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University to decommission research reactor
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has begun the process of decommissioning its nuclear research reactor. The process will take several years to complete and will be carried out under the scrutiny of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy. Built in 1959, the research reactor was placed in […]
Asteroid named for U. of I. astronomy professor
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – James B. Kaler, professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, now has even more reason to be gazing at the night sky. He has had an asteroid named after him. Asteroid 17851 Kaler was discovered on May 1, 1998, with the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking system in Haleakala, Hawaii. […]
Asymmetric feature shows puzzling face for superconductivity
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The weird behavior of electrons tunneling across an atomically flat interface within a cuprate superconductor has defied explanation by theories of high-temperature superconductivity. As will be reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, a team of scientists led by physics professor James Eckstein at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has found […]
Isolated soy protein shown to benefit type 2 diabetics, study indicates
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Isolated soy protein added to the diets of 14 men, all military veterans under treatment for advanced stages of type 2 diabetes, significantly lowered unwanted proteins in their urine and slightly raised desired HDL cholesterol levels in their blood, researchers say. The two improved areas are linked to kidney disease and coronary […]
Scientists build on case connecting inflammatory disease and depression
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Feeling sick can be “all in the head” for people with inflammatory disorders or for those receiving immunotherapy, say Robert Dantzer and Keith Kelley, professors in the department of animal sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “For the first time, we have evidence of a strong relationship between a molecular […]
Misfiring proteins tied to inflammation and sick feeling of type 2 diabetics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After a series of studies in the laboratory of Dr. Gregory Freund, a clearer picture is emerging: A disruption of signaling proteins in the immune system may be responsible for the inflammation that makes someone with type 2 diabetes feel sick and increases the risk of serious complications. Freund, the head of […]
Negative self-image of adolescents fosters increasingly damaging behaviors
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Adolescents who think little of themselves tend to shy away from interactions with peers. This uncertainty and withdrawal then draws negative feedback from other students, prompting even more withdrawal and leaving them with few chances to have close friends and as targets for teasing or bullying. Such are the findings of a […]
Silicon-based photodetector is sensitive to ultraviolet light
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – By depositing thin films of silicon nanoparticles on silicon substrates, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have fabricated a photodetector sensitive to ultraviolet light. Silicon-based ultraviolet sensors could prove very handy in military, security and commercial applications. “Silicon is the most common semiconductor, but it has not been useful for […]
Production of high-fidelity entangled photons exceeds 1 million per second
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Like virtuosos tuning their violins, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have tuned their instruments and harmonized the production of entangled photons, pushing rates to more than 1 million pairs per second. The brighter and purer entangled states could assist researchers in applications involving quantum information processing – such as […]
Chipmunks descended from ancestors that survived last ice age, scientists say
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Well, nuts. Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) have upset the apple cart of assumptions on glacier-driven population migrations. Based on a mitochondrial DNA analysis of 244 chipmunks, it seems the majority of them living in Illinois and Wisconsin today descend from ancestors who survived the last North American ice age in what researchers […]
DARPA funds new photonic research center at Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has received a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to create a photonic research center to develop ultra-fast light sources for high-speed signal processing and optical communications systems. The grant will provide $6.2 million in funding over four years. The Hyper-Uniform Nanophotonic Technology Center […]
Printable silicon for ultrahigh performance flexible electronic systems
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – By carving specks of single crystal silicon from a bulk wafer and casting them onto sheets of plastic, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated a route to ultrahigh performance, mechanically flexible thin-film transistors. The process could enable new applications in consumer electronics – such as inexpensive wall-to-wall displays […]