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Illinois team tests the costs, benefits of agrivoltaics across the Midwest
A new study examines the agricultural and economic trade-offs that come with installing solar arrays on working farms across the Midwest.
New water-treatment system removes nitrogen, phosphorus from farm tile drainage
Scientists have developed a system to reduce levels of nitrogen and phosphorus that flow through farm tile drains and pollute the environment.
Splitting hairs to keep the public safe
Graduate student Lance Jones works to identify potentially infectious ticks found in Illinois.
Insect-human hybrids are onscreen at Insect Fear Film Festival
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Insect-human hybrids provide the scares at the 2026 Insect Fear Film Festival at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The festival, which is hosted by the Entomology Graduate Student Association, takes place Feb. 28 at Foellinger Auditorium. It is free and open to the public. Insect-human hybridization has long been a theme for […]
Alzheimer’s gene boosts seizures, but pathway can be targeted, study finds
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The gene most strongly correlated with Alzheimer’s disease also boosts seizure activity by decreasing levels of ions pumps and energy-producing enzymes in neurons, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found. Furthermore, the energy-making pathway was stimulated and seizures reduced in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease by administration […]
Grasshopper wing structure inspires design of gliding robot wings
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A collaboration between Princeton University engineers and entomologists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign began with the researchers chasing grasshoppers in a hot parking lot. Their eventual focus on the hindwings of one species of grasshopper, Schistocerca americana, the American grasshopper, is inspiring a new approach to untethered gliding flight. The scientists […]
Medications could help the aging brain cope with surgery, memory impairment
Simple pharmaceutical interventions could help older brains cope with memory impairment and recovery after surgery, new studies in mice suggest.
What’s the state of the research landscape?
Academic research is a public good that reflects American values, says University of Illinois science policy expert Kelvin Droegemeier.
Book prepares K-12 leaders for the next public health crisis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a new book, a team of experts in educational policy, epidemiology and public health chronicles the challenges faced by educators, public health authorities and school officials during the COVID-19 pandemic and offers a guide to some of the lessons learned as K-12 schools weathered that crisis. One key message: Collaboration between […]
What should consumers know about the current health care debate?
Those who wish to overturn the Affordable Care Act have struggled for years to replace it. If Congress fails to pass a better plan or extend ACA subsidies, insurance premiums will skyrocket for millions of Americans next year. The alternative, a proposal to expand health savings accounts, is even more problematic, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign health and kinesiology professor emeritus Thomas O’Rourke.
New computer simulation could light the way to safer cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals
New psychoactive substances, originally developed as potential analgesics but abandoned due to adverse side effects, may still have pharmaceutical value if researchers could nail down the causes of those side effects. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign used deep learning and large-scale computer simulations to identify structural differences in synthetic cannabinoid molecules that cause them to bind to human brain receptors differently from classical cannabinoids.
Study finds that tweaked synthetic polymers boost conductivity
A new study marks a significant step forward in positioning synthetic polymers as an alternative for expensive, unsustainable minerals used in the manufacture of devices such as conductors, transistors and diodes.