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Membraneless fuel cell is tiny, versatile
Membraneless fuel cell is tiny, versatile James E. Kloeppel, Physical Sciences Editor 217-244-1073; kloeppel@illinois.edu 3/15/2005 STORY The system designed by Paul Kenis, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, uses a Y-shaped microfluidic channel in which two liquid streams containing fuel and oxidant merge and flow between catalyst-covered electrodes without mixing. E.R. Choban, L.J. Markoski, […]
Staying positive when helping a child with homework stimulates motivation
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Your child has a homework assignment, doesn’t understand it and is acting helpless. So what’s a parent to do? Help, but stay loving and make the process fun, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Reducing the negative from this commonly occurring, stress-filled evening ritual can pay off, says Eva […]
Unique weather a factor in record 2004 Midwest crop yields
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – If farmers talk big about 2004 crops as they get ready to head out into the fields this spring, let them talk. Believe them. Last year’s crop season saw record yields in every major crop amid the closest-to-perfect weather conditions of the last century, scientists say. “Never before have corn, soybeans, sorghum, […]
Bill Hammack, U. of I. engineering professor, named Jefferson Science Fellow
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Bill Hammack, a professor of chemical and of biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been named a Jefferson Science Fellow by the U.S. Department of State. Hammack is one of five tenured research scientists and engineers chosen to work alongside senior diplomats and policymakers for a year in […]
Rare blue poppy among highlights of event at U. of I. Plant Biology Conservatory
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Area flower lovers are invited to get a close-up look at one of the world’s rare, true blue flowers, the Meconopsis (mee-koh-NOP-sis), known more widely as the Himalayan blue poppy, Saturday and Sunday (March 19-20) at the Plant Biology Conservatory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The “Himalayan Blue Poppy Show” […]
Carver Trust grant to advance molecular studies at Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Rapidly advancing tools let researchers amass oceans of biological data – so much so that fishing out the meaning is as daunting as climbing a mountain without gear. A new $3.15 million, three-year grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, however, will make the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign a national […]
Temperature inside collapsing bubble four times that of sun
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Using a technique employed by astronomers to determine stellar surface temperatures, chemists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have measured the temperature inside a single, acoustically driven collapsing bubble. Their results seem out of this world. “When bubbles in a liquid get compressed, the insides get hot – very hot,” said […]
Bugs, even the ‘bad’ ones, can be educationally beneficial, new book says
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – We have much to learn from bad bugs, according to Gilbert Waldbauer, whose book “Insights From Insects: What Bad Bugs Can Teach Us” was published today (Prometheus Books). “We know a lot about pests, because so much money is spent on their research,” said Waldbauer, professor emeritus of entomology at the University […]
Chemists synthesize molecule that helps body battle cancers, malaria
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The first synthesis of QS-21A, a medicinally important molecule that helps the body battle disease, has been achieved by chemists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In clinical trials, QS-21A has been shown to significantly improve the body’s immune response in vaccine therapies against aggressive diseases such as melanoma, breast cancer, […]
High-fidelity patterns form spontaneously when solvent evaporates
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Resembling neatly stacked rows of driftwood abandoned by receding tides, particles left by a confined, evaporating droplet can create beautiful and complex patterns. The natural, pattern-forming process could find use in fields such as nanotechnology and optoelectronics. “A lot of work in nanotechnology has been directed toward the bottom-up imposition of patterns […]
High-intensity ultrasound creates hollow nanospheres and nanocrystals
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Using high-intensity ultrasound, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created hollow nanospheres and the first hollow nanocrystals. The nanospheres could be used in microelectronics, drug delivery and as catalysts for making environmentally friendly fuels. “We use high-intensity ultrasound to generate nanoparticles of molybdenum disulfide or molybdenum oxide, which bind […]
Illinois student programmers to compete in ‘Battle of the Brains’
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Three computer science students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will travel to Shanghai, China, April 3-7 to participate in the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. The students, John Carrino, Stephen Downing and Jeffrey Tamer, defeated teams from Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Tennessee to earn […]