![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neonvincent
In the past two Science Saturdays I've posted on Daily Kos, I featured scientific research from the major public research universities of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio. I did this as a gesture of solidarity with the public employee unions in those states, especially those who represented the employees at those universities.
Astronomy/Space
Purdue University: Purdue scientists part of NASA return mission to comet
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Two Purdue University professors and a student are part of the NASA science team returning to the comet Tempel 1 to study changes that occur as a comet approaches the sun and to potentially examine an impact crater created during an earlier mission.Evolution/Paleontology
Purdue professors Jay Melosh and Jim Richardson and graduate student Tim Bowling are part of the science team for NASA's Stardust New Exploration of Tempel 1, or Stardust-NExT, mission that flew within about 112 miles of the comet at 11:39 p.m. on Monday (Feb. 14). Images captured by the spacecraft will be downloaded over the next few days.
This is the second look at Tempel 1 for Melosh and Richardson, both of whom were part of the 2005 Deep Impact mission that launched a probe into the comet, creating an impact crater on its surface.
Indiana University: Polygamy hurt 19th century Mormon wives' evolutionary fitness
Feb. 21, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Polygamy practiced by some 19th century Mormon men had the curious effect of suppressing the overall offspring numbers of Mormon women in plural marriages, say scientists from Indiana University Bloomington and three other institutions in the March 2011 issue of Evolution and Human Behavior.
Simply put, the more sister-wives a Mormon woman had, the fewer children she was likely to produce.
"Although it's great in terms of number of children for successful males to have harems, the data show that for every new woman added to a male's household, the number each wife produced goes down by one child or so," said IU Bloomington evolutionary biologist Michael Wade, whose theoretical work guided the study. "This regression is known as a 'Bateman gradient,' named after the geneticist who first observed a similar phenomenon in fruit flies."
University of Wisconsin: Leafcutter ant genome reveals secrets of fungus farming ways
Feb. 10, 2011
by Terry Devitt
Leafcutter ants, signature denizens of New World tropical forests, are unique in their ability to harvest fresh leaves to cultivate a nutrient-rich fungus as food.Biodiversity
Leafcutter ants scurry with their harvest of leaves, which they use to fuel huge underground fungus farms. (Video courtesy: College of Agricultural and Life Sciences -- view longer version.)
Now, this mutualism — a complicated interplay of ants, fungi and a suite of bacteria — is coming into sharper focus as a team of UW-Madison researchers has published the complete genome of the leafcutter ant, Atta cephalotes.
The study, published today (Feb. 10) in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Genetics, by an international team led by UW-Madison bacteriology professors Cameron Currie and Garret Suen, illustrates how lifestyle can remake an animal's genetic blueprint over the course of evolutionary history.
University of Wisconsin: Curiosities: How high can bugs fly?
Feb. 15, 2011
“We can pick up insects at 5,000 or 6,000 feet,” says Phil Pellitteri of the UW-Madison insect diagnostic lab. “But wind is a big factor in insect movement, and it’s hard to know whether they are flying or drifting.”Biotechnology/Health
Some insects are wingless, and in general, they make a living near the ground, and so have no reason to move higher into the atmosphere.
But many insects use wind as a migration strategy, Pellitteri says. “We have leaf hoppers and aphids blowing up from Louisiana, and moths from Central America that often arrive after a big storm front comes through. Nothing surprises me anymore.”
University of Wisconsin: Asthma through the eyes of a medical anthropologist
Feb. 18, 2011
by David Tenenbaum
Asthma diagnosis and management vary dramatically around the world, said David Van Sickle, an honorary associate fellow at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, during a presentation today (Feb. 18) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).University of Wisconsin: Thyroid Removal is Safe and Effective for Graves' Disease
Asthma affects an estimated 8 percent of Americans, and about 300 million people around the world, but varying practices in diagnosis and treatment have global implications in understanding a widespread, chronic condition, says Van Sickle, who applies an anthropological approach to medicine.
"Since the major way to learn how many people have asthma is to ask them, external factors that alter those estimates have a major impact on our understanding of how widespread asthma is," he says. "Yet local culture and conditions make these estimates subject to a great deal of error."
