News Bureau

A surge of a neural-specific protein in the brain is the earliest-yet biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease, report University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers studying a mouse model of the disease. Furthermore, the increased protein activity leads to the seizures associated with the earliest stages of neurodegeneration, and inhibiting the protein in the mice slowed the onset and progression of seizure activity.

Elizabeth Hoiem, an information sciences professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, examines how children’s literature and material culture responded to industrialization and shaped the class politics of playful learning in her new book “The Education of Things.”

University of Illinois piano professors and students participated in a remote masterclass with technology that allows the exact performance being played on one piano to be reproduced on a remote piano.

On a scorching summer day, I’m at work in the heart of the arthropod containment laboratory of the Medical Entomology Program. I place my hands in the rubber gloves that reach into a sealed workspace called the glove box, swiftly maneuvering to grab fully engorged mosquitoes. These insects have just fed on a blood meal infected with live dengue virus. They are now resting calmly on a chilled Petri dish, thanks to the low temperatures provided by the ice below.

The findings of a study in mice led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign may shed light on the reasons why postmenopausal women have higher incidence of metabolic problems, such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The University of Illinois theatre department’s production of “Airness” at Fat City Bar and Grill follows several air guitarists on the competition circuit as they try to reach the pinnacle of self-expression – “airness.”

Russian dissident Aleksei Navalny possessed a unique ability to unite activists and set the agenda for the anti-Putin movement. Now that he’s gone, the coalition he built might splinter, says Richard Tempest, a professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The 2024 Insect Fear Film Festival will feature films in which humans are shrunk to the size of ants and participate in ant societies.

With the prospects of a more sympathetic U.S. president taking office in 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin almost certainly won’t seek an off-ramp this year from the war in Ukraine, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor and international relations expert Nicholas Grossman.

White internet users surveyed in a recent study co-written by communication professor Stewart Coles said they would be more likely to confront the authors of racist social media posts to reinforce norms for online discussions rather than to attempt to change others’ prejudiced beliefs.

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 of the contaminant are left behind in riverbeds for years after introduction and pose an overlooked – and lingering – problem.  

Scientists have found a way to boost ethanol production via yeast fermentation, a standard method for converting plant sugars into biofuels. Their approach, detailed in the journal Nature Communications, relies on careful timing and a tight division of labor among synthetic yeast strains to yield more ethanol per unit of plant sugars than previous approaches have achieved.

Foodborne illness outbreaks spanning multiple states bring swift financial losses, increased media attention and a public-relations hit that makes subsequent smaller outbreaks more financially damaging, says Maria Kalaitzandonakes, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at Illinois.

February Dance, presented by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign dance department, features the work of five choreographers, including Jaymes Crowder-Acres, a senior whose work “Take It to the Cypher” celebrates house music and street dance.

White teachers who worked at a school where the faculty was majority Black felt shocked, rejected, uncomfortable and anxious when race-related discussions arose, U. of I. education professor Jennifer L. Nelson found in a study of belongingness in the workplace.

Krannert Art Museum is organizing the first solo exhibition for artist Jen Everett, whose work explores themes of Black life, family, responses to turmoil and Everett’s identity as a queer Black woman.

Plant biologists report that a species of tree fern found only in Panama reanimates its own dead leaf fronds, converting them into root structures that feed the mother plant. The fern, Cyathea rojasiana, reconfigures these “zombie leaves,” reversing the flow of water to draw nutrients back into the plant.

Artist, weaver and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign art professor Kira Dominguez Hultgren has been awarded a 2024 United States Artists Fellowship.

The Biden administration’s approach to Venezuela has been influenced by the increasing number of Venezuelan migrants coming to the U.S. and the current instability in the Middle East affecting the crude oil market, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor Damarys Canache.

According to cicada expert Catherine Dana, 2024 will be an eventful year in Illinois with the emergence of two periodical cicada broods across most parts of the state.

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.

A new study links increased use of acetaminophen during pregnancy – particularly in the second trimester – to modest but noticeable increases in problems with attention and behavior in 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds. The study adds to a growing body of evidence linking the frequent use of acetaminophen in pregnancy to developmental problems in offspring.

For romantic couples with differing political ideologies, negotiating their consumption of political news can cause significant conflict in their relationship, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign communication professor Emily Van Duyn says in a new study.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors Julie Turnock and Hermann von Hesse have been awarded 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships.

A new book by U. of I. labor expert Robert Bruno explores how workers characterize their relationship to their jobs using personal six-word mini-narratives, serving as a broader exploration of how middle-class workers view work in the U.S.

