UW-Madison Science

A team of scientists led by UW Madison Astronomy Department's Ke Zhang has published new measurements of gases in the disks swirling around young stars. The upshot? Gather ye Jupiters while ye may. Those gases will go a-flying.

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 clues to how different types of planets form.

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 University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists to figure out why. Using stem cells coaxed into developing into the types of cells that line blood vessels, they could see the ones with the risky variations in their DNA take on some of the harder, less-flexible qualities of bone and cartilage cells — stiffening much like diseased arteries.

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 changes in arteries.

Science on the Square fused with the Madison Night Market last week for a fun and energetic night of hands-on science and local vendors in downtown Madison! Booths about physics, insects, soil science and even potatoes got attendees excited and engaged with and researchers⚛️ 🐝 🌱 🥔

While reducing emissions is the primary way to achieve net-zero, according to a new report written by researchers , and other leading scholars, carbon dioxide removal technologies have a critical role to play in the global efforts to limit warming. “Regardless of how much carbon removal we deploy, we still need to make rapid and deep reductions in emissions,” says Nemet, one of the lead researchers. “But we can only avoid dangerous global temperatures if we scale up carbon removal to very large scale over the next two decades—and meeting that level requires active policymaking in the near term.” Read more about the report at the link in our bio.

Engineers have developed low-cost sensors that allow for real-time, continuous monitoring of nitrate in soil types that are common in Wisconsin. These printed electrochemical sensors could enable farmers to make better informed nutrient management decisions and reap economic benefits. “By measuring the nitrate, moisture and temperature at different depths, we can now quantify the process of nitrate leaching and capture how nitrate is moving through the soil, which hasn’t been possible before,” says Joseph Andrews of .