Feb. 15, 2011
Madison, Wisconsin - Surgical removal of the thyroid isn't usually considered as the first option in treating Graves' disease, but a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study suggests that in experienced hands maybe it should be.University of Wisconsin: Electronic stent-deployment system wins top prize at 2011 Innovation Days
Graves' disease, also called hyperthyroidism, occurs when the thyroid gland at the base of the neck produces excessive hormones and speeds up the metabolism.
Graves' is one of the most common autoimmune diseases. Women are seven times more likely to develop Graves', which affects about 13 million people in the United States.
Feb. 14, 2011
by Sandra Knisely
A system that could widely expand stent treatments for patients with diseased arteries won the top prize and $10,000 in the Schoofs Prize for Creativity, one of a pair of competitions that make up Innovation Days, an event that rewards University of Wisconsin-Madison students for innovative and marketable ideas.University of Wisconsin: New induced stem cells may unmask cancer at earliest stage
For the first time in the competition's 17-year history, the winning inventor has claimed first place in the Schoofs Prize two years in a row. Mechanical engineering senior Tom Gerold created the MicroMag Stent Deployment System after watching his grandfather struggle with arterial disease. He subsequently learned more about the medical device industry at a summer internship and combined that experience with his engineering coursework to develop a system that could make a significant difference for cardiovascular patients.
MicroMag is an electromagnetic system to deploy self-expanding metal stents and retract the catheter that inserts those stents. This system would allow surgeons to place stents, the wire mesh tubes used to inflate blocked arteries, in smaller blood vessels than currently is possible. Now, surgeons must physically maneuver catheters, which can cause stents to deploy early or not at all.
Feb. 4, 2011
by Terry Devitt
By coaxing healthy and diseased human bone marrow to become embryonic-like stem cells, a team of Wisconsin scientists has laid the groundwork for observing the onset of the blood cancer leukemia in the laboratory dish.Climate/Environment
"This is the first successful reprogramming of blood cells obtained from a patient with leukemia," says University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell researcher Igor Slukvin, who directed a study aimed at generating all-purpose stem cells from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood. "We were able to turn the diseased cells back into pluripotent stem cells. This is important because it provides a new model for the study of cancer cells."
University of Wisconsin: Using satellites to enhance air quality understanding
Feb. 23, 2011
by Jill Sakai
The first late winter thaws bring puddles, mud, and a promise of spring in the air. But there may also be something less wholesome in the air — very high levels of air pollution.Purdue University: Purdue included in $20 million USDA climate research grant
"The first few warm days, when all the snow is beginning to melt, are often the worst particulate matter days of the whole year," says Tracey Holloway, director of the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and an expert on air quality.
Though air quality monitoring programs have noted the phenomenon for some time, it is not known what drives the high levels of nitrate particles. Perhaps trapped pollution is released from melting snowbanks, or the weather conditions that lead to early thaws also trap emitted airborne particles.
February 21, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University will participate in a $20 million U.S. Department of Agriculture research, education and Extension program aimed at keeping Midwest corn-based cropping systems resilient in the face of future climate uncertainties.University of Wisconsin: World phosphorous use crosses critical threshold
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the grant to a team of 10 universities and two USDA Agricultural Research Service institutions Friday (Feb. 18).
Purdue will receive $1.4 million for its portion of the five-year project.
Led by agronomy professor Eileen Kladivko, Purdue researchers will create a database of plot, field and farm data that can be combined with climate data to evaluate and improve resilience of crop management practices. Philip Owens, assistant professor of agronomy, will use soil information to show how the field-scale research can be applied to increase sustainability of corn systems in an eight-state north-central region that includes Indiana.
