News Bureau

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A series of experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois suggest that society's emphasis on action over inaction may lead to unforeseen consequences.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - With the threats of cybercrime, cyberterrorism and cyberwarfare looming over our hyper-connected world, the best defense for the U.S. might be a good offense, says new research by a University of Illinois expert in technology and legal issues.

A Minute With™... David Ikenberry, a professor of finance and the chair of the finance department in the College of Business

Illinois alumnus and actor, humorist, author and woodworker Nick Offerman, best known for his role as Ron Swanson on the NBC hit comedy series "Parks and Recreation," will be the U. of I.’s commencement speaker Saturday, May 13.

Illinois theatre students’ adaptation of “An Enemy of the People” considers how the truth gets told (or not told) during a public health crisis.

The New York-based Builders Association theater company will premiere “STRANGE WINDOW: The Turn of the Screw,” a new take on Henry James’ novella, at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. The company developed the production during a residency at Krannert Center.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new study co-written by a University of Illinois expert in math education suggests that incorporating technology in high school-level geometry classes not only makes the teaching of concepts such as congruency easier, it also empowers students to discover other geometric relationships they wouldn't ordinarily uncover when more traditional methods of instruction were used.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Roger Ebert's Film Festival, April 27 to May 1 in Champaign-Urbana, has added a 13th film, to be accompanied by its writer/director and one of its stars. Panel discussions and other festival events also have been finalized.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Three additional guests and the schedule of film-related panel discussions have been announced for the 15th annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival, also known as "Ebertfest," taking place April 17-21 at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign and at the University of Illinois.

A Minute With™... UI theater professor Daniel Sullivan

My mask keeps my face warm as I make my way to the Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Laboratory this cold November morning. Campus is starting to empty out as students leave for the holidays. However, with cases of COVID-19 increasing again, many students may not return until next semester and many others will be isolating in their homes. Back in March, I worked remotely when the pandemic shut campus down, and since early summer, I have been working in person again. After the holidays pass, I hope we won’t have to give up our time in the laboratory to do virtual work alone.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. announced a $10 million grant to establish the ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss at the UI. The global institute will work with farmers in the developing world to help preserve millions of metric tons of grains and oilseeds lost each year to pests, disease, mishandling and other factors.

Paying for goods with a smartphone not only increases the overall transaction amount and frequency of purchases by consumers, it also effectively replaces the actual, physical credit cards in their wallets, said Yuqian Xu, a professor of business administration at the Gies College of Business at Illinois.

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities on Illinois’ Medicaid wait list who are minorities, in poor health or unable to speak are more likely to have unmet service needs, a new study by University of Illinois researchers found.

As new environmental regulations are rolling out to mitigate the industry-retired long-chain chemicals known as PFAS in drinking water, there are concerns regarding a new breed of “forever chemicals” called short-chain PFAS. Research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is helping shift the focus to include mitigation of the chemicals – which researchers say are just as persistent as, more mobile and harder to remove from the environment than their long-chain counterparts.

It takes a lot of energy to collect, clean and dispose of contaminated water. Some contaminants, like arsenic, occur in low concentrations, calling for even more energy-intensive selective removal processes.

Ribosomes, the cellular machines that build proteins, are themselves made up of dozens of proteins and a few looping strands of RNA. A new study, reported in the journal Nature, offers new clues about how the ribosome, the master assembler of proteins, also assembles itself.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In the current world of product placement, cross-promotion, pop-up ads, and ad-driven politics, it's hard to imagine there was ever a time when advertising as an institution was severely challenged.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Competition may be inherent in the field of advertising, but for one small group of men and women, the name of the game will be collaboration.

A Minute With™... advertising professor Michael Giardina

A curriculum that has involved hundreds of Illinois youths in advocating for policy changes in their communities also could help schools fulfill a new state mandate that makes civics education a requirement for high school graduation.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Krannert Art Museum will display African art in a new light - literally and figuratively - beginning Thursday (Oct. 11), with an opening reception for the installation of about 70 artworks from the museum's holdings, including four new contemporary acquisitions, in the museum's freshly renovated gallery. The installation will include loans from the Smithsonian Institution, the art museums of the University of Iowa and the University of Wyoming, and the Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The men and women dancing on the stage wore earth-colored clothing covered with leaves, and their bodies and faces were painted with roots and branches. Their arms swayed gracefully like tree branches in a breeze. At other times, they exploded with energy, or movement swept across the large cast en masse.

