2017-07-06
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Westerners view handshaking more positively than do East Asians, researchers report in a new study. Western men also rate handshakes initiated by men and women differently, the study found.
The research is reported in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
“We know from previous studies that handshaking positively affects people’s first...
2017-07-05 - The University of Illinois is hosting a Human-Animal Studies Summer Institute that one of its organizers hopes will put Illinois at the forefront of the emerging interdisciplinary field.Anthropology professor...
2017-06-30 - What does the word “scientist” bring to mind? If it’s a tall man with crazy hair straight out of “Back to the Future,” you’re far from alone. That’s a big reason why Katy Heath teaches biology not only to college students, but to children during the Girls Explore Biology Camp, hosted each summer on campus. “There has been a dearth of role models for women in science,” said Heath, a professor...
2017-06-30 - The last time the state of Illinois had a total solar eclipse the University of Illinois was a mere two years old. It’s been 148 years since the state has witnessed the moon completely block out the sun in the sky.But now a total solar eclipse will occur in southern Illinois at around 1:20 p.m. on Monday, August 21.“It just grabs you around the heart,” said Leslie Looney, professor of...
2017-06-28 - The heart is a dynamic muscle that grows and shrinks in response to stressors such as exercise and disease. The secret to its malleability lies in individual cells, which get bigger or smaller depending on the heart’s needs. A new study of mouse hearts reveals a previously unknown mechanism by which heart cells control their size by ramping up or stopping the production of a key...
2017-06-26 - The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will award the Chancellor’s Medallion to three men who have dedicated their professional lives to preserving and making available the history of the university. Honored in a June 28 ceremony will be Winton Solberg, a professor emeritus of history; Maynard Brichford, the university’s first...
2017-06-23 - A professor of microbiology at Illinois has been named an Allen Distinguished Investigator by the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, which will bring $1.5 million over the next three years to her research of microbial evolution. Rachel Whitaker, leader of the Infection Genomics for One Heath research theme at the Carl...
2017-06-22 - Fourteen University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students and young alumni –including 11 from the College of LAS—have been offered student Fulbright grants to pursue international educational, research and teaching experiences this coming year throughout Eastern and Western Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. The flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by...
2017-06-21 - Scientists know a lot about weather. However, there is still one aspect that isn’t totally understood: the initiation and development of thunderstorms. That’s why atmospheric scientists at Illinois are soon heading to a small, geographical area in western Argentina to study what are considered the most intense thunderstorms on the planet. Illinois is leading the $30 million...
2017-06-21 - These days it seems that anti-Americanism is a never-ending topic in international news, but a new book edited by anthropology professors Virginia Dominguez and Jane Desmond reveals that foreign perceptions of the United States are more complex and varied than some commentators would have you believe. “...
2017-06-15 - Research from Illinois was presented to the U.S. Senate on Thursday as advocates of agricultural research highlighted the importance of congressional support. The research of Amy Marshall-Colón, professor of plant biology, was one of the projects featured during the Senate Agriculture Committee’s hearing, titled “Agricultural...
2017-06-14 - Biking roughly 4,000 miles across the country might seem daunting, but to members of the Illini 4000, the reason for riding couldn’t be anymore clear.“We’re not just riding our bikes for fun,” said Dan Reeter, a student in actuarial science. “We’re riding our bikes for a real cause and that makes everything a lot easier, just focusing...
2017-06-13 - When Tim Green, editor of Rattle magazine, called Julie Price, senior lecturer in English, at her home, Price looked at the caller ID and almost didn’t answer the phone.“T. Green, hmm…that sounds like Tru-Green lawn services. I’m not going to answer that,” she recalled with a laugh. “Then it occurred to me, oh man, this is a Los Angeles number. What...
2017-06-09 - Researchers at the University of Illinois are contributing to the development of more environmentally friendly catalysts for the production of plastic and resin precursors that are often derived from fossil fuels. The key to their technique comes from recognizing the unique physical and chemical properties of certain metals and how they react with hydrogen peroxide. Many...
2017-06-08 - For a moment, put yourself in a police officer’s shoes: You arrive at a warehouse where a man is hunting his estranged wife with a gun. As you rush around a corner, you hear a gunshot and see a woman on the floor. The killer sees you, drops his weapon immediately, and says that he’s glad he did it.Do you shoot?This is one situation that people were asked to consider during the recent...
2017-06-02 - For Chad Garland, reporting on the war against ISIS in Iraq requires body armor, bravery, and not a small amount of wits and wisdom—much of which he credits to his days at Illinois as he earned degrees in Russian language and literature and rhetoric. Job...
2017-05-31 - Three respected professors and campus leaders have been selected to serve as associate deans in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.Matthew Ando, head of the Department of Mathematics, and Kelly Ritter, professor of English, will join the College of LAS Office of the Dean. Ando will serve as...
2017-05-31 - Derek Hoot of Middleton, Wisconsin, a senior at the University of Illinois, has been offered an $18,500 David L. Boren Scholarship to fully cover the cost of his academic year 2017-18 study abroad experience at the Qasid Institute for Classical and Modern Standard Arabic in Jordan. A political science major with a minor in Arabic studies and a member...
2017-05-25 - A small, thin square of an organic plastic that can detect disease markers in breath or toxins in a building’s air could soon be the basis of portable, disposable sensor devices. By riddling the thin plastic films with pores, University of Illinois researchers made the devices sensitive enough to detect at levels that are far too low to smell, yet are important to human health...
2017-05-24 - In wake of a terrorist attack, news organizations often showcase the blaring of the sirens, the herd of emergency vehicles, and the grieving victims affected by the violence. But according to Scott Althaus, director of the Cline Center for Democracy and professor of political science and...
2017-05-23 - Zong-qi Cai, professor of East Asian languages and cultures at Illinois, is growing in prominence as an expert on understanding Chinese literature. He recently signed an agreement with Columbia University Press to be the general editor of a book series titled “How to Read Chinese Literature.” Also, Cai’s journal, PRISM: Theory and...
2017-05-22 - Contrary to posters you may have seen hanging on the walls in science class, Lijun Liu, professor of geology at Illinois, knows that Earth’s interior is not like an onion. While most textbooks demonstrate the outer surface of the Earth as the crust, the next inner level as the mantle, and then the most inner layer as the core, Liu...
2017-05-19 - Twelve students in the Lincoln Scholars Initiative graduated from the University of Illinois this academic year, making them the second class of LAS students who have earned a degree with support from the successful scholarship program. Formed in 2012 to support promising LAS students with financial need, the Lincoln Scholars...
2017-05-18 - The University of Illinois recently welcomed a noteworthy alumnus of the College of LAS. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work returned to campus for a tour of several state-of-the-art research facilities. Work (BS, ’74, biology) visited as an official representative of the Department of Defense (DoD), for which he has served...
2017-05-18 - Two new studies link patterns of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood to the integrity of brain structures and cognitive abilities that are known to decline early in aging. The studies add to the evidence that dietary intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids can promote healthy aging, the researchers said. Further research is needed to test this hypothesis, they said...