News Bureau – Illinois

A wide angle photo of rice paddies in Vietnam in the foreground and tall mountains in the background

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Global rice production nearly doubled despite climate change, driven largely by human management

Rice production nearly doubled in the past half-decade, despite the negative impacts of climate change.

Photo of several dried mushroom stems and caps on a white tabletop.

Health and Medicine

Study: Millions in the US report past-year psilocybin use

More than 8 million people in the U.S. reported using psilocybin in the past year, a new analysis reveals.

Health and Medicine

Shiga-producing E. coli infections becoming more resistant to antibiotics, study finds

Antibiotic resistance is on the rise among E. coli that produce the Shiga toxin.

Photo of food science and human nutrition professor Toni Gist wearing a suit and pearl jewelry.

Campus Life

AI, virtual reality give students a taste of study abroad experiences

An innovative general education course in food science gives students intercultural learning experiences similar to what they might obtain through study abroad.

Earth and Environmental Sciences Researcher portrait standing in front of graphics from study

Researchers advance first-of-its-kind AI tool for translating life-saving weather warnings across the US

A new study led by Joseph Trujillo-Falcón documents how artificial intelligence is used to translate life-saving weather forecasts and alerts into non-English languages.

Arts

Photo of a group of violinists from Apollo's Fire standing and playing onstage.

Krannert Center announces performers for 2026-27 season

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts’ 2026-27 season features a variety of performers, including jazz and classical music, theater and dance.

Life Sciences Research News Veterinary Medicine Photo of researchers in the laboratory. They are standing in front of dozens of fish tanks.

One simple trick makes zebrafish a better model for microbiome research

A new advance in animal husbandry involving a popular aquarium fish should speed the pace of microbiome research, scientists report.

Campus News Honors Students on a university quadrangle.

Awards recognize excellence in public engagement at Illinois

Honorees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were recognized with the 2026 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement.

Campus Life A man, Sean Evans, in graduation regalia delivering a Commencement speech

Illinois Commencement Speaker Sean Evans: ‘You don’t need to know what happens next. You just need to be ready for the heat.’

“Hot Ones” host Sean Evans was the 2026 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Commencement speaker. Read the transcript of his speech.

Earth and Environmental Sciences A satellite image of the Po River Delta in Italy.

New study provides rule of thumb to estimate land sustainability in river deltas

A new study finds that the well-established Hack’s law may help engineers control water flow and reduce flood risks along river deltas.

Behind the Scenes

Photo of someone kneeling in the dirt and planting a small sapling, while wearing a bunch of leaves on their head.

Planting a pocket forest

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s 5:14 a.m., and the sun hasn’t come up yet. I’m at the Illinois Arboretum parking lot among a crowd of 70 students, faculty and community members, all awaiting the beginning of the same event — interdisciplinary artist Deke Weaver’s sunrise tree planting procession. Weaver, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign art professor, […]

Photo of a student placing weights on top of a bamboo stick truss while other students watch.

Designing, building and breaking things

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bamboo skewers carefully arranged in the form of a truss span the space between two tables in the Temple Buell Architecture Gallery. Students gather around to watch as 5-pound and 10-pound weights are added one at a time, either on top of the truss or hanging from the bottom along its length. […]

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