Science - The Daily Cardinal

SCIENCE

Ask Ms. Scientist: Stem cells and computers

By Jordan Gaal and Maggie Liu | Jan. 17, 2017

What’s the real difference between Mac and PC? What are stem cells?

SCIENCE

New research initiative on microbiomes

By Julie Spitzer | Jan. 17, 2017

With a new research initiative, UW-Madison hopes to garner new research tackling the microbiome and its effects on everyday life.

UW-Madison researchers monitor CAR T cells, an innovative way to fight cancer in some patients.

SCIENCE

Using T Cells to fight cancer

By Yingshan Deng | Dec. 30, 2016

Treating cancer is complex as each tumor differs greatly from another. This is due to their genetic makeups.

SCIENCE

A new "luckier" way to build plastics

By Julie Spitzer | Dec. 12, 2016

Professor Ive Hermans has a different philosophy when it comes to running a research group and laboratory full of brilliant students. Most graduate advisers simply tell their students what to do and expect them to follow their directions to a T.

SCIENCE

Researcher rethinks lactic acid bacteria

By Rachael Andrew | Dec. 12, 2016

Fermented products can range anywhere from beer to sourdough bread to soy sauce to ethanol fuels. In the microbial realm of fermentation, the process is fundamentally the same: Microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast metabolize sugars into alcohol. But often, the process can be plagued by a major drawback.

SCIENCE

Ask Ms. Scientist: Winter cold & black ice

By Jordan Gaal and Maggie Liu | Dec. 12, 2016

Why are some winters worse than others? What is black ice?

Badgerloop, a UW-Madison student organization, revealed their pod Tuesday that will compete in Hawthorne, California in January 2017 at SpaceX's Hyperloop Pod Competition.

SCIENCE

Badgerloop unveils pod, exposes public to Hyperloop transportation

By Julie Spitzer | Dec. 6, 2016

The Badgerloop team revealed their pod Tuesday for the first time at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery to eager transportation enthusiasts, including University of Wisconsin-Madison students, industry sponsors and community members, in preparation for the SpaceX Hyperloop competition this coming January.

Graduate students of Dr. Ansari's lab design synthetic transcription factors.

SCIENCE

Precision therapies advance at UW

By Yingshan Deng | Dec. 6, 2016

By mimicking natural molecular pathways in the human body, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed molecular tools that could regulate gene expression. Natural transcription factors bind to genetic sequences and trigger the expression of different genes, which later produce different proteins.

The UW-Madison Badgerloop team prepares for January's Hyperloop competition held by SpaceX. Photo courtesy of Badgerloop.

SCIENCE

Badgerloop plans to reveal pod Tuesday

By Julie Spitzer | Dec. 5, 2016

Innovating transportation is the goal of one student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

SCIENCE

Sciencecast: Climate Change Series - Episode 6

By Julie Spitzer and Katie Piel | Dec. 5, 2016

In the final episode of this semester’s Sciencecast: Climate Change Series, we talk to Dr. Jonathan Martin, professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

SCIENCE

Science in brief

By Julie Spitzer | Dec. 5, 2016

Split brain activity allows you to listen and drive, simultaneously. Five UW faculty members elected AAAS Fellows. New model to predict weather.

SCIENCE

Ask Ms. Scientist: Snow and more snow

By Julie Spitzer and Maggie Liu | Dec. 5, 2016

Are all snowflakes really unique? I heard eating snow dehydrates you. Is this true?

PODCAST

Sciencecast: Climate Change Series - Episode 5

By Julie Spitzer and Katie Piel | Nov. 21, 2016

In episode five, we focus on sustainable agriculture and how the food we eat impacts the environment. Instead of meeting with UW experts, we turn to students who are knowledgeable about food insecurity, gardening and farming and the connections between agriculture and climate change.

A section of the UW Hoofers pier, pulled from Lake Mendota in early November, was coated in zebra mussels, an invasive species found in the lake last fall.

SCIENCE

Zebra mussels found in Lake Mendota

By Sarah Bishop | Nov. 21, 2016

Lake Mendota had once been the home for swimming, sailing and fishing, among many other recreational and scenic activities. But since the discovery of zebra mussels in the lake by a limnology lab last fall, the lake’s environment has shifted, resulting in changed food sources for fish and less attractive experiences for water activities at the Memorial Union terrace on a summer day. Throughout the summer following the zebra mussel discovery, Lake Mendota had become completely invaded by the mussels, with amounts ranging from 10 zebra mussels per square meter to 60,000 in some areas of the lake, which has created an imbalanced ecosystem, resulting in many future changes to the lake’s ecology and aesthetics.

SCIENCE

Science in brief

By Julie Spitzer | Nov. 21, 2016

UW professors develop sensors to detect harmful materials: University of Wisconsin-Madison professors of chemical and biological engineering have recently developed new ways to detect explosives, pollutants and chemical disease markers.

Dr. Donald Waller started the petition to list the Venus flytrap as an endangered species. According to Waller, the Venus flytrap's population has decreased by 95 percent.

SCIENCE

UW professor leads petition to save venus flytraps

By Yingshan Deng | Nov. 7, 2016

Ecologists at University of Wisconsin-Madison led a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Oct 21, demanding Venus flytrap be recorded as an endangered species in accordance with the Endangered Species Act.

From Oct. 20 until Nov. 2, UW-Madison's University Health Services vaccinated roughly 20,400 students for meningitis B at the Southeast Recreational Facility with the help of student volunteers.

SCIENCE

Students respond to meningitis on campus

By Julie Spitzer | Nov. 7, 2016

Sore arms and talks of a deadly infection flooded the campus last week, a result of students swarming the Southeast Recreational Facility to receive the first of two free meningococcal B vaccines offered by the university’s health services after three University of Wisconsin-Madison students fell ill this past month. Roughly 20,400 vaccines had been distributed with the help of nursing students, pharmacy students and other Dane County public health officials over the three week period spanning from Oct. 20 until Nov. 2.

SCIENCE

Sciencecast: Climate Change Series - Episode 4

By Julie Spitzer and Katie Piel | Nov. 7, 2016

Welcome back to Sciencecast: Climate Change Series! In our fourth episode, we talk with Dr. Sharon Dunwoody, professor emerita in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and focus on science communication and journalism.

SCIENCE

Ask Ms. Scientist: Herd immunity and cry-laughing

By Jordan Gaal and Maggie Liu | Nov. 7, 2016

What is herd immunity? Why do I cry when I laugh?

The solar-charged battery, developed at UW-Madison, stores the sun's energy.

SCIENCE

Battery technology aims to store the sun

By Rachael Andrew | Oct. 24, 2016

Every day, the Earth is bombarded by energy from a source more powerful than humanity could ever replicate: the sun. But this power is not so kind as to be easily harnessed. Even with the wealth of solar technology available and in development, problems persist. Sunlight is a fickle resource, unable to be collected at night or when the weather is cloudy. Because of this inconsistency in production, solar energy’s main sticking point is storage. If solar power can be stored efficiently when the sun is shining, it can be dispersed at any given time. Song Jin, a professor in the chemistry department at UW-Madison, is looking into this area.