Feb. 14, 2011
by Terry Devitt
Recalculating the global use of phosphorous, a fertilizer linchpin of modern agriculture, a team of researchers warns that the world's stocks may soon be in short supply and that overuse in the industrialized world has become a leading cause of the pollution of lakes, rivers and streams.University of Wisconsin: Report assesses climate change impacts, adaptation strategies
Writing in the Feb. 14 edition of the journal Environmental Research Letters, Stephen Carpenter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Elena Bennett of McGill University report that the human use of phosphorous, primarily in the industrialized world, is causing the widespread eutrophication of fresh surface water. What's more, the minable global stocks of phosphorous are concentrated in just a few countries and are in decline, posing the risk of global shortages within the next 20 years.
"There is a finite amount of phosphorous in the world," says Carpenter, a UW-Madison professor of limnology and one of the world's leading authorities on lakes and streams. "This is a material that's becoming more rare and we need to use it more efficiently."
Feb. 7, 2011
A statewide collaborative of scientists and diverse stakeholders is proposing a multitude of measures to help protect and enhance Wisconsin's natural resources, economic vitality, and public well-being as the state's climate becomes warmer and wetter.Geology
Their report, "Wisconsin's Changing Climate: Impacts and Adaptation," was released today by the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI). It is available online here.
"This report is the first comprehensive survey of climate change impacts in Wisconsin, and it provides information that will help decision-makers begin to plan for the kinds of changes we're likely to see in the years ahead," says Lewis Gilbert, associate director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and member of WICCI's science council.
The Ohio State University: PLANKTON KEY TO ORIGIN OF EARTH’S FIRST BREATHABLE ATMOSPHERE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers studying the origin of Earth’s first breathable atmosphere have zeroed in on the major role played by some very unassuming creatures: plankton.Psychology/Behavior
In a paper to appear in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Ohio State University researcher Matthew Saltzman and his colleagues show how plankton provided a critical link between the atmosphere and chemical isotopes stored in rocks 500 million years ago.
This work builds on the team’s earlier discovery that upheavals in the earth's crust initiated a kind of reverse-greenhouse effect 500 million years ago that cooled the world's oceans, spawned giant plankton blooms, and sent a burst of oxygen into the atmosphere.
The new study has revealed details as to how oxygen came to vanish from Earth’s ancient atmosphere during the Cambrian Period, only to return at higher levels than ever before.
University of Wisconsin: Moms' Mental Health Needs Attention During and After Pregnancy
February 23, 2011
Madison, Wisconsin - Poor mental health before and during pregnancy are "giant red flags" predicting which new mothers are more likely to suffer postpartum mood disorders, a new nationwide survey reveals.Indiana University: Research examines callous-unemotional traits, conduct problems in children
While between 10 and 20 percent of new mothers suffer mood disorders within the first year after giving birth, it wasn't obvious which mothers were most at risk.
But scientists at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found a pattern that predicts which new moms are likely to have trouble: Those who had mental health problems before pregnancy were nearly two times more likely to have postpartum problems and those who suffer during pregnancy are over 11 times more likely to suffer mood disorders after their babies are born, after adjusting for other factors.
Notably, over 50 percent of women with poor postpartum mental health reported having some history of poor mental health.
Feb. 21, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science highlights the importance of callous-unemotional traits (CU) in identifying children at risk of antisocial behavior and other adjustment problems.Indiana University: IU study points to social, marital consequences of alcoholism
The research, presented by Indiana University Bloomington faculty member Nathalie M.G. Fontaine, finds that the emergence of CU traits in childhood is in most cases influenced by genetic factors, especially in boys. However, environmental factors appear to be more significant for the small number of girls who exhibit high levels of CU traits.
In this first longitudinal study employing a group-based analysis to examine the connection between childhood trajectories of CU traits and conduct problems, researchers found that high levels of both CU traits and conduct problems were associated with negative child and family factors at age 4 and with behavioral problems at age 12.
A new Indiana University study found that alcoholism may have a profound impact on marriages for both men and women, with alcohol dependence associated with a 36 percent decreased likelihood of first marriage for men, and a 23 percent decrease for women.The Ohio State University: LOOKING AT A TOUGH HILL TO CLIMB? DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW
When alcoholics married, according to the study, they were more than twice as likely to experience separation, compared with nonalcoholics.
