I&D

• Clocking the mosh pit of interstellar space Oct. 5, 2011 The space between the stars in the Milky Way and all other galaxies is full of dust and gas, the raw materials from which stars and planets are made.
• New ‘microgrid’ test beds will foster state industry opportunities Oct. 3, 2011 Partner universities in the new Center for Renewable Energy Systems (CRES) are developing complementary facilities in Milwaukee and Madison to help corporate partners explore applications in the fast-growing microgrid industry, CRES leaders announced today (Oct. 3).
• Stuff ‘n’ food: Can collectible toys overcome fascination with fast food? Sept. 28, 2011 Every parent seems to know what McDonald's knows: Food and toys outsell food alone. But could toys be used to promote the sale of healthy food as well as calorie-rich fast food?
• Jumping gene enabled key step in corn domestication Sept. 25, 2011 In seeking to better understand how teosinte gave rise to corn, a scientific team has pinpointed one of the key genetic changes that paved the way for corn's domestication.
• UW–Madison botanist plucks new flower from Isle Royale Sept. 22, 2011 One of the world's newest sunflower species, discovered by a University of Wisconsin-Madison botanist, has carved out a very small but safe niche on an island in Lake Superior.
• Mouse genome sequences reveal variability, complex evolutionary history Sept. 15, 2011 The genome of even a single organism is packed with information. A new paper, building on recent advances in sequencing capability, now reports the complete genomes of 17 different strains of mice, creating an unparalleled genetic resource that will aid studies ranging from human disease to evolution.
• Is hunting wolves key to their conservation? Aug. 5, 2011 Hunters have been credited with being strong conservation advocates for numerous game species in multiple countries. Would initiating a wolf hunt invoke the same advocacy for the carnivores?
• UW study finds that larger dairy farms tend to have better milk quality Aug. 1, 2011 Wisconsin's larger dairy operations tended to fare better than the state's small farms in a University of Wisconsin-Madison study of milk quality, although all of the state's farms - both large and small - produced milk that easily met federal food safety guidelines.
• Sea level rise less from Greenland, more from Antarctica, than expected during last interglacial July 28, 2011 During the last prolonged warm spell on Earth, the oceans were at least four meters - and possibly as much as 6.5 meters, or about 20 feet - higher than they are now.
• Student photo campaign aims to end gender-based violence July 22, 2011 As she prepares for a year in South Africa, University of Wisconsin-Madison junior Erika Dickerson-Despenza has many priorities: saying goodbye to friends, adapting to a new culture.
• Class continues Muir Knoll storytelling legacy July 21, 2011 Anne Lundin is carrying on a tradition at an idyllic campus spot steeped in storytelling history.
• Made in Wisconsin: Vessel to contain cosmic force takes shape July 20, 2011 At the heart of most celestial objects is a dynamo. The Earth's dynamo, spun to life in the molten metal core of our planet, generates a magnetic field that helps us find north and, perhaps more critically, shields us from solar winds that would otherwise singe our planet.
• "Boot camp" prepares students for biology education at UW-Madison July 14, 2011 Here's the situation: Recently, three kids succumbed within a month to a new blood parasite at your hospital, and a fourth child has just been admitted with the same parasite.
• Climate change reducing ocean's carbon dioxide uptake July 13, 2011 How deep is the ocean’s capacity to buffer against climate change?
• Landscape change leads to increased insecticide use in the Midwest July 11, 2011 The continued growth of cropland and loss of natural habitat have increasingly simplified agricultural landscapes in the Midwest.
• UW-Madison scientists played role in potato genome project July 10, 2011 University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are part of an international consortium that has successfully sequenced and analyzed the potato genome.
• Innovation marks UW-Madison contribution to vitamins, drugs, medical supplies July 6, 2011 With a long tradition of exploration of medicine and biology, and a research budget that has passed $1 billion, University of Wisconsin-Madison builds on a rich history of discoveries related to drugs and nutrition: Vitamin A and B were discovered here in 1914.
• UW-Madison undergrads win NASA habitat design competition July 1, 2011 It's an inflatable home fit for an asteroid: Designing a prototype habitat that looks like giant tent for the next generation of space explorers, an interdisciplinary team of University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduate students has won the NASA eXploration Habitat Academic Innovation Challenge.
• Stem cells from patients make 'early retina in a dish' June 15, 2011 Soon, some treatments for blinding eye diseases might be developed and tested using retina-like tissues produced from the patient's own skin, thanks to a series of discoveries reported by a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell researchers.
• Research establishment spawns research-supply spinoffs June 9, 2011 For a century, Wisconsin's traditional metal-working industries spawned a broad and profitable series of tool-and-diemaking firms that marketed nationwide.