Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Science and technology

Social sciences Psychology professor Brent Roberts stands in front of a large window with trees outside.

Report: Conscientiousness, not willpower, is a reliable predictor of success

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to two psychologists, the field of psychological science has a problem with the concept of self-control. It has named self-control both a “trait” — a key facet of personality involving attributes like conscientiousness, grit and the ability to tolerate delayed gratification — and a “state,” a fleeting condition that can best […]

Earth and environmental sciences

More than maps: New atlas captures the state of global river systems through human context

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The word “atlas,” may conjure images of giant books chock full of maps and a dizzying array of facts and figures. However, the new book “The World Atlas of Rivers, Estuaries, and Deltas” tells the story of these waterways long before human intervention and how they continue to evolve in the presence of — and often at odds with — human civilization. The new atlas is a highly visual guide to the most up-to-date research on the world’s river systems, with an emphasis on the mutual relationship between people and these vital landscapes.

Life Sciences Photo of Allen Barton wearing a dress shirt and tie leaning on a metal railing.

New relationship project strengthens couples’, individual partners’ well-being

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois residents who took part in a new couples’ relationship strengthening program reported many improvements in their connections with their spouses or partners and in their individual well-being too, research suggests. The program, the Illinois Strong Couples project, focuses on topics such as communication, conflict management and friendship to help couples strengthen […]

Life sciences A group of researchers stands in an atrium.

Breaking open the AI black box, team finds key chemistry for solar energy and beyond

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for researchers, but with a significant limitation: The inability to explain how it came to its decisions, a problem known as the “AI black box.” By combining AI with automated chemical synthesis and experimental validation, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign […]

Life sciences Portrait of Huimin Zhao in one of the biofoundry facilities on the U. of I. campus.

NSF funds new iBioFoundry at Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A newly funded U.S. National Science Foundation iBioFoundry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will build on more than a decade of research at the U. of I. to integrate synthetic biology, laboratory automation and artificial intelligence to advance protein and cellular engineering. This is one of five new biofoundries to be […]

Physical sciences Researchers in the lab

Scientists use evolution to bioengineer new pathways to sustainable energy, pharmaceuticals

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Using evolution as a guiding principle, researchers have successfully engineered bacteria-yeast hybrids to perform photosynthetic carbon assimilation, generate cellular energy and support yeast growth without traditional carbon feedstocks like glucose or glycerol. By engineering photosynthetic cyanobacteria to live symbiotically inside yeast cells, the bacteria-yeast hybrids can produce important hydrocarbons, paving new biotechnical […]

Agriculture Researcher Rabin Bhattarai portrait

Study tracks decades of extreme heat, cold in Upper Midwest

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers analyzed meteorological data from nine Upper Midwest states from 1979-2021, tracking trends in extreme heat and cold over every 4-kilometer square of that territory. They found striking regional differences in the extremes. Many parts of the Upper Midwest experienced significant upticks in the number of extreme heat days over the 40 […]

Life sciences Professors Mani Nakamura  and John Erdman, along with team members Nouf Alfouzan and Catherine Applegate, standing with scales.wi

Weight-loss success depends on eating more protein, fiber while limiting calories, study says

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Participants on a self-directed dietary education program who had the greatest success at losing weight across a 25-month period consumed greater amounts of protein and fiber, a study found. Personalization and flexibility also were key in creating plans that dieters could adhere to over time.  At the one-year mark, successful dieters (41% […]

Expert viewpoints Kendra Calhoun stands in front of a bright banner displaying terms used to fool social media algorithms.

How do people use self-censorship to avoid having their content suppressed on sites like TikTok?

Anthropology professor Kendra Calhoun studies the creative language people use on social media platforms to fool algorithms that may incorrectly categorize content as “inappropriate” or “offensive.” Calhoun spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about this phenomenon, which she calls “linguistic self-censorship.” In a recent report, you and your coauthor, Alexia Fawcett of the University of […]

Arts Photo of a group of musicians in a semi-circle outside, most of whom are playing percussion instruments and two of whom are playing French horns.

Illinois researchers’ project seeks to learn from Indigenous practices in music, engineering

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — An interdisciplinary research project has led to new ways of making music and of approaching engineering design through interactions with Indigenous communities in Bolivia and Sierra Leone. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign music professor and professional French horn player Bernhard Scully and engineer and Carle Illinois College of Medicine teaching professor of biomedical […]

Life sciences Joseph Irudayaraj in the lab

PFAS found in nearly all fish tested from four northern Illinois rivers

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists tested nine fish species from four northern Illinois rivers for contamination with per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals found in numerous industrial and commercial products and known to be harmful to human health. They found fish contaminated with PFAS in every one of their 15 test sites. Elevated levels of PFOS, […]

Life sciences Researchers Laura Rice and Sahel Moein

Study: Fear of falling, fall-related injuries haunt full-time wheelchair, motorized scooter users

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Many studies have focused on falls among people who are ambulatory and have conditions like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease, but research to address falls among those who rely on wheelchairs or motorized scooters is rare, scientists report in a new study. The researchers found that full-time wheelchair or motorized-scooter users also […]

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