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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 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, […]

Agriculture The researchers stand in a field at the U. of I. Energy Farm.

Study identifies best bioenergy crops for sustainable aviation fuels by U.S. region, policy goals

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers analyzed the financial and environmental costs and benefits of four biofuels crops used to produce sustainable aviation fuels in the U.S. They found that each feedstock — corn stover, energy sorghum, miscanthus or switchgrass — performed best in a specific region of the rainfed United States. Their study will help growers […]

Engineering An overhead view of a large landslide showing a detachment and numerous land fractures

Researchers clarify how soft materials fail under stress

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Understanding how soft materials fail under stress is critical for solving engineering challenges as disparate as pharmaceutical technology and landslide prevention. A new study linking a spectrum of soft material behaviors — previously thought to be unrelated — led researchers to identify a new parameter they call the brittility factor, which allows […]

Life sciences The researchers in a laboratory. Between them is a fish tank with an octopus inside that has been placed in the temporary tank for the photograph.

From ‘CyberSlug’ to ‘CyberOctopus’: New AI explores, remembers, seeks novelty, overcomes obstacles

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — By giving artificial intelligence simple associative learning rules based on the brain circuits that allow a sea slug to forage — and augmenting it with better episodic memory, like that of an octopus — scientists have built an AI that can navigate new environments, seek rewards, map landmarks and overcome obstacles. Reported […]

Life sciences Physical sciences Two men in front of projected microscope images.

A heart of stone: Study defines the process of and defenses against cardiac valve calcification

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The human body has sophisticated defenses against the deposition of calcium minerals that stiffen heart tissues, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators at UCLA Health and the University of Texas at Austin found in a new study that provides the first detailed, step-by-step documentation of how calcification progresses. “Heart […]

Behind the scenes Aarya Mehta gets hoisted up as he throws his arms out to the eclipse as members of the Illini Astronomical Society celebrate witnessing the historic total solar eclipse

The Great American Eclipse and all of its magic

MARTINSVILLE, Ill. — Crowds of people bustle about at the Martinsville Agricultural Fairgrounds on a Monday afternoon with their eyes on the sky. The air ripples with excitement as we eagerly await our chance to witness the moon consuming the sun — a total solar eclipse! I am one of many students representing the University […]

Engineering Graduate student Yingqi Jia, left, and professor Shelly Zhang in their lab

Researchers introduce programmable materials to help heal broken bones

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Natural materials like bone, bird feathers and wood have an intelligent approach to physical stress distribution, despite their irregular architectures. However, the relationship between stress modulation and their structures has remained elusive. A new study that integrates machine learning, optimization, 3D printing and stress experiments allowed engineers to gain insight into these […]

Life sciences Portrait of researchers in a laboratory. They are sitting in front of two computer monitors displaying data and visualizations of their experiments.

By listening, scientists learn how a protein folds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —  By converting their data into sounds, scientists discovered how hydrogen bonds contribute to the lightning-fast gyrations that transform a string of amino acids into a functional, folded protein. Their report, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers an unprecedented view of the sequence of hydrogen-bonding events that occur when […]

Honors A collage of the portraits of the five honorees.

Five Illinois faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Five University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honorary societies in the United States. Nancy M. Amato, Rashid Bashir, Alison Bell, Charles Gammie and Paul Selvin are among the 250 inductees for 2024.  Founded in 1780, the academy recognizes scientists, artists, scholars and leaders […]

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