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Illinois researchers examine teens’ use of generative AI, safety concerns
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Information sciences professor Yang Wang and doctoral student Yaman Yu examined teens’ use of generative AI and found parents had little understanding of how their children used it and that GAI platforms offer insufficient safety protections.
How can the health care system more effectively support caregivers?
More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults provide unpaid care to another individual. Caregivers to loved ones with aging, disability or health concerns face challenges within the healthcare system and in their personal lives, but policy and culture changes can help, said Mina Raj, a professor of health and kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Nanorobot hand made of DNA grabs viruses for diagnostics and blocks cell entry
A tiny, four-fingered “hand” folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to infect them, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report.
Study: Brilliant white male characters more believable, some viewers say
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Brilliant characters often play key roles in movies and TV shows. However, when these characters are played by women and people of color, some audience members dismiss them as unrealistic, even if they portray real people and events, a recent study found. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign communication professor Matea Mustafaj found that […]
What message did voters send this election?
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Brian Gaines is a professor of political science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Honorable W. Russell Arrington Professor in State Politics at the U of I System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. Gaines, who studies elections and public opinion, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the state of the […]
Study tracks PFAS, microplastics through landfills and wastewater treatment plants
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Most of the PFAS and microplastics that flow into wastewater treatment plants from sewers and landfills end up back in the environment, a new study finds.
How are outbreaks of foodborne illness found and fixed?
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Outbreaks of foodborne pathogens, such as the E. coli linked to fast-food hamburgers in several states, expose vulnerabilities in the food supply chain but also present opportunities to learn new prevention strategies, said Matt Stasiewicz, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
New PFAS removal process aims to stamp out pollution ahead of semiconductor industry growth
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study is the first to describe an electrochemical strategy to capture, concentrate and destroy mixtures of diverse chemicals known as PFAS — including the increasingly prevalent ultra-short-chain PFAS — from water in a single process. This new development is poised to address the growing industrial problem of […]
History professor’s book looks at Brazil’s longest-lasting maroon society, its influence today
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The largest and longest-lasting society formed by people who escaped slavery and their descendants endured for a century in northeastern Brazil, and it continues to be a potent political symbol of Black pride today. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Marc Hertzman wrote about the settlement and how memories of it survive […]
New book examines the impact of colonialism on Puerto Rico
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Powerful hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic, spiraling public debt and political corruption triggered humanitarian, economic and environmental crises in Puerto Rico. However, a new book suggests that the Puerto Rican and U.S. governments made these multilayered crises catastrophic through the socioeconomic, legal and racialized structures and conditions they created. “Crisis by Design: Emergency […]
New study: Earthquake prediction techniques lend quick insight into strength, reliability of materials
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Materials scientists can now use insight from a very common mineral and well-established earthquake and avalanche statistics to quantify how hostile environmental interactions may impact the degradation and failure of materials used for advanced solar panels, geological carbon sequestration and infrastructure such as buildings, roads and bridges.
Illinois professor’s book explores the relationship between beauty and crisis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Creating and nurturing beauty in dark times helps us endure another day. Beauty can help us appraise how we live and how we can build better lives. Its presence or absence is a critique of the social and political structures that are necessary to allow it to flourish, said Mimi Thi Nguyen, […]