Hannah Carey’s lab studies how hibernating squirrels slow their metabolisms to fall into their seasonal torpor — and then speed it back up to go about their squirrel lives during the warm months. Her work could help humans extreme in extreme conditions. But the trick to studying hibernation is that happens when it happens, and disrupting scheduled research for an unscheduled government shutdown — as Carey, a comparative bioscience professor, explains in Scientific American — could cost taxpayers the fruits of the science they’re funding.
News
Implantable device aids weight loss
New battery-free, easily implantable weight-loss devices developed by engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison could offer a promising new weapon for battling the bulge.
Ritalin drives greater connection between brain areas key to memory, attention
New research is a first step toward understanding the way Ritalin affects the organization of the pathways that build brain networks used in attention and learning.
It’s not a shock: Better bandage promotes powerful healing
The bandage developed by UW-Madison engineers leverages energy generated from a patient’s own body motions to apply gentle electrical pulses at the site of an injury.
Five questions with Su-Chun Zhang, forger of brain cells
In light of the 20th anniversary of James Thomson’s derivation of human embryonic stem cells, we had some questions for one of the founders of stem cell neuroscience.
Discovery opens new opportunities to slow or reverse MS
Nerve cells stripped of their insulation can no longer carry vital information, leading to the numbness, weakness and vision problems often associated with multiple sclerosis. A new study shows an overlooked source may be able to replace that lost insulation.
Venom shape untangles scorpion family tree
It’s the first time that the shape of molecules has been used in place of anatomy to organize evolutionary relationships, suggesting new ways to disentangle the many complicated family trees found throughout nature.
Beneficial gut bacteria metabolize fiber to improve heart health in mice
In support of a microbial connection between fiber and heart health, UW-Madison researchers have identified a particular fatty acid as the mechanism behind certain protective effects of a high-fiber diet in a mouse model.
Woodland hawks flock to urban buffet
A team of Wisconsin researchers documents that woodland hawks — once in precipitous decline — have become firmly established in urban environments, thriving primarily on a diet of backyard birds.
Study shows movement, evolutionary history of TB in China
A genetic scan of a massive number of samples taken from tuberculosis patients across China has shown a surprising genetic uniformity: just two “strains” of the tuberculosis bacterium account for 99.4 percent of all cases.