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  • Peter Fritzsche

    75 years later, why did Germans follow the Nazis into Holocaust?

    A Minute With™... Peter Fritzsche, a historian of modern Germany

  • An N95 mask in a multicooker with a towel.

    Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

    Owners of electric multicookers may be able to add another use to its list of functions, a new study suggests: sanitization of N95 respirator masks.

    The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign study found that 50 minutes of dry heat in an electric cooker, such as a rice cooker or Instant Pot, decontaminated N95 respirators inside and out while maintaining their filtration and fit. This could enable wearers to safely reuse limited supplies of the respirators, originally intended to be one-time-use items. 

  • Illinois validates saliva-based test for COVID-19

    The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign is now performing its new rapid, saliva-based COVID-19 test on all students, faculty members and staff.

  • When Mexican Americans say they are "white" on the U.S. Census, it's often not for the reasons many assume, says Julie A. Dowling, a professor of Latina and Latino studies and author of a new book.

    Question of race not simple for Mexican Americans, author says

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - About half of Latinos check "white" in response to the question about race on the U.S. Census. About half check "other race."

  • This graphic shows an instrumented tissue mimic, that will use embedded sensors and probes to better understand and measure human biology.

    Illinois to co-lead new CZ Biohub in Chicago

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been chosen to lead the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago – a new biomedical hub – along with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. The three-university team was selected to lead the new biomedical hub as part of a competitive application process for a research initiative explicitly focused on measuring human biology.

  • Study links mobile device addiction to depression and anxiety

    Is cellphone use detrimental to mental health? A new study from the University of Illinois finds that high engagement with mobile technology is linked to anxiety and depression in college-age students.

  • Rini B. Mehta

    Western media's stereotypes of Indian culture

    A Minute With™... Rini B. Mehta, a professor of comparative and world literature

  • Illinois journalism professor Nikki Usher’s recent study with colleague Yee Man Margaret Ng looked at how Washington, D.C., journalists cluster on Twitter.

    Journalists’ Twitter use shows them talking within smaller bubbles

    Washington, D.C., journalists are clustering not in one “Beltway bubble” but in a collection of “microbubbles,” based on a recent study of their Twitter postings. It means they “may be even more insular than previously thought,” say Illinois journalism professors Nikki Usher and Yee Man Margaret Ng.

  • The cats were fitted with radio collars and tracked over two years. Some of the collars also had devices that continuously monitored the cats' every move. This un-owned cat was one of those tracked.

    Researchers track the secret lives of feral and free-roaming house cats

    CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Researchers (and some cat-owners) wanted to know: What do feral and free-roaming house cats do when they're out of sight? A two-year study offers a first look at the daily lives of these feline paupers and princes, whose territories overlap on the urban, suburban, rural and agricultural edges of many towns.

  • A portrait of Dr. Jim Lowe

    Can people take a livestock drug to treat a deadly virus?

    Taking large or multiple doses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin can cause a toxic overdose, and humans should not take forms intended for animal use, says Illinois veterinary medicine expert Dr. Jim Lowe.

  • Avocados change belly fat distribution in women, controlled study finds

    An avocado a day could help redistribute belly fat in women toward a healthier profile, according to a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators. One hundred and five adults with overweight and obesity participated in a randomized controlled trial that provided one meal a day for 12 weeks. Women who consumed avocado as part of their daily meal had a reduction in deeper visceral abdominal fat.

  • U. of I. scholars collecting, analyzing constitutions from around world

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Thomas Jefferson believed that a country's constitution should be rewritten every 19 years. Instead, the U.S. Constitution, which Jefferson did not help to write (he was in Paris serving as U.S. minister to France when the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia), has prevailed since 1789.

  • U. of I. advertising professor John Wirtz found that sex doesn’t sell in advertising the way many assume it does.

    Research suggests sexual appeals in ads don’t sell brands, products

    Sexy ads stick in the memory more but don’t sell the brand or product, according to research that analyzed nearly 80 advertising studies published over three decades.

  • Study adds to evidence that viruses are alive

    A new analysis supports the hypothesis that viruses are living entities that share a long evolutionary history with cells, researchers report. The study offers the first reliable method for tracing viral evolution back to a time when neither viruses nor cells existed in the forms recognized today, the researchers say.    

  • Mechanical science and engineering professor Taher Saif, right, and students Onur Aydin, left, and Bashar Emon test common household fabrics used to make face masks to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

    Making a homemade COVID mask? Study explains best fabric choices

    Health authorities believe COVID-19 spreads by the transmission of respiratory droplets, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends homemade cloth face coverings for use in public spaces. Starting today, Illinois joins many other states in requiring people to wear masks while out. However, initial uncertainty regarding the masks’ effectiveness in reducing exhaled droplets leaves some people unsure or skeptical of their usefulness during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Mechanical science and engineering professor Taher Saif spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about a study that he and his graduate students, Onur Aydin and Bashar Emon, performed on the effectiveness of common household fabrics for use in homemade masks.

  • Psychology professor Eva Pomerantz and her colleagues found that middle school students’ stereotypes about adolescence influence their own behavior.