"It's just another striking example of the social consequences of alcoholism, that alcoholism impacts not only the alcoholic," said Mary Waldron, assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology in the School of Education.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- People tend to overestimate the steepness of slopes – and psychologists studying the phenomenon have made a discovery that refutes common ideas about how we perceive inclines in general.The Ohio State University: PRACTICE MORE IMPORTANT THAN AGE IN LEARNING TO USE COMPUTER MOUSE
For more than a decade, researchers thought that our judgment was biased by our fatigue or fear of falling, explained Dennis Shaffer, associate professor of psychology at Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus. We perceive climbing or descending hills as difficult or dangerous, so when we look at an incline, our view is clouded by the expected physical exertion or danger of traversing it.
For a study in the current issue of the journal Psychological Science, Shaffer and then-undergraduate student Mariagrace Flint uncovered a contradiction, when they compared how we perceive the angle of stairs versus escalators.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Children as young as 5 years old can learn how to use a computer mouse, new research suggests.Archeology/Anthropology
While age is an important component in determining how well a child controls a mouse, the study also found that how frequently a child practices may be even more important.
“Learning how to use a computer has become as important as writing and reading in the classroom,” says Alison Lane, an assistant professor of occupational therapy at Ohio State University.
Purdue University: Study: Location plays role in immigrants' decision to learn English
February 23, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Whether immigrants to the United States are motivated to learn English depends on a variety of conditions, such as where they will live, how educated they are and whether they need to know the language for their job, a Purdue University study finds.University of Wisconsin: Ancient Mesoamerican sculpture uncovered in southern Mexico
Their ethnic background, gender and even whether they are married also can influence whether they learn English, said Brigitte Waldorf, Purdue agricultural economist and the study's lead researcher.
"The likelihood of speaking English well among the immigrant community is very much dependent on who the immigrants are," Waldorf said.
Feb. 14, 2011
by Jill Sakai
With one arm raised and a determined scowl, the figure looks ready to march right off his carved tablet and into the history books. If only we knew who he was — corn god? Tribal chief? Sacred priest?Physics
"It's beautiful and was obviously very important," says University of Wisconsin-Madison archaeologist John Hodgson of the newly discovered stone monument. "But we will probably never know who he was or what the sculpture means in its entirety."
The man is the central figure on a stone monument discovered in 2009 at a site called Ojo de Agua in far southern Mexico in the state of Chiapas along the Pacific coast. Hodgson, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at UW-Madison, describes the new monument in the cover article of the current issue (December 2010) of Mexicon, a leading peer-reviewed journal of Mesoamerican studies. The article, titled "Ojo de Agua Monument 3: A New Olmec-Style Sculpture from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico," is co-authored with John E. Clark, of Brigham Young University, and Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta, director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Chiapas.
Indiana University: IU mathematician credited with solving one of combinatorial geometry's most challenging problems
Research has applications in areas as diverse as drug development, robot motion planning and computer graphics
Feb. 24, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A mathematician in the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences is being credited with resolving a 65-year-old problem in combinatorial geometry that sought to determine the minimum number of distinct distances between any finite set of points in a plane.University of Wisconsin: Engineering atomic interfaces for new electronics
The work by IU Department of Mathematics Professor Nets Hawk Katz, with Larry Guth of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., achieved what many thought was unachievable: Solving Paul Erdös' 1946 Distinct Distances Problem.
"If someone hands you some distinct set of points, you can figure out what is the set of differences. The problem is to determine what the minimum possible set of distances is," Katz said. "What we did is to show that no matter how you place the N points, the number of distances is at least a constant times N/log N."
Feb. 17, 2011
by Sandra Knisely
Most people cross borders such as doorways or state lines without thinking much about it. Yet not all borders are places of limbo intended only for crossing. Some borders, like those between two materials that are brought together, are dynamic places where special things can happen.University of Wisconsin: Insect hearing inspires new approach to small antennas
For an electron moving from one material toward the other, this space is where it can join other electrons, which together can create current, magnetism or even light.
