Ideas and discoveries

  • Suomi and Parent with satellite Satellite anniversary marks 50 years of studying climate from space Oct. 13, 2009 On Oct. 13, 1959, University of Wisconsin-Madison professors Verner Suomi and Robert Parent crouched in a bunker at Cape Canaveral, sweating through the countdown for the Juno II rocket perched on its launching pad 150 yards away.
  • High-speed genetic analysis looks deep inside primate immune system Oct. 11, 2009 Viruses such as HIV and influenza take safe harbor in cells, where they cannot be recognized directly by the immune system. The immune response relies on infected cells announcing the presence of the virus by studding their exterior with fragments of the virus lurking within.
  • Banded rock Banded rocks reveal early Earth conditions, changes Oct. 11, 2009 The strikingly banded rocks scattered across the upper Midwest and elsewhere throughout the world are actually ambassadors from the past, offering clues to the environment of the early Earth more than 2 billion years ago.
  • Instrumentation experiment Scientists hope to mimic nature's dynamos Oct. 9, 2009 In the cosmos, all celestial objects - planets, stars, galaxies and clusters of galaxies - have magnetic fields. On Earth, the magnetic field of our home planet is most easily observed in a compass where the needle points north.
  • Red colobus monkey Researcher studies monkeys in Africa to better understand virus evolution Oct. 7, 2009 Despite the importance of AIDS in human health, scientists still know very little about the diversity and ecology of AIDS-like viruses in nature.
  • Image of sand dunes in China Sand dunes reveal unexpected dryness during heavy monsoon Oct. 6, 2009 The windswept deserts of northern China might seem an odd destination for studying the heavy monsoon rains that routinely drench the more tropical regions of Southeast Asia.
  • Models begin to unravel how single DNA strands combine Oct. 5, 2009 Using computer simulations, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has identified some of the pathways through which single complementary strands of DNA interact and combine to form the double helix.
  • Dancer Two new dance faculty introduced in showcase Oct. 1, 2009 The Dance Program has added four new faculty members to its roster during the past two years, adding depth to the program’s instruction in current dance scholarship as well as dance history and the ongoing and evolving cultural fusion of dance around the globe.
  • Faramarz Vakili We Conserve director inspires environmental spirit Oct. 1, 2009 In 2006, when Faramarz Vakili proposed the goal of reducing UW–Madison’s energy consumption by 20 percent by 2010, he was met with doubt
  • Video game learning Federal grants power research on computer games and learning Sept. 29, 2009 A research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently won $4.5 million in federal grants to study computer games and learning.
  • T. Rex illustration Was mighty T. rex ‘Sue’ felled by a lowly parasite? Sept. 29, 2009 A new study, published today (Sept. 29) in the online journal Public Library of Science One, provides evidence that ‘Sue,’ the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex whose fossilized remains are a star attraction of the Field Museum in Chicago, was felled by a lowly parasite that still afflicts modern birds.
  • Potatos Improving environmental health, one potato field at a time Sept. 23, 2009 Potatoes are big business in Wisconsin — more than a quarter-billion-dollar industry last year — but it’s a business that can come with a hefty environmental price tag. Large-scale cultivation may rely on chemical pesticides to keep bugs at bay and fertilizers to nourish the soil.
  • Satellite images Capturing tomorrow's satellite data with today's instruments Sept. 17, 2009 A satellite that won't be launched into orbit until 2015 is already paying dividends for an advanced weather research project.
  • Smaller isn't always better: Catalyst simulations could lower fuel cell cost Sept. 17, 2009 Imagine a car that runs on hydrogen from solar power and produces water instead of carbon emissions. While vehicles like this won't be on the market anytime soon, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are making incremental but important strides in the fuel cell technology that could make clean cars a reality.
  • Student on Limnos doing field research UW-Madison undergraduates make unwelcome discovery in Lake Mendota Sept. 16, 2009 On Sept. 11, a standard cruise on Lake Mendota's University Bay began for students in University of Wisconsin-Madison's Zoology 315, a course that introduces them to the study of lakes. With the sampling craft Limnos anchored about one-quarter mile offshore on a clear sunny day, four students pulled up a small net and began poking through its contents.
  • Climae model map Study reveals dynamic Wisconsin climate, past and future Sept. 14, 2009 If the future scenarios being churned out by the world's most sophisticated computer climate models are on the mark, big changes are in store for Wisconsin's weather during the next century.
  • Research aims to cool runoff to protect coldwater streams Sept. 10, 2009 The ocean of stormwater that flows off of the sun-baked urban landscape is packing heat, and trout are starting to feel it.
  • Potatos Potato blight reveals some secrets as genome is decoded Sept. 9, 2009 Late blight caused the 19th century famine that sparked a wave of emigration from Ireland to the United States, but the disease has also infected tomatoes and potatoes this year. Potatoes, the world's fourth-largest food crop, were raised on 65,500 acres in Wisconsin in 2007. If a potato field is not treated with pesticide, late blight can destroy the crop in a few days.
  • Cottontop tamarind Monkeys get a groove on, but only to monkey music Sept. 1, 2009 Music is one of the surest ways to influence human emotions; most people unconsciously recognize and respond to music that is happy, sad, fearful or mellow. But psychologists who have tried to trace the evolutionary roots of these responses usually hit a dead end. Nonhuman primates scarcely respond to human music, and instead prefer silence.
  • Claret jug Chazen features mezzotints, silver pieces in exhibits Aug. 31, 2009 Don’t let the big dig on University Avenue where the Peterson Building used to be keep you from visiting the Chazen Museum of Art. The museum is open for visitors, and two current exhibits there are worth a look: “Mezzotints, Prints of Darkness” and “Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj.”