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Like ozone hole, polar clouds take bite out of meteoric iron
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Polar clouds are known to play a major role in the destruction of Earth’s protective ozone layer, creating the springtime “ozone hole” above Antarctica. Now, scientists have found that polar clouds also play a significant role in removing meteoric iron from Earth’s mesosphere. The discovery could help researchers refine their models of […]
Gene that plays key role in replicating viruses also halts inflammation
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying vaccinia virus, a close relative of smallpox, have determined that a gene necessary for virus replication also has a key role in turning off inflammation, a crucial anti-viral immune response of host cells. The discovery, reported this month in the Journal of Virology, […]
Measurement technique can image how heat moves through material
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Infrared cameras create images by detecting the heat given off by an object, including the body of a soldier hidden in the dark of night. Now, researchers have developed a technique for imaging how fast heat can move through an object. Thermal conductivity – the rate at which heat flows through a […]
Fatty acid pathway, glucose produce triacetic acid lactone
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have designed a potential roadmap to use a biosynthetic pathway taken from a common microorganism to produce compounds that could serve as precursors to explosives or components in everyday devices such as liquid crystal displays or anti-cancer agents. In a presentation April 1 at […]
New technique uses household humidifier to create nanocomposite materials
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In what may sound like a project from a high school science fair, scientists are using a household humidifier to create porous spheres a hundred times smaller than a red blood cell. The technique is a new and inexpensive way to do chemistry using sound waves, the researchers say. In the home, […]
CARMA groundbreaking set for March 27
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Astronomers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be major participants in the construction and operation of a new millimeter-wave telescope array to be located in the high desert of California. Groundbreaking for the facility – called the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy – is set for 2 p.m. […]
New polyelectrolyte inks create fine-scale structures through direct writing
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Like spiders spinning webs, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are creating complex, three-dimensional structures with micron-size features using a robotic deposition process called direct-write assembly. As reported in the March 25 issue of the journal Nature, Jennifer Lewis and her research team have developed novel inks that readily flow […]
Biotechnology ‘investment visionary’ to speak at Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A longtime leader and promoter of biotechnology will speak about the potential for state and regional development of the industry at 2 p.m. Wednesday (March 17) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. G. Steven Burrill, chief executive officer of Burrill & Co., will speak in Room 102B of the Chemical and […]
High-performance, single-crystal plastic transistors reveal hidden behavior
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Printing circuits on sheets of plastic may offer a low-cost technique for manufacturing thin-film transistors for flexible displays, but maximizing the performance of such devices will require a detailed, fundamental understanding of how charge flows through organic semiconductors. Now, an unusual way of fabricating single-crystal organic transistors has allowed scientists to probe […]
Toxin combination common in fish appears capable of impairing motor skills
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Pups of female rats exposed to a combination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and methylmercury (MeHg) slip and fall more often trying to maneuver on a rotating rod than do pups from non-exposed moms, scientists say. The findings, published in the February issue of the journal Toxicological Sciences, come from a study focusing […]
Insights gained from molecular modeling may lead to better insecticides
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – One of the most damaging crop pests, the corn earworm, may be outwitting efforts to control it by making structural changes in a single metabolic protein, but new insights uncovered by molecular modeling could pave the way for more efficient insecticides, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a […]
Exercise sharpens focus, decision-making among aging adults
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Aging adults who give up a sedentary lifestyle and replace it with a cardiovascular fitness regimen as simple as brisk walks reap greater focus and reduced decision-making conflict as they perform a variety of tasks, scientists say. That conclusion comes from a study that utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure changes […]