Focus: Hidden - Wisconsin

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4R nutrient stewardship is an agricultural industry guideline that refers to “right source, at the right rate, at the right time, and in the right place.The “Lab to Field: CCA 4R Nutrient Management and Soil Health Working Together” symposium planned at the Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Tampa, FL will cover this important topic.

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In 1849, the Board of Regents of the new University of Wisconsin directed the curation of the state’s plants, animals and minerals in a “cabinet of natural history.” Now, that founding piece of scientific inquiry is re-forming — digitally. A new initiative will centralize the databases of the university’s five natural history museums, which have separated over the decades to specialize and accommodate growing collections.

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What can frozen soils teach us? The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) September 1 Soils Matter blog post explains how Alaskan soils are increasing our understanding of soils, water movement, and climate change.

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George Kourounis has been on the front lines of climate change for years. He has witnessed first-hand the effects of our changing environment.

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Astronomers have measured magnetic fields in a galaxy 4.6 billion light-years away — a big clue to understanding how magnetic fields formed and evolved over cosmic time.

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Traditional ways of analyzing soil texture are slow. Danish researchers have shown a new, high-tech method that is fast, cost-effective, and portable. This technique could make it much easier to understand the soil texture of a particular area—or even large areas across the globe.

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Soils can be extraordinarily biodiverse and differ widely in the kinds of microbial communities that inhabit them. Without a vibrant soil microbial community, humans would not be able to depend on soil for food and other ecosystem services. The “Life Underground: Who, Where, Why?” lecture planned at the Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Tampa, FL, will address this important topic.

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Coral skeletons are the building blocks of diverse coral reef ecosystems, which has led to increasing concern over how these key species will cope with warming and acidifying oceans that threaten their stability. New research provides evidence that at least one species of coral build their hard, calcium carbonate skeletons faster, and in bigger pieces, than previously thought.

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Catherine Woteki, former Under Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be the opening speaker for the Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Tampa, FL. The presentation will be held Sunday, October 22, 2017, at 6:15 PM. The meeting is sponsored by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America.

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If our microbiome overindulges, we might not have access to the nutrients we need. That’s the suggestion from new research conducted by University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Federico Rey’s group that shows mice that harbor high levels of microbes that eat choline are deprived of this essential nutrient.

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Maize is one of the three most important crops in the world. CIMMYT (International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement) and its international research partners have developed hybrids that will expand production even further. The lectureship entitled “Partitioning and Passion, Pothole and Partnerships: A Journey with Tropical Maize,” will address this topic at the Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Tampa, FL.

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A grant from the National Science Foundation will help UWM scientists cut the cost of mass-producing tiny water sensors coated with nano materials.

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In recent decades, change has defined our environment in the United States. But, says a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study, while those changes usually result in poor water quality, lakes have surprisingly stayed the same.

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Charles R. Bentley, an intrepid University of Wisconsin-Madison glaciologist and geophysicist who was among the first scientists to measure the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the late 1950s, died Aug. 19 in Oakland, California. He was 87.

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As the global climate changes and temperatures continue to rise, heat stress is becoming a major limiting factor for pea cultivation. A new study indicates that pea plants with some specific traits – such as longer flowering time and higher pod numbers – may be more resistant to heat stress. The researchers also gained new insights into the genetics of heat tolerance in pea.

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It’s not every day United States history mixes with microbes in the soil. But when the turf on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. was replaced, it offered scientists the opportunity to study changes in the soil microbiome underneath.

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Nature’s way of forming soil takes a great deal of patience. The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) August 15 Soils Matter blog post explains the complex process of soils forming and maturing.

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Imaging the movement of a virus demonstrates that single-particle X- ray scattering has the potential to shed new light on key molecular processes, like viral infection, when paired with powerful new algorithms.

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Writing Aug. 11 in the journal Environmental Research Letters, University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Tracey Holloway, an expert on air quality, and her former graduate student Olivia Sanderfoot, sort through nearly 70 years of the scientific literature to assess the state of knowledge of how air pollution directly affects the health, well-being, reproductive success and diversity of birds.

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ACTRIMS' third annual forum will be Feb. 1-3 in San Diego, California and will focus on therapeutic targets in multiple sclerosis with emphasis on disease-modifying therapies. New at the 2018 forum is the presentation by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of the Barancik Prize for Innovation in Multiple Sclerosis Research, recognizing work in MS research that demonstrates outstanding innovation and originality.

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In a study published Aug. 11 in the journal Science, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Temple University assessed what people in the United States think about the uses of human genome editing and how their attitudes may drive public discussion. They found a public divided on its uses but united in the importance of moving conversations forward.

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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a new measurement for the volume and activity of beta cells, the source of the sugar-regulating hormone insulin.

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Manure is a reality in raising farm animals. Manure can be a useful fertilizer, returning valued nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil for plant growth. But manure has problems. Odor offensiveness, gas emissions, nutrient runoff, and possible water pollution are just a few. New methods may reduce these negatives while potentially adding some positives: biochar covers.

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Producers sometimes face challenges that go deep into the soil. They need answers to help the soil, on site. A portable field sensor can accurately measure minerals in soils more easily and efficiently than existing methods. And a research team, including a middle school student and her scientist father, can confirm it.

