I&D

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• '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.
• Grant helps physician assistant program reach underserved areas July 15, 2009
• 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.
• 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.
• 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'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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.