a discovery that, if replicated in humans, suggests a shortage of zinc may contribute to diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which have been linked to defective proteins clumping together in the brain.