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In new research published this week (Aug. 1, 2017) in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Levitis and his collaborators report that meiosis takes a heavy toll on the viability of offspring. And not just for humans. Creatures from geckos to garlic and cactuses to cockroaches pay a price to undergo sexual reproduction.

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According to researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who conducted studies with monkeys, casual contact like kissing or sharing a fork or spoon is not enough for the virus to move between hosts. Their findings were published today (Aug. 1, 2017) in the journal Nature Communications.

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Are your plants waxing poetic? The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) August 1 Soils Matter blog post explains how plants and soil communicate—even without the advantage of words.

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Despite being saddled with many factors associated with drug and alcohol problems, undocumented immigrants are not increasing the prevalence of drug and alcohol crimes and deaths in the United States, according to a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

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If it’s the thought that makes a gift count, here’s a thought that can make your gift count extra: Get a little something for yourself. Research published this month in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by Evan Polman, marketing professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Sam Maglio, marketing professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough, shows that gift recipients are happier with a present when the giver got themselves the same present.

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Junhong Chen, a UWM distinguished professor of mechanical and materials engineering, has been named program director of NSF’s Engineering Research Centers Program, a post that he will hold for up to two years.

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The smile may be the most common and flexible expression, used to reveal some emotions, cover others and manage social interactions that have kept communities secure and organized for millennia. But how do we tell one kind of smile from another?

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Twenty-five individual awardees and two corporate partners will receive "Alumni of the year" honors from the UWM Alumni Association at an evening ceremony on Friday, Oct. 6.

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New research could help claypan farmers improve yields while saving costs.

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A new study of pedestrian and bicycle travel suggests investment in infrastructure and policies to encourage walking and biking is correlated with lower rates of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths. The work by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin-Madison also identifies the safest and most dangerous metropolitan regions for pedestrians and bicyclists in the U.S.

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By bringing the genomic revolution into corn fields, Genomes2Fields aims to improve the nation’s corn crop by uncovering how genomes — the blueprints for plants — are turned into yield, stress resistance, and all manner of different traits.

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The new Upper Midwestern Center of Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases, led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison, this week identified the Asian tiger mosquito, which can spread the Zika virus, for the first time in Wisconsin.

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In an interdisciplinary collaboration, University of Wisconsin-Madison historian of science Catherine Jackson and scientific glassblower Tracy Drier are delving into the foundations of modern chemistry and its reliance on specialized glassware.

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Two new varieties of kidney beans – Talon and Rosie – have recently been released. Both show improved resistance to root diseases that commonly cause crop loss.

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The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences has received a grant to sequence the DNA and analyze the genetic makeup of three key aquatic species, including Yellow Perch and the Green Bay Mayfly. the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) School of Freshwater Sciences to sequence the DNA and analyze the genetic makeup of three aquatic species, including Yellow Perch and the Green Bay Mayfly. The third species to be sequenced may include important fisheries species such as Lake Whitefish, Lake Trout, Northern Pike, or Muskellunge.

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The Vadose Zone Journal (VZJ) will switch from the subscription format to a fully Open Access journal.

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Thinking of going off-trail this summer? The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) July 15 Soils Matter blog post explains how trails protect the environment—and how off-trail recreation can be damaging.

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UW-Madison researchers have invented an all-chemical replacement for the confusing, even dangerous materials, now used to grow stem cells.

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A lack of evidence that bats are key reservoirs of human disease has not prevented their vilification or efforts to exterminate bat colonies where threats are presumed to lurk. “The fact is that they provide important ecosystem services ... and we want them around,” says Tony Goldberg, a University of Wisconsin-Madison epidemiologist and virus hunter. “But bats are also increasingly acknowledged as hosts of medically significant viruses. I have mixed feelings about that.”

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A group from the USDA Agricultural Research Station (ARS) has introduced a web-based application to help farmers. It allows users to access important historical information about the past climate in their area. This could allow them to better plan for the current year.

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When does a (typically) vegetarian caterpillar become a cannibalistic caterpillar, even when there is still plenty of plant left to eat? When the tomato plant it’s feeding on makes cannibalism the best option. “It often starts with one caterpillar biting another one in the rear, which then oozes. And it goes downhill from there,” says University of Wisconsin–Madison integrated biology Professor John Orrock.

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In a nanoscale photodetector that combines a unique fabrication method and light-trapping structures, a team of engineers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University at Buffalo has overcome obstacles to increasing performance for optoelectronic devices — like camera sensors or solar cells — without adding bulk.

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The graduate-level Zilber School was created to to address health disparities in Milwaukee and other cities and the shortage of trained workers who practice in urban areas. Between 2013 and 2017, the school attracted more than $9.3 million in federal research grants.

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If your retaining wall is looking more like a leaky eyesore, help is on the way! The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) July 1 Soils Matter blog post explains maintenance retaining walls require, and options for reinforcing them.

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Triticale is a winter cover crop that limits farmers' gamble with a trifecta of benefits. Triticale is a wheat-rye hybrid from the late 1800s. In New York State, 15 years of research finds triticale brings benefits to the field, the growers’ pockets, and dairy cows’ diets.