Ideas and discoveries

  • Steven Carpenter Limnologist casts the human factor into lake study Aug. 26, 2009 For well more than 100 years, a succession of eminent biologists and ecologists have used Wisconsin lakes as their laboratory, dissecting their physical attributes as well as the complex interplay of the plants and animals that live in them. A lake, after all, is a busy place, filled with aquatic vegetation, mollusks, microbial communities of all kinds and, of course, fish and the stuff they eat.
  • Venus flytraps Snaring bigger bugs gave flytraps evolutionary edge Aug. 25, 2009 Carnivorous plants defy our expectations of how plants should behave, with Venus flytraps employing nerve-like reflexes and powerful digestive enzymes to capture and consume fresh meat. The evolutionary history of these botanical oddities is now a bit clearer, thanks to new work.
  • Retinal cells Wisconsin team grows retina cells from skin-derived stem cells Aug. 24, 2009 A team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health has successfully grown multiple types of retina cells from two types of stem cells - suggesting a future in which damaged retinas could be repaired by cells grown from the patient's own skin.
  • A new 'bent' on fusion Aug. 20, 2009 Success in cellular fusion - as occurs at the moment of conception and when nerve cells exchange neurotransmitters - requires that a membrane be bent before the merging process can begin, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have shown.
  • New approach to wound healing may be easy on skin, but hard on bacteria Aug. 19, 2009 In a presentation today (Aug. 19) to the American Chemical Society meeting, Ankit Agarwal, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, described an experimental approach to wound healing that could take advantage of silver's anti-bacterial properties, while sidestepping the damage silver can cause to cells needed for healing.
  • Man watching TV Research shows advertisers new ways to hunt for TV bargains Aug. 18, 2009 The scene is played out in living rooms across America daily: A favorite television show builds to its riveting conclusion, and a commercial for fast food, automobiles or laundry detergent fills the screen.
  • Foldamers Engineered protein-like molecule protects cells against HIV infection Aug. 17, 2009 With the help of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and molecular engineering, researchers have designed synthetic protein-like mimics convincing enough to interrupt unwanted biological conversations between cells.
  • Jack Nitschke Future angst? Brain scans show uncertainty fuels anxiety Aug. 17, 2009 Anyone who has spent a sleepless night anguishing over a possible job loss has experienced the central finding of a new brain scan study: Uncertainty makes a bad event feel even worse.
  • White blood cells Scientists make multiple types of white blood cells directly from embryonic and adult stem cells Aug. 11, 2009 In an advance that could help transform embryonic stem cells into a multipurpose medical tool, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have transformed these versatile cells into progenitors of white blood cells and into six types of mature white blood and immune cells.
  • Switchgrass GLBRC receives $8 million in Recovery Act funding Aug. 6, 2009 The Department of Energy (DOE) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) has received $8.099 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide crucial support for plant cell wall imaging and sustainability research.
  • Woman in wheel chair Early Alzheimer's screenings could cut health care costs Aug. 4, 2009 As the nation debates how to control costs as part of health care reform, an Alzheimer's disease researcher says early diagnosis and treatment of the disease could save the nation billions of dollars in costs down the road.
  • SOAR planners A day in the life of SOAR Aug. 3, 2009 As Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) closes its main period for 2009, here is a collection of wisdom captured during a day in the life of SOAR.
  • Photo of an eye Team discovers gene for age-related cataracts July 31, 2009 Participants in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's long-running Beaver Dam Eye Study have contributed to the discovery of a gene involved in cataracts in both aging humans and in mice.
  • Photo of lake mixing research Will a well-mixed, warmer lake doom invasive fish? July 30, 2009 The rainbow smelt, an invasive fish that threatens native species such as walleye and perch, may soon be feeling the heat - literally.
  • Spectrometer Faculty aim to strengthen technology, science education by blending them July 24, 2009 A group of UW-Madison researchers and Thermo Fisher Scientific scientists will bring together high school students and teachers to build and use diagnostic equipment that would not be out of place in university research labs.
  • Photo of an American Robin Do Chicago’s suburbs hold the key to understanding West Nile virus? July 22, 2009 For a group of UW-Madison epidemiologists, the Chicago suburbs near Oak Lawn are proving to be the perfect laboratory for prying loose the secrets of West Nile virus, a pathogen carried by mosquitoes and birds that infects and sickens thousands of people each summer.
  • Gardening at Allen Centennial Gardens Keeping it local: UW-Madison diners get 'homegrown' veggies July 21, 2009 A new local food initiative on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus is starting very close to home.
  • Computer model of climate 'Motion picture' of past warming paves way for snapshots of future climate change July 16, 2009 By accurately modeling Earth's last major global warming - and answering pressing questions about its causes - scientists led by University of Wisconsin-Madison and National Center for Atmospheric Research climatologists are unraveling the intricacies of the kind of abrupt climate shifts that may occur in the future.
  • Photo of student working with patient Grant helps physician assistant program reach underserved areas July 15, 2009 A new, federally funded grant awarded to the UW–Madison Physician Assistant Program at the School of Medicine and Public Health is aimed at helping Wisconsin communities gain greater access to primary health care.
  • Image of H1N1 virus Study suggests H1N1 virus more dangerous than suspected July 13, 2009 A new, highly detailed study of the H1N1 flu virus shows that the pathogen is more virulent than previously thought.