    Study: Countering stereotypes about teens can change their behavior

    In many societies, teenagers are repeatedly told – by adults, peers and popular media – that teens are more likely than younger children to take risks, ignore their parents, skip schoolwork and succumb to bad influences. But stereotypes are not destiny, a new study of Chinese middle school students suggests.

  • Researchers were surprised to find a rare, wild alligator snapping turtle in a creek in southern Illinois, the first found in the state since 1984.

    Team finds first wild alligator snapping turtle in Illinois since 1984

    Researchers report the first sighting in 30 years of a wild alligator snapping turtle in Illinois. The discovery may be a sign of hope for this state-endangered species, or the animal could be the last of its kind to have survived in Illinois without human intervention, the researchers say.

  • Image of professor Peter Fritzsche

    'Race': A historian looks at Jesse Owens' impact on Germany and the U.S.

    A Minute With...™ Peter Fritzsche, expert on Nazi Germany

  • Working in the lab, the team continues its work on soybean proteins

    A soybean protein blocks LDL cholesterol production, reducing risks of metabolic diseases

    Soybean varieties with greater proportions of the protein B-conglycinin reduce plasma cholesterol levels and promote liver homeostasis, showing potential for preventing fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis, according to research by food scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

  • The new freshman class is the largest, most academically talented and most diverse in the history of the university.

    Class of 2023 sets records for enrollment, diversity, excellence

    The new freshman class at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the largest, most academically talented and most diverse in the history of the university.

  • Molecular model of ErSO, an anticancer compound

    New approach eradicates breast cancer in mice

    A new approach to treating breast cancer kills 95-100% of cancer cells in mouse models of human estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers and their metastases in bone, brain, liver and lungs. The newly developed drug, called ErSO, quickly shrinks even large tumors to undetectable levels.

  • Sandra Kopels

    When a minor becomes pregnant, must schools notify the parents?

    A Minute With™... Sandra Kopels, a lawyer and social worker

  • Erik Procko is a professor of biochemistry at Illinois.

    Decoy receptor neutralizes coronavirus in cell cultures

    As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, scientists and health care providers are seeking ways to keep the coronavirus from infecting tissues once they’re exposed. A new study suggests luring the virus with a decoy – an engineered, free-floating receptor protein – that binds the virus and blocks infection.

  • Lung tissue from mice with pulmonary fibrosis that were infected with corisin-secreting bacteria showed signs of acute exacerbation and lung tissue death.

    Bacterial protein fragment kills lung cells in pulmonary fibrosis, study finds

    A bacterial protein fragment instigates lung tissue death in pulmonary fibrosis, a mysterious disease affecting millions of people worldwide, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Mie University in Japan.

  • Caroline Haythornthwaite collaborated with a colleague in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science on a study of online interactions. They found that the intersection between online communication and the offline world form two halves of a support mechanism for communities.

    Online interactions have positive effects for real-life communities

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - If you think Facebook, Twitter and other Web sites that foster online communication and interaction are merely vapid echo chambers of self-promotion, think again, say two University of Illinois professors who study computer-mediated communication and the Internet.

  • 2023 spring semester graduates, Dean's List and Bronze Tablet honorees named

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has announced 8,209 Dean’s List students, 253 Bronze Tablet honorees and more than 10,500 graduates for the 2023 spring semester. 

  • An Asian tiger mosquito prepares to feed on a human hand.

    Asian tiger mosquito gains ground in Illinois

    Researchers report that the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, has become more abundant across Illinois in the past three decades. Its spread is problematic, as the mosquito can transmit diseases – like chikungunya or dengue fever – to humans.

  • A new study reconfigures the elephant family tree, placing the giant extinct elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus closer to the African forest elephant, Loxodonta cyclotis, than to the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, which was once thought to be its closest living relative.

    Genetic study shakes up the elephant family tree

    New research reveals that a species of giant elephant that lived 1.5 million to 100,000 years ago – ranging across Eurasia before it went extinct – is more closely related to today’s African forest elephant than the forest elephant is to its nearest living relative, the African savanna elephant.

  • Scott Althaus, the director of the Cline Center for Democracy

    Did news coverage turn Americans against the Vietnam War?

    News coverage of the Vietnam War did not have the effect on popular support that many believe, says a University of Illinois researcher.

     

  • Illinois Commitment will help students from middle-income families attend Illinois

    Through a combination of institutional, federal and state aid, including Pell Grants and Monetary Award Program grants, Illinois Commitment will provide financial awards to cover the tuition and campus fees for in-state students whose family income is less than $61,000, the current median family income in Illinois.

  • Fresh look at burials, mass graves, tells a new story of Cahokia

    A new study challenges earlier interpretations of an important burial mound at Cahokia, a pre-Columbian city in Illinois near present-day St. Louis. The study reveals that a central feature of the mound, a plot known as the “beaded burial,” is not a monument to male power, as was previously thought, but includes both males and females of high status.

