Ideas and discoveries

  • Photo of monkey Reduced diet thwarts aging, disease in monkeys July 9, 2009 The bottom-line message from a decades-long study of monkeys on a restricted diet is simple: Consuming fewer calories leads to a longer, healthier life.
  • Photo of books UW-Madison expands agreement with Google July 9, 2009 The University of Wisconsin-Madison has expanded its agreement with Google to digitize books from UW-Madison's collection and make them available online.
  • Doctor and patient Doctor's compassion may help cure colds faster July 8, 2009 Some cold medicines will shave a day off your suffering from the common cold, but they often produce unpleasant side effects. A new study shows, for the first time, that the doctor's empathy may be an even better way to speed recovery.
  • Photo of ant in a fungus-laden colony Sequencing effort to chart ants and their ecosystem June 26, 2009 Nestled within the twisting fungus gardens of leaf-cutter ants exists a complex symbiotic web that has evolved over millions of years. Now, with the help of a major genomic sequencing grant from Roche Applied Science, scientists at UW-Madison will be able to analyze these interactions at the molecular scale.
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis scanning electron micrograph Carb synthesis sheds light on promising tuberculosis drug target June 22, 2009 A fundamental question about how sugar units are strung together into long carbohydrate chains has also pinpointed a promising way to target new medicines against tuberculosis.
  • Radar images Beating the radar: Getting a jump on storm prediction June 16, 2009 Satellite observation of cloud temperatures may be able to accurately predict severe thunderstorms up to 45 minutes earlier than relying on traditional radar alone, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center.
  • Zebra mussels Zebra mussels hang on while quagga mussels take over June 16, 2009 The zebra mussels that have wreaked ecological havoc on the Great Lakes are harder to find these days - not because they are dying off, but because they are being replaced by a cousin, the quagga mussel. But zebra mussels still dominate in fast-moving streams and rivers.
  • Nuclear reactor UW-Madison to play key role in nuclear energy's comeback June 11, 2009 As the climate warms, energy supplies shrink and oil imports continue to rise, nuclear energy is suddenly set for a resurgence: Splitting atoms, which now provide 20 percent of American electricity, are being asked to play a bigger role in solving our never-ending energy woes.
  • Patient using Wii The healing game: How Nintendo's Wii is making the hard work of physical therapy into child's play June 10, 2009 Pediatric physical therapists at American Family Children's Hospital have been introducing Wii video gaming techology into their patients' therapy programs with notable success.
  • Image showing forest fragmentation Isolated forest patches lose species, diversity June 9, 2009 Failing to see the forest for the trees may be causing us to overlook the declining health of Wisconsin's forest ecosystems.
  • Girl doing math Culture, not biology, underpins math gender gap June 1, 2009 For more than a century, the notion that females are innately less capable than males at doing mathematics, especially at the highest levels, has persisted in even the loftiest circles.
  • James Welsh Treating Wisconsin's cancer patients, in Madison or just down the street May 28, 2009 When Meg Gaines accompanied a patient to a recent appointment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center, she gauged the center's impact right away.
  • Photo of doctor and patient Early Alzheimer's diagnosis offers large social, fiscal benefits May 18, 2009 Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease could save millions or even billions of dollars while simultaneously improving care, according to new work by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.
  • Photo of buffered stream Buffering Wisconsin’s water quality with science May 14, 2009 Spring in Wisconsin heralds a new growing season. But the warming temperatures also bring heavier runoff from farm fields, carrying pollution and contaminants into the state’s lakes and streams.
  • Teacher in Biology 151-152 As biology booms, students flock to the lab May 14, 2009 Since the mid-1990s, UW-Madison has experienced a surge of interest in biology, a phenomenon that has challenged the folks who run UW-Madison's biggest portal to this hot field: Introductory Biology 151 and 152 in the College of Letters and Science.
  • Film still from collection Film and theater center digitizes three new collections May 6, 2009 Three new collections in the holding of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research have been sifted, winnowed, digitized and posted to the Web.
  • Boat image Songs raise awareness about aquatic invasive species May 5, 2009 A new initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is using music to raise public awareness about aquatic invasive species in the state.
  • Tick collection As ticks expand, new areas may become prone to Lyme disease April 27, 2009 Last summer, after returning home from a walk in Madison's Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood, Susan Paskewitz was astonished to find a deer tick crawling up her dog's hind leg. It was the first time Paskewitz, a University of Wisconsin-Madison entomologist, had collected a tick in the city. Within the month, she learned of two other such cases.
  • Technicolor peace symbol Slide show: The Making of “Hair” April 20, 2009 UW-Madison’s production of “Hair”, which will close University Theatre’s season, has entailed 24 undergraduate cast members, a guest director, a grueling rehearsal schedule and an ambitious goal of being as authentic as possible.
  • Still from video Researchers use brain interface to post to Twitter April 20, 2009 In early April, Adam Wilson posted a status update on the social networking Web site Twitter - just by thinking about it.