Four billion years ago, Earth was a hostile place with a thin atmosphere made mainly of carbon dioxide, volcanoes everywhere and oxygen levels too low to support air-breathing organisms. Nonetheless, a recent discovery of 4.28—3.75 billion-year-old microfossils suggests life existed under such conditions.
Researchers at the UW-Madison recently found that listeriosis, the infection caused by the foodborne bacteria called Listeria, damages the placenta and results in miscarriages during the early stages of pregnancy in non-human primates.
Two UW-Madison School of Nursing faculty members earned awards from the Midwest Nursing Research Society for their research on gerontological nursing.
In the third episode of Sciencecast: Energy Series, Tim Donohue, the director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, explains biofuels and his ideal "George Jetson" future of clean fuels using biomass.
Although genetically engineered foods made their first appearance on grocery store shelves back in 1994, they still remain a topic of contention in today’s society. While some believe GE foods are the key to feeding Earth’s growing population, others see them as a threat to human and environmental health. These attitudes are shaped by a myriad of different stakeholders. The consensus of a National Academy of Sciences committee, as noted in their recent report on GE crops, is that no GE food created to date poses a threat to environmental or human health.
What causes dizziness? How do allergies work?
In the second episode of Sciencecast: Energy Series, the Director of the Midwest energy policy analysis Gary Radloff discusses the intersections of energy research with policy and environmental law.
According to Athena Kjell, a Madison area substance abuse counselor, many individuals start using drugs to suppress emotional disorders like depression or anxiety, but some do so simply for experimentation.
Badgerloop, a team of mostly UW-Madison undergraduate engineering students, won an innovation award at last weekend’s SpaceX Hyperloop competition in California. Badgerloop began after SpaceX released a student Hyperloop competition with hopes to accelerate the implementation of Elon Musk’s idea of futuristic high-speed transportation.
Welcome back to the second installment of Sciencecast: Energy series. Twice a month, we will be examining various aspects of energy and energy-related topics through interviews with UW-Madison experts.
How do solar panels work? What happens when I’m “seeing stars” after I sneeze?
“Data from both study locations suggest that the [calorie restriction] paradigm is effective in delaying the effects of aging in nonhuman primates but that the age of onset is an important factor in determining the extent to which beneficial effects of [calorie restriction] might be induced,” Ricki Colman, a senior scientist of the WNPRC, commented on the data from the collaborative effort.
A machine with big tubes and a fluctuating meter makes a continuous humming sound and appears to be from a science fiction novel. Lawler just politely smiles and says it is operated by an undergraduate student.
Late last December, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources revised a statement on their website about climate change, rescinding a portion stating human activity could be a cause. In response, a group of UW-Madison scientists issued a public letter detailing the DNR’s factual inaccuracies in the revised statement and irresponsibility in drastically changing the wording.
What’s the real difference between Mac and PC? What are stem cells?
With a new research initiative, UW-Madison hopes to garner new research tackling the microbiome and its effects on everyday life.
Treating cancer is complex as each tumor differs greatly from another. This is due to their genetic makeups.
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.
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.
Why are some winters worse than others? What is black ice?
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