News Bureau

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Partisans beware! Some of your most cherished political attitudes may be malleable! Researchers report that simply answering three "why" questions on an innocuous topic leads people to be more moderate in their views on an otherwise polarizing political issue.

A Minute With™... crop sciences professor and weed expert Aaron Hager

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A study looking at chronic infectious respiratory diseases that affect most swine during their critical growing stage has shed new light on the reasons for restricted weight gain and reduced muscle mass.

The chief operating officer for the academy that awards the Oscars will be a featured guest for a discussion of inclusion and equity in the media, part of this year’s online Ebert Symposium.

Think of a scientist at work, and you might picture someone at a lab bench, doing a physical experiment involving beakers or petri dishes and recording his or her findings, which will eventually form the basis for a scientific paper.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - According to one estimate, half of Americans are confronting a civil legal problem at any one time.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In the world of music, the bicentennial of Franz Liszt is a cause for celebration. The New York Times, for example, recently referred to Liszt as a "chick magnet" and "19th-century rock star" who garnered groupies because of his piano technique, described as "jaw-dropping." The Liszt Society of the United Kingdom describes him as a pianist who achieved "fame of altogether greater proportion than the world of art music has seen before or since." Wikipedia refers to him simply as "perhaps the greatest pianist of all time."

CHAMPAIGN,Ill. - An author described by The New York Times Book Review as "a writer for all readers" will open the annual Carr Reading Series. Rolando Hinojosa-Smith - who earned his doctorate at the U. of I. in 1969 and is the Ellen Clayton Garwood Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Texas in Austin - is best known for "Klail City Death Trip," which tells the stories of the residents of a fictional Lower Rio Grande Valley county in a series that so far numbers 15 volumes.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Will mankind survive the millennium?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is hosting a forum on Oct. 4 to consider the future of international conflict.

One of the largest carbon sequestration projects in the U.S., the Illinois Basin - Decatur Project (IBDP) has reached its goal of capturing 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and injecting it deep underground in the Mount Simon Sandstone formation beneath Decatur, Illinois. The project is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of carbon capture and storage. IBDP director Robert Finley talked about the million-ton milestone with News Bureau physical sciences editor Liz Ahlberg. Finley is director of the Advanced Energy Technology Institute at the Illinois State Geological Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois.

A Minute With™... law professor Sean M. Anderson 

A Minute With™... Robert H. Dodds Jr., a professor and head of the department of civil and environmental engineering

A Minute With...™ Jennifer Delaney, expert on higher education finance

A Minute With™...  Safdar Khan,  an expert batsman and bowler for the Cricket Club of Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Sarah C. Mangelsdorf, the acting dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been named dean of the college, pending approval of the U. of I. Board of Trustees at its Jan. 19 meeting in Chicago.

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.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Those video ads playing in the corner of your computer screen, in the midst of your multitasking, may have more impact than you realize. They may be as effective as the ads you're really watching, such as those during the Super Bowl, says a University of Illinois researcher.

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.

A Minute With™... Kenneth Cuno, a professor of Middle Eastern history

A Minute With™... sociologist Brian Dill

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The field of African American studies in U.S. higher education "is alive and well, and, in fact, growing and maturing," despite some reports to the contrary, says a new study published online this week by the department of African American studies at the University of Illinois.

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.