2016-02-19
- When scientists recently announced that they observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves, thus confirming a major prediction in Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity, astronomers and physicists at Illinois were electrified with excitement—and not just...
LAS News Archive
2016-02-18 - A new study from the University of Illinois using an advanced computer model casts doubt on previously held theories about the Yellowstone supervolcano’s origins, adding to the mystery of Yellowstone’s formation. “Our model covered the entire history of Yellowstone volcanic...
2016-02-17 - New research has identified regions in the United States where bioenergy crops would grow best while minimizing effects on water quantity and quality.Researchers at the University of Illinois used detailed models to examine impacts on water quantity and quality in soils that would occur if existing...
2016-02-12 - The Center for African Studies and Department of African American Studies at Illinois have been selected to host part of an initiative by President Obama to develop education, public service and community organizational skills in young leaders from Africa.In mid-June, Illinois will welcome 50 young...
2016-02-10 - Boxer Muhammad Ali famously declared his intent to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee,” but perhaps boxers should look to another type of insect for inspiration: the trap-jaw ant.In a new study, entomologists at the University of Illinois and North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences...
2016-02-09 - Four graduate students affiliated with the College of LAS were winners during the first ever Research Live! campus competition that focused on participants’ abilities to present their findings clearly and succinctly in less than three minutes.Ipek Tasan, Marc Ryan Gancayo, Vahid Mirshafiee and...
2016-02-03 - Kelly Ritter may not be teaching any classes right now, but she’s taken on a key role rethinking how students learn at Illinois. The English professor and current director of the Department of English’s Undergraduate Rhetoric Program has joined the Office of the Provost, helping to expand a new...
2016-02-01 - Images of disease and suffering should move smokers to kick the habit—at least, that’s the thinking behind graphic warning labels used on cigarette packages in much of the world, and maybe someday in the U.S. According to a University of Illinois study, however, “the good...
2016-01-26 - Five years ago this month, the Tunisians had brought down a dictator and the Egyptians were on their way to doing the same, beginning with massive demonstrations that grabbed the world’s attention. Protest and revolution would soon spread throughout the Middle East; it would be labeled as the “Arab...
2016-01-21 - It’s not exactly Pink Floyd declaring we don’t need no education, but according to a new study from U of I, children who participate in a collaborative group to learn about significant social issues become better decision-makers than those who learn the same curriculum through teacher-led...
2016-01-15 - Jan. 28 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, when a space shuttle exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all seven crew members, including a school teacher. For Americans, it was one of those “where were you when” events, like the Kennedy assassination before it and 9/11...
2016-01-12 - The Earned Income Tax Credit aids millions of Americans each year, lifting many out of poverty—but a U of I study suggests that spacing out the credit in multiple payments could significantly reduce recipients’ dependence on payday loans and borrowing from family and friends.Study participants who...
2016-01-07 - Most historical accounts describe the Illinois Indians of the late 1600s as a weak and beleaguered people, shattered by war. Their Grand Village of the Kaskaskia, near present-day Starved Rock State Park, 80 miles southwest of Chicago, was depicted as little more than a refugee center, propped up...
2016-01-06 - The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities has been awarded a $4.2 million grant renewal from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to foster collaborative research and advance other programs through its Humanities Without Walls initiative.Humanities...
2015-12-30 - Six researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.They are among 347 new fellows honored this year by AAAS for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its...
2015-12-18 - It’s been another exciting and productive year for LAS alumni, and each year the LAS Alumni Association and the dean of the College of LAS select past graduates to receive LAS Alumni Achievement awards, the LAS Outstanding Young Alumni Award, the LAS Humanitarian Award, and the LAS Quadrangle Award...
2015-12-04 - Drought takes a deep toll on crops—and there are places so dry that farmers won’t even try to plant there. A multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, however, will help researchers at the University of Illinois reduce the effects of dry spells and potentially turn millions of...
2015-12-01 - Guy Padbury’s work for the Upjohn pharmaceutical company hit closer to home than he ever expected when his father was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Padbury’s team with Upjohn did the metabolism research on a molecule that was licensed to Eli Lily and went on to become the drug...
2015-12-01 - A pair of LAS alumni responsible for momentous breakthroughs in science have been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. The late William Sparks (PhD, chemistry,’36) and the late Welton Taylor (BA, ’41, MS, ’47, and PhD...
2015-12-01 - A monstrous whale rams and sinks the whaling ship Essex, and the ship’s surviving crew members struggle to stay alive in whaleboats while attempting to reach South America. The 1820 maritime disaster served as inspiration for Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick.” A film of the story—“In the Heart of the...
2015-12-01 - A student in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences who has presented her award-winning research on statistical climate change modeling to Illinois legislators has been named a prestigious Marshall Scholar, for postgraduate study in the United Kingdom.Leah Matchett, a senior from Grand Haven,...
2015-12-01 - Ted Brown remembers the day he drove a car inside the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology–the large, interdisciplinary laboratory that anchors the northern edge of the University of Illinois campus. It was the late 1980s, and the beautiful building was still...
2015-12-01 - Seven University of Illinois researchers have been named to the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list for 2015, meaning that they produce some of the most influential work in their fields."About 3,000 researchers earned this distinction ... ranking among the top 1 percent most cited for...
2015-12-01 - World leaders met in Paris for the United Nations’ 21st Conference of the Parties climate talks from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, reaching an agreement on climate change mitigation efforts at the end of the conference. Illinois atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain was among the many scientists worldwide...
2015-12-01 - When David Kranz was growing up in the Chicago suburbs, his parents would pack their six children into the station wagon and head up to Wisconsin. There, he and his identical twin brother tracked down snakes and turtles, and went swimming and fishing. These trips fostered a love...