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Flexible tactile sensors could help robots work better
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A robot’s sensitivity to touch could be vastly improved by an array of polymer-based tactile sensors that has been combined with a robust signal-processing algorithm to classify surface textures. The work, performed by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is an essential step in the development of […]
Researchers to receive EPA award for efforts to protect ozone layer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Donald Wuebbles, a professor and head of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his fellow members of the Ozone Science Tiger Team will receive the 2005 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. The award will be presented Wednesday (May 4) at a ceremony in Washington, […]
U. of I. scholars elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Frederick K. Lamb and Ralph G. Nuzzo, professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have been elected fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Election to the American Academy is an honor that acknowledges the best of all scholarly fields and professions. Among the academy’s 196 other new fellows […]
Biosphere is source, not sink, for carbon dioxide emissions, study shows
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Converting forests into croplands and pastures reduces carbon storage, say scientists who studied the impacts of human-induced change on terrestrial ecosystems. The study results have important implications for predicting carbon dioxide levels, and will help provide a more complete understanding of Earth’s carbon cycle. In its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel […]
Geologist digs deep – the Pito Deep, 6,000 meters beneath the ocean
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Late last January, while most people were battling winter’s cold and snow, University of Illinois structural geologist Stephen Hurst left for a month long cruise in the South Pacific. It was no vacation, though. Hurst joined a team of scientists, engineers and technicians who set sail from Easter Island to explore the […]
Synergistic SuperGrid for transporting energy moves closer to reality
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The concept of a high-capacity superconducting energy pipeline, or SuperGrid, moved closer to reality when experts from industry, government and academia attended a recent workshop at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “The SuperGrid could meet the nation’s growing energy demands well into the 21st century while reducing our consumption of fossil […]
European modernism and information society focus of U. of I. conference
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Scholars representing disciplines as diverse as architecture, urban planning, science, technology, cultural studies and library and information science – will gather May 6-8 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a conference on “European Modernism and the Information Society: Informing the Present, Understanding the Past.” The conference, which takes place at […]
New material structure produces world’s fastest transistor
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new type of transistor structure, invented by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has broken the 600 gigahertz speed barrier. The goal of a terahertz transistor for high-speed computing and communications applications could now be within reach. The new device – built from indium phosphide and indium gallium arsenide […]
Molecular motors cooperate in moving cellular cargo, study shows
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Researchers using an extremely fast and accurate imaging technique have shed light on the tiny movements of molecular motors that shuttle material within living cells. The motors cooperate in a delicate choreography of steps, rather than engaging in the brute-force tug of war many scientists had imagined. “We discovered that two molecular […]
University of Illinois to host state championship Rube Goldberg contest
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois State Championship Rube Goldberg Machine Contest for High Schools will be held in the Newmark Civil Engineering Building, 205 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 9. The contest pays homage to Goldberg, a satirical cartoonist best known for his designs of ridiculously complicated gadgets that […]
Interim-dean designate named, pending board approval, for engineering college
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Ilesanmi Adesida has been named interim-dean designate of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign pending approval of the U. of I. board of trustees. David Daniel, the dean of the college, will remain in his position through May, before assuming his new duties as the president of […]
Weather forecasts may be predictors for prevalence of West Nile virus
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Weather forecasts could become barometers for predicting the potential threat of West Nile virus to humans and wildlife, according to scientists at two state agencies based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Researchers at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) report a reliable link […]