A multi-institutional team has made fundamental discoveries at the border regions, called interfaces, between oxide materials. Led by University of Wisconsin-Madison materials science and engineering professor Chang-Beom Eom, the team has discovered how to manipulate electrons oxide interfaces by inserting a single layer of atoms. The researchers also have discovered unusual electron behaviors at these engineered interfaces.
Feb. 25, 2011
by Sandra Knisely
Ormia ochracea is a small parasitic fly best known for its strong sense of directional hearing. A female fly tracks a male cricket by its chirps and then deposits her eggs on the unfortunate host. The larvae subsequently eat the cricket.Chemistry
Though it doesn't work out well for male crickets, such acute hearing in a tiny body has inspired a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher as he studies new designs for very small, powerful antennas.
Nader Behdad, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has received a 2011 Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) award and grant from the National Science Foundation to pursue a novel approach to a challenge that has thwarted electromagnetic researchers for more than a half century.
Purdue University: Hydrogels used to make precise new sensor
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers are developing a new type of biological and chemical sensor that has few moving parts, is low-cost and yet highly sensitive, sturdy and long-lasting.The Ohio State University: WELDERS CAN BREATHE EASIER WITH CHROMIUM-FREE ALLOY
The "diffraction-based" sensors are made of thin stripes of a gelatinous material called a hydrogel, which expands and contracts depending on the acidity of its environment.
Recent research findings have demonstrated that the sensor can be used to precisely determine pH - a measure of how acidic or basic a liquid is - revealing information about substances in liquid environments, said Cagri Savran (pronounced Chary Savran), an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new alloy promises to lessen welders’ risk of breathing toxic fumes on the job.Science, Space, Environment, and Energy Policy
The alloy is a welding “consumable” – the material that melts under the welder’s torch to fill the gap between parts that are being joined.
The new nickel alloy consumable is more expensive compared to those already on the market, but worth the cost in situations where adequate ventilation is a problem.
That’s why two Ohio State University engineers invented the alloy – specifically to aid military and commercial welding personnel who work in tight spaces.
University of Wisconsin: Kulcinski awarded NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal
Feb. 24, 2011
by James Beal
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering associate dean for research and Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering Gerald Kulcinski one of its highest honors for non-governmental employees. NASA Director Charles Bolden awarded Kulcinski the Exceptional Public Service Medal to recognize Kulcinski's leadership on the NASA Advisory Council from 2005 to 2009.University of Wisconsin: UW-Madison chancellor, alumnus and professor named to national commission
The NASA Advisory Council provides the NASA administrator with advice on programs and issues of importance to the agency. The council consists of nine committees: aeronautics, audit, finance and analysis, commercial space, education and public outreach, exploration, information technology infrastructure, science, space operations, and technology and innovation. Each committee conducts sessions throughout the year in an effort to gain a broad understanding of current NASA issues and future mission implementation plans. The committees then bring their proposed observations, findings and recommendations to the full council for deliberation and final decision on whether to send forward to the NASA administrator.
The council deliberates on topics raised by each committee in public sessions and presents its observations, findings and recommendations to the NASA administrator. In particular, Kulcinski advised on nuclear power in space and chaired the committee on human resource issues regarding education and attracting a younger age group to the NASA workforce.
Feb. 23, 2011
by Susannah Brooks
As the American Academy of Arts & Sciences introduces a national commission to encourage research in the humanities and social sciences, the University of Wisconsin-Madison boasts strong representation.University of Wisconsin: Humans and the clean-energy debate: Lectures to address carbon emissions, solutions
Chancellor Biddy Martin will serve on the commission, joining alumnus John Rowe and sociology professor Robert Hauser.
"Knowledge of history, an understanding of civic institutions, the ability to use evidence and to think creatively, an aptitude for cross-cultural communication — these are all vital attributes of a 21st century citizen," says Rowe, co-chair of the commission.
Feb. 18, 2011
by Renee Meiller
In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for a clean-energy standard, increased funding for clean-energy technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the ambitious goal of generating 80 percent of the country's electricity from clean-energy sources by 2035.University of Wisconsin: Forums to focus on ethics of animal research
Yet, those clean-energy technologies are still widely up for debate, and the path for reducing carbon emissions is by no means clear.
Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Energy Institute and the WAGE Governing Global Energy Collaborative, lectures from February through late-April will generate discussion about climate change, energy innovation, and global environmental policy.
On Thursday, Feb. 24, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, founders of the liberal think-tank the Breakthrough Institute, will present the lecture, "Why Left and Right Can Agree on Energy Innovation." With the conservative American Enterprise Institute and the non-partisan Brookings Institution, the two are urging partisans to abandon long-held views on carbon caps and federal involvement in energy research. Rather, Shellenberger and Nordhaus argue that now is the time for bipartisan action on energy innovation.
Feb. 11, 2011
by David Tenenbaum
Three forums on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus will highlight the ethics of animal research, Eric Sandgren, an associate professor of pathobiological sciences, announced today.Indiana University: Genetics policy experts say realistic expectations and funding priorities would better serve the future of genomic medicine
"We want these talks to be discussions with the community on the costs, benefits and ethics of animal research," says Sandgren, who directs the Research Animal Resource Center. "More transparency, more communication and better information help everyone involved in this emotional debate."
The forums, in response to interest in the ethics of animal research among some members of the Dane County Board, were proposed last year by UW-Madison Provost Paul M. DeLuca Jr. and Graduate School Dean Martin Cadwallader. The goal is to increase public discussion and understanding of issues surrounding animal research.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Unrealistic expectations about genomic medicine have created a "bubble" that needs deflating before it puts the field's long term benefits at risk, four policy experts write in the current issue of the journal Science.The Ohio State University: NATIONAL ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN SUCCEEDS IN LOWERING MARIJUANA USE, STUDY SUGGESTS
Ten years after the deciphering of the human genetic code was accompanied by over-hyped promises of medical breakthroughs, it may be time to reevaluate funding priorities to better understand how to change behaviors and reap the health benefits that would result.
In addition, the authors say, scientists need to foster more realistic understanding about how scientific research works "by making responsible claims and by advocating that reporters and editors do the same."
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The federal anti-drug campaign "Above the Influence" appears to have effectively reduced marijuana use by teenagers, new research shows.The Ohio State University: FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS HAVE SUCCESS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, BUT NEED TO BE EXPANDED
A study of more than 3,000 students in 20 communities nationwide found that by the end of 8th grade, 12 percent of those who had not reported having seen the campaign took up marijuana use compared to only 8 percent among students who had reported familiarity with the campaign.
The researchers said they believe this is the first independent study to find evidence for the effectiveness of the "Above the Influence" campaign, which was initially funded at nearly $200 million a year when it began in 2005.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – While many researchers generally credit the desire for smaller families for the decline in fertility rates in developing, low-income countries, new research suggests that prevention of unwanted births may actually be a larger factor.The Ohio State University: STUDY: CONSUMERS VALUE SAFER FOOD MORE THAN CURRENT ANALYSES SUGGEST
The advent of safe and more effective birth control means that people have better control of when and if they have children, said John Casterline, director of the Initiative in Population Research at Ohio State University.
“While it is true that people now want smaller families, my research suggests a more important factor in the decline in birth rates over the past half-century is that people are now more successful than in the past in having the number of children they want,” said Casterline, who is also a professor of sociology.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Government regulators could more realistically assess the value of improving food safety if they considered the fact that consumers typically want to avoid getting sick – even if it means they have to pay a little extra for safer food, researchers say.Science Education
In the world of food regulation, cost-benefit analyses are a primary tool for assessing the societal benefits of mandating more stringent – and more expensive – processing practices. In most cases, regulators determine a dollar value associated with pursuing new rules by estimating how many illnesses and deaths the safer processing would prevent.
But a recent study proposes a new way to approach these estimates. Instead of focusing on reducing food-borne illnesses and deaths associated with a specific pathogen, why not ask consumers how valuable food-safety improvements are to them? The researchers conducted such a national survey that they designed with the help of an economic model that predicts consumer behavior.
