UW–Madison Science

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Our latest paper on ancient microbes and nitrogen is featured on the NASA website today! 🚀🔬Way to go, @hollyrucker.bsky.social!

Resurrecting Ancient Enzymes in NASA’s Search for Life Beyond Earth
www.nasa.gov

Paper link: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #astrobiology @uwmadscience.bsky.social

"You’re all hard-working people, all with your own goals, working together in the same environment, and it just helps you get that drive. It’s just a great community and environment to grow in."

UW researchers turn to the tiny copepod for a big discovery, showing that gene location influences natural selection The new study provides the first empirical evidence connecting the chromosomal location of genes to natural selection and how populations adapt to rapid environmental change.

Anchoring helpful genes away from parts of their chromosomes that were more likely to be remixed made saltwater crustaceans better prepared to survive in freshwater ecosystems — like the Great Lakes.
news.wisc.edu/uw-researche...

Researchers Link Mutations in RPA Protein to Cancer, Other Diseases Researchers in the Lim Lab reveal that dysfunction in a protein essential to maintaining stability in our chromosomes may be responsible for serious diseases.

New findings from @cijilim.bsky.social in @uwbiochem.bsky.social identify a protein essential to maintaining the end-caps on chromosomes — helping doctors around the world connect a genetic mutation to their patients' illnesses. biochem.wisc.edu/2025/10/30/r...

Two UW–Madison professors named MacArthur Fellows Atmospheric scientist Ángel F. Adames Corraliza and nuclear security specialist Sébastien Philippe, professors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, have been awarded 2025 MacArthur Fellowships.

Two extraordinary UW–Madison professors — nuclear security specialist Sébastien Philippe and atmospheric scientist Ángel F. Adames Corraliza — have been named 2025 MacArthur "genius grant" fellows by @macfound.org.

Congratulations and On, Wisconsin!

New research reveals longevity gains slowing, life expectancy of 100 unlikely A new study co-authored by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor finds that life expectancy gains made by high-income countries in the first half of the 20th century have slowed significantly, a...

Have you heard somewhere that people may soon live to be 150 years old? Well, big gains in life expectancy may instead be on the wane. lafollette.wisc.edu/news/new-res...

UW–Madison virologists are at the forefront of efforts to keep tabs on avian influenza in dairy milk When H5N1 avian influenza made a jump into dairy cattle in early 2024, the development prompted health and economic concerns. Since then, a team of researchers at UW–Madison has been working to answer

When H5N1 avian influenza made a jump into dairy cattle in early 2024, the development prompted health and economic concerns. Since then, a team of researchers at UW–Madison has been working to answer important public health and food-safety questions: news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-v...

100 years ago, a ‪@uwmadisoncals.bsky.social discovery sparked the founding of WARF. Today, that partnership continues to drive innovation‬.

Here's to a century of impact and the future ahead!

#WARF100

https://grow.cals.wisc.edu/departments/features/a-century-of-research-partnerships

A different kind of work party: Practicing ecological restoration at UW Arboretum Ecological restoration at the UW Arboretum helps create and manage the land's healthy native plant communities, and volunteer work parties are a vital part of the ongoing work.

Ecological restoration at the UW–Madison Arboretum helps create and manage the land's healthy native plant communities, and volunteer work parties are a vital part of the ongoing work.

UW professor emeritus who paved the way for at-home colon cancer testing and other screenings earns national recognition Earlier this month, the Bayh-Dole Coalition awarded James Dahlberg the American Innovator Award, recognizing his commitment to advancing federally funded inventions from the laboratory to real-world a

James Dahlberg received the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s American Innovator Award for his commitment to advancing federally funded inventions from the laboratory to real-world applications, including bringing several types of health screenings to homes and hospitals everywhere.

Measuring gases around young stars, astronomers unlock major clues to planet formation UW–Madison astronomers and international collaborators have produced the most accurate measurement of the gases swirling around young stars and their changing mass over time. The discovery offers clue

'Baby' stars are typically surrounded by disks loaded with gas, but it isn't long before that mass starts to drift away. #UWMadison astronomers say that might mean gas giants like Jupiter need to form earlier than rocky planets like ours. news.wisc.edu/measuring-ga...

UW–Madison researchers find hidden genetic clues upping cardiovascular disease risk Understanding how the change in the genome increases risk for CAD is a step toward potentially preventing its damaging effects and perhaps one day developing therapeutic strategies to block the risky

For decades, we've known a handful of changes to an otherwise unremarkable stretch of our genes upped the risk of coronary artery disease. But it took #UWMadison stem cell scientists in @valels.bsky.social's lab to figure out why. news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-r...

Saved that tots recipe immediately.

Want a listen that will, as @kacarlab.bsky.social puts it, 'wire you up?'

"I will never forget that: I can hold a pen. And I can write. So, now, what do you do with it? What is the biggest question you can ask? What is the most important thing you can do with you life?"

That's not MSN?

Love the bear. Way to go, @hollyrucker.bsky.social.

