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By creating molecular ‘bridge,’ scientists change function of a protein
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – By designing a molecular bridge, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have forged a successful pathway through a complex ocean of barriers: They’ve changed the function of a protein using a co-evolution approach. In a study to be published in the Journal of Molecular Biology, doctoral student Zhilei Chen and […]
Researchers to receive EPA award for efforts to protect ozone layer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Donald Wuebbles, a professor and head of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his fellow members of the Ozone Science Tiger Team will receive the 2005 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. The award will be presented Wednesday (May 4) at a ceremony in Washington, […]
Scientists issue warning about dangers beetle poses to Illinios ash trees
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Campers across Illinois are being asked to be firewood wary. There could be an unwanted pest hidden inside that could be devastating to the state’s 118 million ash trees if it emerges later this summer from unburned wood. The pest is the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), an exotic, half-inch-long beetle. It […]
U. of I. scholars elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Frederick K. Lamb and Ralph G. Nuzzo, professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have been elected fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Election to the American Academy is an honor that acknowledges the best of all scholarly fields and professions. Among the academy’s 196 other new fellows […]
Biosphere is source, not sink, for carbon dioxide emissions, study shows
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Converting forests into croplands and pastures reduces carbon storage, say scientists who studied the impacts of human-induced change on terrestrial ecosystems. The study results have important implications for predicting carbon dioxide levels, and will help provide a more complete understanding of Earth’s carbon cycle. In its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel […]
Geologist digs deep – the Pito Deep, 6,000 meters beneath the ocean
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Late last January, while most people were battling winter’s cold and snow, University of Illinois structural geologist Stephen Hurst left for a month long cruise in the South Pacific. It was no vacation, though. Hurst joined a team of scientists, engineers and technicians who set sail from Easter Island to explore the […]
Students sleep in professor’s class with their pillows and his blessing
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With final exams just around the corner, stress levels are rising for college students everywhere. But at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, students in kinesiology professor Weimo Zhu’s class are riding out the tension in the “horse position” – a meditative posture characterized by slightly bent knees and outstretched arms. The […]
European modernism and information society focus of U. of I. conference
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Scholars representing disciplines as diverse as architecture, urban planning, science, technology, cultural studies and library and information science – will gather May 6-8 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a conference on “European Modernism and the Information Society: Informing the Present, Understanding the Past.” The conference, which takes place at […]
Synergistic SuperGrid for transporting energy moves closer to reality
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The concept of a high-capacity superconducting energy pipeline, or SuperGrid, moved closer to reality when experts from industry, government and academia attended a recent workshop at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “The SuperGrid could meet the nation’s growing energy demands well into the 21st century while reducing our consumption of fossil […]
Psychological reasoning begins earlier than had been thought, study shows
CHAMPAIGN, IL. – According to conventional wisdom, babies don’t begin to develop sophisticated psychological reasoning about people until they are about 4 years old. A study of 15-month-olds at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign proves otherwise. The findings, published in the April 8 issue of the journal Science, potentially could lead to an early […]
Avian flu, rabies among topics of infectious disease conference at Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Asian bird flu and rabies will be among the topics April 21-22 (Thursday-Friday) during the eighth annual Conference on New and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases hosted by the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. Asian bird flu has killed at least 47 people in Southeast Asia, and although rabies in domestic animals […]
Information on three new agricultural pests enhances web tool for farmers
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Three more pests – fruit tree leafroller, lilac borer and western bean cutworm – have been added this spring to the Illinois State Water Survey’s Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring program, a Web-based tool that provides helpful information for the state’s farmers. WARM, created in the late 1980s, helps the agricultural community […]