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Seven Illinois professors elected AAAS Fellows
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Seven University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors have been elected 2023 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are among the 502 scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society. The new U. of I. fellows are computer science […]

Nothing is everything: How hidden emptiness can define the usefulness of filtration materials
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Voids, or empty spaces, exist within matter at all scales, from the astronomical to the microscopic. In a new study, researchers used high-powered microscopy and mathematical theory to unveil nanoscale voids in three dimensions. This advancement is poised to improve the performance of many materials used in the home and in the […]

What can researchers learn about ecosystems and the environment during the total solar eclipse?
Scientists across the U.S. and Mexico are engaging in a one-day data-gathering operation to record how the 2024 total solar eclipse affects various aspects of life on Earth. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, crop sciences and plant biology professor Carl Bernacchi and his colleagues will focus on atmospheric and ecosystem-scale responses to the eclipse. […]

Expert advises eclipse watchers to get the best vantage point – are you ready?
Leslie Looney is an astronomy professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and director of the Laboratory for Astronomical Imaging. He spoke with News Bureau physical sciences and media editor Lois Yoksoulian about the significance of solar eclipses and what to expect on April 8. There are many different types of solar eclipses: What kind […]

Electrochemistry helps clean up electronic waste recycling, precious metal mining
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new method safely extracts valuable metals locked up in discarded electronics and low-grade ore using dramatically less energy and fewer chemical materials than current methods, report University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering. Gold and platinum group metals such as palladium, platinum and iridium are in high […]

Study brings scientists a step closer to successfully growing plants in space
New, highly stretchable sensors can monitor and transmit plant growth information without human intervention, report University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers in the journal Device. The polymer sensors are resilient to humidity and temperature, can stretch over 400% while remaining attached to a plant as it grows and send a wireless signal to a remote monitoring […]

First atom-level structure of packaged viral genome reveals new properties, dynamics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A computational model of the more than 26 million atoms in a DNA-packed viral capsid expands our understanding of virus structure and DNA dynamics, insights that could provide new research avenues and drug targets, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report in the journal Nature. “To fight a virus, we want to know […]

Study: ‘Legacy’ phosphorus delays water quality improvements in Gulf of Mexico
The same phosphorous that fertilizes the thriving agriculture of the Midwest is also responsible for a vast “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico near the Mississippi Delta. Efforts to reduce the amount of phosphorus that enters the Mississippi River system are underway, but research led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests that remnants […]

Genetic sequencing uncovers unexpected source of pathogens in floodwaters
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers report in the journal Geohealth that local rivers and streams were the source of the Salmonella enterica contamination along coastal North Carolina after Hurricane Florence in 2018 – not the previously suspected high number of pig farms in the region. These findings have critical implications for controlling the spread of disease […]

Why are global carbon emissions starting to increase again?
On Dec. 5, the Global Carbon Project published the Global Carbon Budget 2023, giving world leaders access to data on atmospheric carbon concentrations, emissions and trends. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign atmospheric scientist Atul Jain is among the many scientists worldwide who contributed data to the report. Jain talked about the current state of the carbon […]

In TED Talk, Long describes three photosynthetic changes that boost crop yields
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a newly released TED Talk, Stephen Long, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of plant biology and crop sciences, detailed his and his colleagues’ efforts to boost photosynthesis in crop plants. He described three interventions, each of which increased crop yields by 20% or more. Long is the director of the […]

Researchers engineer a material that can perform different tasks depending on temperature
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers report that they have developed a new composite material designed to change behaviors depending on temperature in order to perform specific tasks. These materials are poised to be part of the next generation of autonomous robotics that will interact with the environment. The new study conducted by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign civil […]