A graphic promoting the latest episode of "Dementia Matters". On the right are headshots of guests Drs. Sterling Johnson and Jessica Langbaum. On the left is text reading "New Podcast Episode" alongside the podcast logo. Underneath the logo is the episode title, "Family Ties: How Family History Affects Alzheimer's Risk".

How much can family history impact one's Alzheimer's risk? Drs. Sterling Johnson and Jessica Langbaum join #DementiaMatters to discuss the latest research on family history and genetic risk factors, focusing on the APOE gene as a risk factor. Listen 🎧 go.wisc.edu/665xnq

The real costs of research funding cuts UW–Madison could lose tens of millions of dollars in annual research support due to a proposed change in federal funding. But what’s really at stake? The university’s ability to advance life-saving re

With proposed changes to NIH support, potentially life-saving research at UW–Madison would become slower and less ambitious. And the true cost would fall on those waiting for the next medical breakthrough, who would have to wait even longer.

UW–Madison chemistry professor Martin Zanni elected to National Academy of Sciences Only 120 American and 30 international scientists are elected to the academy each year for what the academy describes as their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Congratulations to UW chemistry professor Martin Zanni on election to the @nasonline.org! Zanni pioneered a technique called ultrafast two-dimensional spectroscopy and has received many honors for his research and teaching. news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-c...

Scientists at UW-Madison have reprogrammed a microbe that eats toxins from broken down plant fiber while leaving the sugars untouched. A major step forward in biofuel production! Read more: energy.wisc.edu/news/rewired... #biofuels #bioenergy #uwmadison #microbe

Enter your amazing science visuals in the 2025 Cool Science Image Contest To celebrate the exploratory and aesthetic value of the photos, renderings, videos, images, art and more made in the process of fulfilling curiosity and advancing science, the 15th annual Cool Science

Before you leave campus for the summer (or for a brief post-commencement breather) enter your most remarkable, surprising and revealing science images in the 2025 Cool Science Image Contest. news.wisc.edu/enter-your-a...

UW grad and international climate reporter returns to campus as spring Science Journalist in Residence Now based in London, Alec Luhn has worked from Istanbul and Moscow to cover an array of environmental- and climate-related stories, including wildfires, droughts, earthquakes, melting glaciers and int...

Join alum and Science Journalist in Residence @alecluhn.bsky.social, carbon removal researcher Rob Anex and Floodlight News editor Dee Hall for "Beyond 1.5°C: Covering Controversial Climate Solutions." Thursday, April 17. 4 p.m. Memorial Union. news.wisc.edu/uw-grad-and-...

Remembering Professor Emerit Ann Palmenberg, renowned leader in virology Enthusiastic, jovial and persistent, Palmenberg rarely did anything halfway, at work or at home. She made it her mission to find ways to connect with everyone she met — and if that meant an opportunit...

Ann Palmenberg was a trailblazer in virology and infectious disease research — but that was just for starters. A great scientist, mentor and friend, she lived every day to its fullest. news.wisc.edu/remembering-...

Devesh Ranjan named dean of UW College of Engineering Devesh Ranjan, a mechanical engineer and a leader at one of the country’s largest and highest-ranked engineering programs, will be the tenth dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Wis...

No surprise UW–Madison's incoming dean of engineering works on supersonic flight and cutting-edge power cycles. He's all energy and can't wait to get up to speed. news.wisc.edu/devesh-ranja...

Communities that experience mass shootings drink more alcohol in the aftermath, a new study finds The findings, published this week in the journal PNAS Nexus, add to the evidence that mass shootings have lasting effects on health that reach far beyond the lives of those directly involved.

Public mass shootings push alcohol sales upward for years in the surrounding community, though similar violence in private settings does not. news.wisc.edu/communities-...

2024 WARF Innovation Award winners take on cancer detection, forever chemicals A simplified cancer screening process and a new way to break down ‘forever chemicals’ have taken top honors from WARF.

The 2024 WARF Innovation Awards go to early cancer detection and a process to break down "forever chemicals," #UWMadison research developments with some great potential impact. www.warf.org/news/2024-wa...

UW–Madison 6th in national research ranking, surpasses $1.7 billion in research expenditures UW moved up two spots in the ranking, and it had a 13.7% increase in research expenditures over the previous fiscal year, an increase of more than $208 million for the period covering July 2022 throug...

Wow! UW–Madison is now 6th in national research ranking, surpasses $1.7 billion in research expenditures
news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-6...

New tool makes quick health, environmental monitoring possible Vatsan Raman, who has received a provisional patent for this work, sees broad applications for the technology his lab developed, including field tests that identify pollutants in local water sources i...

Creating bespoke tests to detect small molecules like opioids or environmental contaminants can be a long, expensive "bio-prospecting" slog ... until now? @uwbiochem.bsky.social researchers have sped up the process. news.wisc.edu/new-tool-mak...

@ahnaskop.bsky.social has a good start on that: go.bsky.app/TEnn93j

We can hear that.