Ask Ms. Scientist: Marijuana and yawning
By Jordan Gaal and Maggie Liu | Oct. 24, 2016Does smoking marijuana kill brain cells? Why is yawning so contagious?
Does smoking marijuana kill brain cells? Why is yawning so contagious?
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum has provided a natural home, full of rich resources and desirable terrain for the rusty-patched bumblebee, that was discovered at the Arboretum in 2010 and is now proposed for the Endangered Species List by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been focusing their resources at the Arboretum to study the rusty-patched bumblebee, which has become a rarity in places it was once abundant. “We didn’t know the rusty-patched bumblebee was here, originally,” Susan Carpenter, the native plant gardener at the UW-Madison Arboretum, said.
Thanks for tuning in again to Sciencecast: Climate Change Series! In our third episode, we talk with Dr. Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Friday’s Science Arcade Night, part of the annual 4-day Wisconsin Science Festival at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, was a wonderful fusion of science, technology, games and fun. Families, couples and students all enjoyed what the event had to offer. True to the event’s name, the ring of large, clunky arcade games was one of the first sights that greeted the festival goers when they walked in— a charming and vintage scene. Nearby, several science-related board games were set up, including a game integrating disease outbreak and Star Wars.
“Science in brief” is a new column featured in the Daily Cardinal. Highlighting other science stories not covered in full, “Science in brief” hopes to shed light on the plethora of research the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers. In brief this week: Rockd, Electron Beam Lithography and heart patches.
In a nearly packed Shannon Hall Monday night, Director of the National Parks Service Jonathan Jarvis took the stage as part of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies’ Jordahl Public Lands lecture to address the NPS centennial and recent sexual harassment allegations surrounding park employees.
Welcome back to Sciencecast: Climate Change Series! Twice a month, we will explore various facets of climate change through interviews with UW experts.
Friday afternoon’s conversation with Dr. Nadia Drake, the Fall 2016 UW-Madison Science Writer in Residence, began with an experiment in which a chemistry professor placed dry ice into six cylinders filled with colorful liquid. Waiting until the chemical reaction stopped, Drake went to the front and poured huge amounts of dry ice into a basin of hot water. Clouds of white fog came out of the container as condensed water vapor.
New research on the chemical composition of the ocean has shown that, 3.26 billion years ago, the continents were actually above water. This pieces together several other studies into a cohesive, big-picture idea of how the world once looked, according to Aaron Satkoski and his team of researchers who studied the chemical composition of erosion in the ocean back in 2013 in the Barite Valley, near Barberton, South Africa.
The stick hit the puck and the puck glided across the ice. As the blades on his skates did the same, Vaughn Kottler, a now junior at UW-Madison but an incoming high school junior at the time, scurried around the hockey rink at tryouts. Little did he know what was about to hit him. He was so fixated on the puck and his stick, doing his best to make the team, that he didn’t notice the other player and the side of the rink so close to him. Crash! His body—and head—hit the boards.
Introducing Sciencecast: Climate Change Series! Twice a month, we will explore various facets of climate change through interviews with UW experts.
Yellowstone National Park is the nation’s oldest national park, spanning one of the largest swathes of wilderness in America. It’s famed for its pristine landscape and iconic wildlife. As UW-Madison’s Eugene P. Odum professor of ecology Monica Turner states, Yellowstone is the “crown jewel” of American national parks. However, Yellowstone’s forests, along with forest ecosystems elsewhere, are in danger of climate change.
Why do knuckles pop? What are black holes?
While earthworms are generally welcomed in soils for their ability to break down dead leaves and other organic matter into nutrients the plants can absorb, the invasive Asian jumping worm does so at an astounding rate, potentially accelerating the losses of nutrients from soils and harming native plants.
Previous UW-Madison research suggests autism can be reliably diagnosed by age two, but fewer than half of children with autism spectrum disorders are being identified in their communities by age five nationwide.
Dear Ms. Scientist, Why are so many people right handed? Manuel A. About 90 percent of all people around the world are right-handed.
An assistant scientist at UW-Madison has a developed new design strategy for creating much more stable synthetic collagen, a previously difficult task.
A fourth-year biomedical engineering student at UW-Madison has won the grand prize of an international, GE sponsored, university challenge for his proposed technique to do the impossible.
For the general population, satellites are simply there to help watch T.V., text, for the conspiracy theorists, spying or for a Skynet-esque takeover.
In one of nature’s more endearing displays, a panda paws at a narrow, basil-colored stick of bamboo.