The results suggested that Americans would be willing to pay about a dollar per person each year, or an estimated $305 million in the aggregate, for a 10 percent reduction in the likelihood that hamburger they buy in the supermarket is contaminated by E. coli, said Brian Roe, professor of agricultural, environmental and development economics at Ohio State University and co-author of the study.
Purdue University: Joint team wins Purdue Rube Goldberg contest
February 26, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A team from the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers on Saturday (Feb. 26) won the 29th annual Purdue Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest with a machine that traced the history of the world.University of Wisconsin: Chemist focuses on education for real-world sustainability challenges
The Rube Goldberg competition, sponsored by Phi Chapter of Theta Tau fraternity, rewards machines that most effectively combine creativity with inefficiency and complexity. The task this year was to water a plant.
The winning entry was based on a time machine that followed the history of the world from the big bang to the present. It took 212 steps to finally reach a symbol of hope for the future, a mystery box that, when opened by the machine, produced a plant and a watering can.
Feb. 18, 2011
by David Tenenbaum
Introductory college science classes need to improve their coverage of issues related to sustainability, a noted chemistry educator told the American Association for the Advancement of Science today.University of Wisconsin: UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee renew program offering grants for joint research projects
"Across the nation, we have a problem," says Catherine Middlecamp, a distinguished faculty associate in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We are using a 20th-century curriculum, and this is the 21st century."
Students, she says, want a curriculum that will prepare them for upcoming challenges related to climate change, pollution and environmental health. "You can see, from the questions they ask, the volunteer projects they undertake and the papers they write, that they are intensely concerned about the fate of the planet and the living realm. And because many of our students will not be taking another science course, it's vital that our introductory courses prepare them for their future."
Feb. 14, 2011
by Stacy Forster
Wisconsin's two doctoral universities will continue their partnership promoting collaborative research projects involving faculty and academic staff at both institutions.University of Wisconsin: Program merges dual interests in science and policy
Biddy Martin, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Michael R. Lovell, interim chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, are renewing the Intercampus Research Incentive Grants Program, which will award funds to support research projects undertaken jointly at the two campuses.
The grants program was started in early 2010 and awarded nearly $400,000 in intercampus grants to support such efforts as the development of new materials to combat air pollution to the use of algae to clean wastewater and generate energy.
Feb. 8, 2011
by Jill Sakai
Melding of mind and policy matters is all in a day's work for the graduate students in the Neuroscience and Public Policy program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Science is Cool
The program, the only one in the country, offers students the chance to explore the intersection of science and society while working toward graduate degrees in both neuroscience and public affairs. The goal, according to program director Ronald Kalil, is to train a cadre of scientists well versed in the realms of both scientific research and policy, able to inform conversations in both areas.
"I was aware that there were lots of scientists — neuroscientists even more than others — who really wanted to do something to influence policy but they didn't know how to go about it," says Kalil, a professor of neuroscience.
University of Wisconsin: Art from above: Satellites see Wisconsin
Feb. 7, 2011
by Terry Devitt
Few know that the genesis of observing the Earth's weather from space is a Wisconsin idea.
The late Verner Suomi, the atmospheric scientist and professor who founded the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Space Science and Engineering Center in the 1960s, is considered by many in the know to be the father of weather satellite meteorology. He, along with Wisconsin engineer Robert Parent, invented the technologies that made it possible to take continuous pictures of our planet from a satellite positioned in geosynchronous orbit. Suomi also devised a system to process, manipulate and display those images for the benefit of forecasters and anyone who has ever watched the weather on television or the Internet.
Those pictures from space have practical value, certainly, as we plan our days and decide what to wear and can be lifesavers when severe weather looms. But woven into the pixels of the innumerable images satellites of all kinds constantly transmit is the natural beauty of our planet as viewed from space.
What I find amazing is how complete a report on science I can put together using just the press releases from those four institutions. May the budget cuts coming their way not damage their ability to generate knowledge enough to cut down on their wonderful research (And to think I'm a Wolverine saying that about my alma mater's athletic rivals. Hey, there are bigger things in this world than Big T1e2n sports!)
