Wisconsin

Researchers identify key to cancer cell mobility

In the race to cure cancer, researchers look for roadblocks that could stop cancer in its tracks, preventing it from spreading to other parts of the body. Scientists from Wisonsin may have found that blockade - an enzyme critical to the ability of cells to metastasize, a biological phenomenon by which cells migrate.

Researchers study first soybean harvest from International Space Station

Like farmers across the nation bringing in their crops this season, researchers in Wisconsin are carefully taking stock of a very special harvest ? one grown aboard the International Space Station.

Cutting calories slows aging of the heart

To remain young at heart, eat less. That's the message drawn from new research out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where a team of scientists studied middle-aged mice that were put on a calorie-restricted diet. What they found were signs of a remarkable uptick in heart health in old age. "It looks like caloric restriction just retarded the whole aging process in the heart," said one of the researchers. The new study provides evidence that -- even starting in middle age -- cutting calories can confer significant health benefits for the heart and extend its working life. It does so, according to the team's results, by exerting influence on the genetic program that governs heart cells.

Kids with Down syndrome learn language beyond adolescence

Researchers have traditionally thought that language learning in children with Down syndrome stopped during the teenage years. As a result, Down youth typically received no language instruction after puberty. But a new study suggests the opposite: that individuals with Down syndrome can benefit from language intervention programs during adolescence and beyond, precisely because it takes them longer to learn. Down syndrome is a developmental disability resulting from an extra copy of chromosome 21, and it affects about 5,000 newborns in the United States every year. Most children begin learning language skills, such as grammar and speaking, at rapid rates early in their lives. Children with Down syndrome, however, typically experience delays in language development, learning more slowly and at varying rates.

Now for something really important ... pork!

Treating pork and other livestock meat with plain old baking soda improves the taste, Wisconsin researchers have found. "For years consumers have noticed that pork quality is inconsistent. A major reason is that the meat from some pigs becomes pale, soft and watery after they are slaughtered, according to Robert Kauffman, an expert on pork quality and a UW-Madison emeritus professor." Vegetarians in the audience should move on now, as this clearly meat-friendly story may make you a little uncomfortable.

In case you were wondering

The Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services has published a four-point guide to hand washing. This is not a comment on the brain capacity of those in the "Forward" state, but rather a reminder of the single best way to fend off illness.

The steps are:

1. Wet your hands, ideally with very warm water.

2. Add soap, then rub your hands together to make a soapy lather. Vigorously scrub the front and back of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails, for no less than 10 seconds before you ...

3. Rinse the lather off your hands, letting the water run into the sink, not down your arms.
4. In public restrooms, use a paper towel to turn off the water so you don't touch a potentially-dirty handle, then ...

5. Dry your hands thoroughly with a clean towel.

All right, it's a five-point plan. Math never was Wisconsin's strong suit. But, ummm, the cheese....

Silicon storage: That's a lot of data!

Richard Feynman once said that all the information in all the books in the world could theoretically fit in a cube 1/200th of an inch on a side. Looks like he got it right, says Technology Research News. Reporting on advances in data storage, the magazine says researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison have demonstrated the successful use of single silicon atoms to represent the ones and zeroes that are modern data storage. The result, in theory, is the ability to store the equivalent of 7,800 DVDs in one square inch of material. Engineering limitations mean writing atomic bits is impractically slow at the moment. But the Madison work is a realistic analysis of bit stability and recording density, says one scientist who has examined the work.