A Minute With™... Robert Bruno,  a professor of labor and employment relations

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - What could be lower than the lowly parsnip, a root once prized for its portable starchiness but which was long ago displaced by the more palatable potato? Perhaps only the parsnip webworm gets less respect. An age-old enemy of the parsnip, the webworm is one of very few insects able to overcome the plant's chemical defenses. The tenacious parsnip webworm has followed the weedy version of the parsnip in its transit from its ancestral home in Eurasia to Europe, North America and - most recently - New Zealand.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A nine-month-long, randomized controlled trial involving 221 prepubescent children found that those who engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for at least 60 minutes a day after school saw substantial improvements in their ability to pay attention, avoid distraction and switch between cognitive tasks, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

"...fixing the major problems that Illinois has – both in policy and in finances – is going to require the governor to work in cooperation with rather than in opposition to the majorities in the General Assembly, and vice versa"

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Artist Suk Ja Kang Engles initially began to ponder issues of race and identity as a teenager growing up in a small town in Korea.

Despite their having generally permissive attitudes about sexuality in later life, many young adults also harbor ageist misperceptions and erroneous beliefs, according to a new study led by Liza Berdychevsky at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Dominant, non-native plants reduce wetland biodiversity and abundance more than native plants do, researchers report in the journal Ecology Letters. Even native plants that dominate wetland landscapes play better with others, the team found.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Aging adults may joke about memory lapses and "early Alzheimer's." They may worry when they can't understand a drug plan or lose track of the characters in a novel.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - University of Illinois engineers are bringing a touch of color to glucose monitoring.

High school students perform better on tests if they are in a classroom with a view of a green landscape, rather than a windowless room or a room with a view of built space, according to research from the University of Illinois Department of Landscape Architecture.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Genetically modified organisms and their relationship to intellectual property rights will be the topic of a conference at the University of Illinois.

When given the choice, honey bee foragers prefer to collect sugar syrup laced with the fungicide chlorothalonil over sugar syrup alone, researchers report in the journal Scientific Reports.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - They're watching them in Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, India and Niger. They're learning how to stop the spread of dengue, malaria, tuberculosis, cholera and food-related illness. They're learning how to protect their crops from insect damage or post-harvest losses. And they're coming up with new ideas for similar lessons to share with their neighbors or others around the world.

A semiautonomous robot being developed by University of Illinois scientists may soon be roaming agricultural fields gathering and transmitting real-time data that crop breeders can use to identify the genetic traits in plants likely to produce the greatest yields.

A new lightweight, low-cost agricultural robot, developed by a team of scientists at the University of Illinois, could transform data collection and field scouting for agronomists, seed companies and farmers.

Japan House has developed a mobile guide to its gardens, which visitors can listen to on their phones for a self-guided tour.

Saturday afternoons for your typical Malaysian high school student are drastically different than what they’re like in the United States. The overriding emphasis here on government exams and grades often confines these youngsters to hours of extra classes and studying, even on the weekends. One of our jobs as Fulbright English teaching assistants is to try to make learning fun by organizing special camps that promote conversational English. But as we get started, the students seem a bit wary.

A new artificial intelligence tool can predict the functions of enzymes based on their amino acid sequences, even when the enzymes are unstudied or poorly understood. The researchers said the AI tool, dubbed CLEAN, outperforms the leading state-of-the-art tools in accuracy, reliability and sensitivity. Better understanding of enzymes and their functions would be a boon for research in genomics, chemistry, industrial materials, medicine, pharmaceuticals and more.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A proposed merger of Delta and Northwest airlines likely won't drive up the cost of flying, but that could change if the deal sparks a flurry of consolidation among U.S. air carriers, a University of Illinois business professor says.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Thirty years ago, U.S. airlines stopped arbitrarily grounding passengers on overbooked flights, instead offering rewards if travelers give up seats to make room for hurried fliers who need to touch down on time.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Baggage screeners have just seconds amid loud airport noises and the pressure of rushed airline travelers to scan X-rays of carry-on items for weapons. How good they are at finding one may depend on the specificity of their training, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Alejandro Lleras, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois and an affiliate of the Beckman Institute, is a recipient of an Early Faculty CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. The $400,000 award will be distributed over five years, beginning in 2008.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Millions of alien invaders live in the United States, and a select bunch of them cause an estimated $20 billion in damage each year. These are not repulsive life-threatening beings from Mars and beyond; rather they are insects and other arthropods, some barely distinguished from homegrown varieties. Some of these aliens will star in this years Insect Fear Film Festival on Feb. 9.

A Minute With™... English and linguistics professor Dennis Baron

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Alison Bell, a University of Illinois animal biology professor, is a recipient of the 2012 Young Investigator Award from the Animal Behavior Society. The society recognized Bell for her "remarkable research contributions to the field of animal behavior and the early training of young scholars" in her laboratory.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. -Stopping to smell the coffee - and enjoy a cup of it - before your morning workout might do more than just get your juices flowing. It might keep you going for reasons you haven't even considered.

Scientists placed honey bee hives next to soybean fields in Iowa and tracked how the bees fared over the growing season. To the researchers’ surprise, the bees did well for much of the summer. The colonies thrived and gained weight, building up their honey stores. But in August, the trend reversed. By mid-October, most of the honey was gone and the overwintering brood was malnourished, the team discovered.