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New crash analysis system helps investigators target main cause of airplane accidents
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. A new crash analysis system is helping accident investigators shed more light on the main causal factor of aviation accidents: human error. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) developed by Douglas A. Wiegmann, a professor in the University of Illinois Institute of Aviation, and Scott A. Shappell of the Federal Aviation […]
Efficient fertilizer use could benefit river without hurting crop yields
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. A computational study on nitrogen inputs to the Mississippi River Basin from the 1950s to the 1990s suggests that better use of the fertilizer such as not over-applying it could substantially reduce the amount of nitrates flowing down river without compromising crop yields. The study, appearing in the Nov. 8 issue of the […]
AAAS Fellows elected
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Four University of Illinois researchers Paul D. Coleman, Richard I. Gumport, Jean-Pierre Leburton and Bruce R. Schatz are among 288 scientists elected as 2001 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellowship recognizes “efforts toward advancing science or fostering applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished,” according to the […]
New UI center to study effects of exposure to toxicants in fish
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine is home to a new federally funded center that will study the effects of exposure to toxicants in fish being eaten in large quantities by Laotian and Hmong refugees in Green Bay and Appleton, Wis. Researchers from five institutions will work in the UI-based consortium, […]
Microbiologists, other panelists to participate in anthrax forum
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Two University of Illinois microbiologists will be among the five panelists participating in a free, public forum on anthrax and bioterrorism that begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 24) in Lincoln Hall Theater, 702 S. Wright St., Urbana. Members of the audience will be able to ask questions of the expert panelists after […]
‘i-emerging’ event to showcase new technologies seeking investors
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. A computer that can recognize users faces, and even their moods. A method of delivering vaccine by a single pill that would eliminate the need for booster shots. An electronic “nose” that could be used by physicians to monitor dialysis patients and diagnose disease and by USDA inspectors to ensure fish is fresh. […]
UI researchers to take part in research on gene function in mustard plant
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. University of Illinois researchers have major roles in a newly announced $43.8 million National Science Foundation-funded initiative to define the function of the genes in a plant considered a model for understanding all plants. Eventually, their findings could have dramatic implications for all agricultural crops. Researchers from 43 institutions will focus on the […]
Lecture on human genome postponed
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. A lecture on the human genome, scheduled for Thursday at the University of Illinois, has been postponed because of Tuesdays terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. Eric Green, chief of the Genome Technology Branch and director of the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the […]
Pollen from one Bt corn variety reduced growth rates among black swallowtail caterpillars
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Pollen from a Bt corn variety carrying a now-phased-out genetically inserted pesticide known as event 176 dramatically reduced growth rates among black swallowtail caterpillars in University of Illinois field tests, researchers report. Because rainfall repeatedly reduced pollen concentrations during the summer 2000 test period, the results “must be considered conservative,” the scientists said. […]
Lectures launch yearlong exploration of new biology
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. What are the implications now that the human genome has been sequenced? How will that scientific breakthrough, along with others in the field of biology, affect various areas of human life, from health and medicine to food production? Exploring those questions is the goal of a yearlong initiative at the University of Illinois, […]
Easter named acting dean of ACES
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Robert A. Easter was named today to be acting dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. He will become interim dean, pending approval of the Board of Trustees at its meeting Sept. 13 in Chicago. Easter, an expert in swine nutrition, has served as the […]
Soil suggests early humans lived in forests instead of grasslands
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Carbon isotope evidence in almost 6-million-year-old soils suggests that the earliest humans already were evolving in and likely preferred humid forests rather than grasslands, report a team of scientists working in Ethiopia. The discovery challenges long-held beliefs, beginning with Darwin, that humans did not evolve into upright beings and thrive until expanding tropical […]