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Low-cost climate-change insurance could help ensure better future
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Doing a little now to mitigate long-term climate change would cost much less than doing nothing and making an adjustment in the future, say scientists whose paper appears in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Science. Implementing a carbon tax of five cents per gallon of gasoline and gradually increasing the […]
At molecular scale, vibrational couplings define heat conduction
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Too much heat can destroy a sturdy automobile engine or a miniature microchip. As scientists and engineers strive to make ever-smaller nanoscale devices, from molecular motors and switches to single-molecule transistors, the control of heat is becoming a burning issue. The shapes of molecules really matter, say scientists from the University of […]
Strano named one of the world’s top young innovators by Technology Review
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Michael S. Strano, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been chosen as one of the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, the world’s oldest technology magazine. Selected by the magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the TR100 comprises people […]
Self-assembly generates more versatile scaffolds for crystal growth
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Self-organizing synthetic molecules originally used for gene therapy may have applications as templates and scaffolds for the production of inorganic materials. Using electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged molecules as the binding force, scientists are learning how to organize these synthetic molecules into more versatile complexes with large and controllable pore sizes. “By […]
Molecular motor Myosin VI moves ‘hand over hand,’ researchers say
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In the human body, hundreds of different types of biomolecular motors help carry out such essential tasks as muscle contraction, moving chromosomes during cell division, and reloading nerve cells so they can repeatedly fire. How these little proteins perform their duties is becoming clearer to scientists using an extremely sensitive measurement technique. […]
Illinois professor to receive award from Materials Research Society
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Nick Holonyak Jr., a John Bardeen Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as the 2004 recipient of the Von Hippel Award from the Materials Research Society. The award will be presented Dec. 1 at the MRS meeting in Boston. Holonyak […]
Colloidal adsorbent removes natural organic matter from water supply
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Microbial degradation products and other forms of natural organic matter can make water look, smell and taste bad. Natural organic matter also can foul the membranes used in water treatment plants, significantly reducing their efficiency. Now, a polymer-based colloidal adsorbent developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers an environmentally friendly […]
Low-cost fibers remove trace atrazine from drinking water
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new generation of high surface-area porous materials for removing atrazine from water supplies has been developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The low-cost and wear-resistant fibers also can remove the hazardous contaminants chloroform and trichloroethylene, both byproducts of the commonly used chlorine disinfection process. “We’ve shown that […]
University to decommission research reactor
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has begun the process of decommissioning its nuclear research reactor. The process will take several years to complete and will be carried out under the scrutiny of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy. Built in 1959, the research reactor was placed in […]
Asteroid named for U. of I. astronomy professor
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – James B. Kaler, professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, now has even more reason to be gazing at the night sky. He has had an asteroid named after him. Asteroid 17851 Kaler was discovered on May 1, 1998, with the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking system in Haleakala, Hawaii. […]
Asymmetric feature shows puzzling face for superconductivity
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The weird behavior of electrons tunneling across an atomically flat interface within a cuprate superconductor has defied explanation by theories of high-temperature superconductivity. As will be reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, a team of scientists led by physics professor James Eckstein at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has found […]
Silicon-based photodetector is sensitive to ultraviolet light
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – By depositing thin films of silicon nanoparticles on silicon substrates, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have fabricated a photodetector sensitive to ultraviolet light. Silicon-based ultraviolet sensors could prove very handy in military, security and commercial applications. “Silicon is the most common semiconductor, but it has not been useful for […]