Acetaminophen is considered the safest over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer available during pregnancy and studies have shown that 50%-65% of women in North America and Europe take the analgesic during pregnancy. A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explored the relationship between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and language outcomes in early childhood. It found that increasing acetaminophen use was associated with language delays.

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. 

One of the problems with “speech codes” on university campuses is their selective enforcement. Consequently, there have been calls for the reform of speech and harassment policies at universities nationwide to balance students’ right to freedom of expression with the right to learn free from discriminatory harassment, says Lena Shapiro, a clinical assistant professor of law and the inaugural director of the College of Law’s First Amendment Clinic.

Graphic design students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign used AI tools for projects this semester. Their professors said they need to be familiar with the tools that they’ll be using in the workplace after graduation.

Two manuscripts that played a crucial role in the Czech cultural revival turned out to be forgeries. But their contributions to Czech literature and national culture were real, says Slavic languages and literatures professor David Cooper.  

The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research and an interdisciplinary team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts have developed a nationwide registry on the use of lethal force by police officers in the U.S., identifying more than 23,000 incidents between 2014-2021.

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 budget and this year’s findings with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian.

Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a self-powered device that uses UV-C light to inactivate bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses. The Tribo-sanitizer could be used in the home, agricultural industries and disaster zones where electricity is limited.

In a newly released TED Talk, Stephen Long, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of plant biology and crop sciences, described 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.

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.

A ruling in favor of college athletes in Johnson v. NCAA could potentially herald the most consequential change in college athletics since the NCAA was formed in 1906, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Emma Lundin, a graduate student in tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, discusses her research in a rainforest in Sri Lanka, exploring how to create sustainable nature-based tourist experiences by walking "with" the forest.

Researchers report in the journal Nature that they have found a way to get antibacterial drugs through the nearly impenetrable outer membrane of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that – once it infects a person – is notoriously difficult to treat.

We adjust a lens, and a bright constellation swirls into view – points of colored light hung against a deep-hued backdrop. They are not stars, but extracellular vesicles: tiny packages of molecular cargo in nanosized lipid carriers, released by all cells in the body. We are launching a new project with the goal of not only visualizing EVs in living tissue, but also tracking their dynamics. We have been named 2023 Allen Distinguished Investigators by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation for this purpose.

The slabs of sandstone that make Altgeld Hall one of the most recognizable buildings on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus have been covered in scaffolding for months. But the results of the renovation work going on there are apparent, as the dark gray stone is restored to a pinkish hue. The work is part of a multiphase project that includes exterior and interior restoration of the building.

Psychologists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explored the factors associated with students' sense of belonging at college and found that of the four factors they identified that contribute to it, cultural capital is a key element for those from marginalized groups.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts’ spring season will feature many genres of music, dance and theater.

The best way to think of the Biden administration’s wide-ranging executive order on artificial intelligence is as a trial balloon to gauge what works, says Robert Brunner, the associate dean for innovation and chief disruption officer at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

A new study led by chemists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign brings fresh insight into the development of semiconductor materials that can do things their traditional silicon counterparts cannot – harness the power of chirality, a non-superimposable mirror image.

The American Ornithological Society’s decision to rename birds that were named after people will allow us to consider how we remember historical figures and acknowledge the oppression in our nation’s history, says University of Illinois history professor David Sepkoski, who studies how biological and environmental sciences interact with culture.

A new antifungal molecule, devised by tweaking the structure of prominent antifungal drug Amphotericin B, has the potential to harness the drug’s power against fungal infections while doing away with its toxicity, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison report in the journal Nature.

An innovative pair of faculty members in education and engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are partnering to provide experiential learning projects that cultivate the collaborative skills engineering students need for educational and career success.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign design professor Lisa Mercer has written a book, “Racism Untaught: Revealing and Unlearning Racialized Design,” that examines how racism is perpetuated through design and how to use anti-racist approaches to counter it.

Researchers report that a single, simplified model can predict population fluctuations in three unrelated realms: urban employment, human gut microbiomes and tropical forests. The model will help economists, ecologists, public health authorities and others predict and respond to variability in multiple domains, the researchers say. The new findings are detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In early October, nearly 1,000 birds perished after colliding with the windows of a convention center near Lake Michigan in Chicago, marking the largest mass bird die-off in decades. But bird window-strike fatalities are an ongoing threat. Illinois Natural History Survey wildlife ecologist Thomas J. Benson, an expert in bird population trends in Illinois, spoke to News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the problem and what new strategies may help.