2016-07-01
- Mary-Dell Chilton arrived on the University of Illinois campus in 1956 as a celebrated young scientist—she had just been named a finalist in America’s top high school science competition, the Intel Science Talent Search. A chemistry major, Chilton didn’t take a particular interest in molecular biology at first, nor did she know that Illinois faculty members were at the forefront of this emerging...
2016-06-30 - In less than the blink of an eye, Einstein's theory of relativity is on its way to becoming scientific fact. Scientists have observed gravitational waves—ripples in the fabric of spacetime—for the second time, and researchers at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and departments of astronomy and physics at U of I were part of the collaboration identifying the event.Scientists...
2016-06-29 - A new study has clarified how brain structure and chemistry give rise to specific aspects of “fluid intelligence,” the ability to adapt to new situations and solve problems one has never encountered before. The study, reported in the journal NeuroImage, links higher concentrations of a compound indicating energy production—a “marker”—in the brain with an improved ability to solve...
2016-06-27 - Students attending the U of I’s Summer Institute for Languages of the Muslim World’s introductory course in Arabic say that’s it’s been full of pleasant surprises, not the least of which is how tired they are at the end of an intensive day.These high school students, who have limited or no prior knowledge of Arabic, are enrolled in June to study Modern Standard Arabic. Upon completion they’ll...
2016-06-20 - It’s called the latitudinal diversity gradient, a phenomenon seen today in most plant and animal species around the world: Biodiversity decreases from the equator to higher latitudes. But a new study of fossils representing 63 million of the past 65 million years reveals that—for North American mammals, at least—the modern LDG is the exception rather than the rule.The findings, reported in the...
2016-06-15 - Millions will be vacationing this summer at national parks and hundreds of other sites managed by the National Park Service, which turns 100 this August. Robert Pahre, a political science professor at Illinois, has written extensively about the often-complex issues surrounding the parks, focusing especially on Yellowstone, where he each summer...
2016-06-10 - Bradley Hartmann grew up around lumber yards and construction sites. Now founder and “El Presidente” of Red Angle, Inc., he’s still in the construction business—and putting his degree to use helping builders and suppliers adapt to an industry that communicates increasingly in Spanish. Occupation: Founder and El Presidente of Red Angle, Inc....
2016-06-10 - The U.S. Department of Defense released its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative program awards last month, and three faculty members from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences are part of the newly funded research efforts. The annual MURI program encourages cutting edge research on college campuses by funding select studies through an application process. Two of the honored...
2016-06-09 - Editor’s note: Rising income inequality has been brought front and center as an issue in this year’s presidential campaign. But do we really know what’s driving it, and the keys to closing the gap? Are popular explanations supported by research and data? Sociologist Kevin Leicht has focused much of his career on inequality and related issues, and suggests a rethink in...
2016-06-06 - Leon Cooper is accustomed to facilitating reunions, but his most treasured ones typically don’t have so many people. The Chicago White Sox and a crowd of more than 28,000 home fans honored Cooper, 96, for his military service and his work advocating for the safe return of World War II soldiers’ bodies that remain scattered on Pacific islands more than 70 years after the war...
2016-06-01 - It is early May in central Belize, nearing the end of the dry season. While farmers anxiously await the beginning of the rainy season vital for crops, archaeologists hope it starts as late as possible. Tropical storms transform the landscape, making it difficult to get around, even in four-wheel-drive vehicles. Also, excavating in the clayey mud is not fun.We did not start this season excavating...
2016-05-26 - A new study reveals that police recruits and experienced officers are more likely than others to subscribe to colorblind racial beliefs—the notion that they (and people in general) see no differences among people from different racial groups and treat everyone the same.The findings appear in the journal Race and Social Problems.The study, conducted by a range of researchers in...
2016-05-24 - The U.S. has been a leading voice for human rights. It’s also run prison camps, now and in the past, that denied people those rights. A. Naomi Paik wanted to explore that contradiction—finding out why these camps were organized, how they were justified, how prisoners have been treated and their response to that treatment. The result is her book “Rightlessness: Testimony and...
2016-05-19 - Occupants of Noyes Laboratory can expect plenty of construction on the third floor during the next 18 months—more noise at Noyes—but the result will be a more productive research environment for dozens of chemists.Construction for the Center for Theoretical Chemistry, a new state-of-the-art hub for theoretical chemists at Illinois, will begin in June. The 10,600-square-foot center will be built...
2016-05-16 - At the age of seven, Aadeel Akhtar met a little girl during a trip to his home country of Pakistan. They were similar in age and background, but Akhtar noticed something that made them worlds apart. The little girl was missing her right leg. Rather than the support of a prosthetic limb to make her whole again, she was forced to rely on a tree branch as a crutch. In that moment...
2016-05-16 - University of Illinois history professor Harry Liebersohn has been chosen to receive the prestigious Humboldt Research Award honoring a career of research achievements.The Humboldt award is presented by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn, Germany, honoring up to 100 researchers annually. Recipients are “academics whose fundamental...
2016-05-16 - Mental health experts are familiar with associations between clinically depressed parents and their teenagers’ risk taking, but a new study at Illinois has for the first time concluded that parental depression contributes to greater brain activity in areas linked to risk taking in adolescent children. “This is the first empirical evidence to show that parental depression...
2016-05-13 - Imagine—instead of acres of oil wells on barren land—endless fields of towering green sugarcane, with each stalk producing renewable and sustainable biofuel. The University of Illinois and the University of Florida have been awarded a third round of funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to realize ultra-productive biofuel...
2016-05-12 - When she headed to campus as a freshman, Donna O’Shaughnessy, who is now a graduating senior, didn’t bring a smart phone.Or a laptop computer.Or a debit card.She hadn’t taken an anti-technology pledge. Those technologies simply didn’t exist when her parents dropped her off at school the summer after she graduated from Joliet East High School in 1976.She was the first in her family to attend...
2016-05-11 - Teachers and advisers in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have been recognized in the college and across campus for excellence in guiding students through their studies at Illinois.Each year, LAS shines a light on a handful of its outstanding faculty and staff with annual teaching and advising awards. Professors, teaching assistants, specialized faculty, and advisers were chosen for six...
2016-05-09 - Melissa Luebbe was an active student while she studied speech communication at Illinois, but one of the best things she did for her career was asking a single question: Can you give me an internship? Read how that led to the launch of a successful career promoting tourism. Occupation: National...
2016-05-05 - The reopening of a renovated Lincoln Hall in 2012 represented a fresh start not only for the building and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, but for eight incoming freshmen who enrolled that fall as the first scholarship recipients of the Lincoln Scholars Initiative. The initiative, a scholarship program for promising...
2016-05-04 - Several individual and group outreach efforts in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have been recognized by the University of Illinois for advancing solutions to matters of public importance. Recipients in the college and elsewhere on campus received the 2016 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagements, presented by Interim Chancellor Barbara J. Wilson, also...
2016-05-03 - Two professors at the University of Illinois have received grants from the U.S. Department of Energy (D.O.E.) designated for promising young scientists.Alison Fout, professor of chemistry, and Jessica Krogstad, professor of materials science and engineering, received 2016 Early Career Research Program grants through the D.O.E. The grants provide at...
2016-04-29 - As the universe expands, perhaps it’s only natural that the Astronomy Open House does, too. For the first time organizers made the open house a full-day event, and it was a success: the Department of Astronomy estimated that some 500 people attended. “The open house was our first ever of its kind, and exceeded our expectations in...