  • Photo of Yilan Xu, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at Illinois

    Paper: Homeownership a ‘dream deferred’ for millennial generation

    Millennials face significant hurdles in their quest for homeownership, said Yilan Xu, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at Illinois and co-author of a new paper examining homeownership trends among those born between 1980-2000.

  • Altgeld Hall

    Urbana-Champaign COVID-19 message to students, faculty members, staff

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign communicated Wednesday evening with students, faculty members and staff on measures the university is taking to protect the campus community in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. The message discusses course delivery, travel, and university-sponsored events and meetings.

  • New research reveals that the bacterium Sulfurihydrogenibium yellowstonense thrives in harsh environments with conditions like those expected on Mars.

    'Fettuccine' may be most obvious sign of life on Mars, researchers report

    A rover scanning the surface of Mars for evidence of life might want to check for rocks that look like pasta, researchers report in the journal Astrobiology.

    The bacterium that controls the formation of such rocks on Earth is ancient and thrives in harsh environments that are similar to conditions on Mars, said University of Illinois geology professor Bruce Fouke, who led the new, NASA-funded study.

  • U. of I. history professor Peter Fritzsche looks at the Nazi transformation of Germany prior to World War II in his upcoming book “Hitler’s First Hundred Days.”

    Germany transformed under Nazis in 100 days. Do we understand why?

    With world leaders gathering Sept. 1 to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II in Europe, U. of I. history professor Peter Fritzsche describes how Germans came to embrace Nazi rule, especially in Hitler’s first 100 days.

  • Photo of an infant in the IKIDS program seated on her mother’s lap. The infant has a sticker on her forehead that allows an eye-tracking instrument to orient to her eyes.

    Study links prenatal phthalate exposure to altered information processing in infants

    Researchers have found evidence linking pregnant women’s exposure to phthalates to altered cognitive outcomes in their infants.

  • On-campus COVID-19 testing

    University working to contain predicted increase in on-campus COVID-19 cases

    The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign will employ detailed plans to address the expected initial increase in COVID-19 positive cases through the next several weeks. Modified in-person instruction begins Monday. Data models developed by Illinois faculty members forecast that new cases will decline after the first few weeks of the semester and the daily positivity rate will remain low throughout.

  • Students gathered near Foellinger Auditorium in July.

    Class of 2025 sets enrollment records

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign freshman enrollment of 8,303 for the 2021-22 academic year is a record. The new class brings total student enrollment to 56,299, the largest in university history.

  • Christopher Span is a professor of educational policy studies who specializes in the study of African-American educational history, especially in the South prior to 1900.

    How former slaves established schools and educated their population after the Civil War

    A Minute With™... Christopher Span, a professor of educational policy studies

  • Professor Jason Pieper

    Antibiotic-resistant infections in pets: What now?

    Rates of antibiotic-resistant infections in companion animals are rising at an alarming rate. An Illinois veterinarian discusses what can be done about it.

  • Beschloss Family Media Design Center to be dedicated Sept. 22

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The new Beschloss Family Media Design Center at the University of Illinois College of Communications will be dedicated Sept. 22.

  • The fossil was uncovered in the Araripe Basin, in northeast Brazil, in a limestone layer called the Crato Formation.

    Scientists find world’s oldest fossil mushroom

    Roughly 115 million years ago, when the ancient supercontinent Gondwana was breaking apart, a mushroom fell into a river and began an improbable journey. Its ultimate fate as a mineralized fossil preserved in limestone in northeast Brazil makes it a scientific wonder, scientists report in the journal PLOS ONE.

  • Sheldon H. Jacobson

    Is it safe to fly during the coronavirus pandemic?

    Sheldon H. Jacobson discusses the risks of air travel during the pandemic and what preventive measures airports and passengers can take.

  • Class of 2022 sets records for enrollment, diversity, first-generation students

    Among the Top 10 in numbers in the U.S., the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s freshman class sets new high marks for students from underrepresented backgrounds and first-generation college students, as well as a 10-year high of Illinois residents.

     

  • Shutdown of circulation pattern could be disastrous, researchers say

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - If global warming shuts down the thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean, the result could be catastrophic climate change. The environmental effects, models indicate, depend upon whether the shutdown is reversible or irreversible.

  • Illinois physics professor and Nobel Laureate Anthony Leggett talks about the 1938 discovery of superfluidity and its significance to low-temperature physics.

    Superfluidity: what is it and why does it matter?

    2018 marks the 80th anniversary of the landmark physics discovery of superfluidity. News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian asked University of Illinois physics professor and 2003 Nobel Prize winner Anthony Leggett about the significance of the historic finding.

  • Nick Holonyak Jr.

    Nick Holonyak Jr., pioneer of LED lighting, dies

    Nick Holonyak Jr., a renowned innovator of illumination, has died. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor was 93 years old.

    Holonyak (pronounced huh-LON-yak) is credited with the development of the first practical visible-spectrum LED, now commonly used in light bulbs, device displays and lasers worldwide. 

  • Graduates enter Memorial Stadium in May 2022 commencement

    August and December graduates, Dean's List honorees named

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced Dean’s List honorees and graduates for the fall semester 2022, as well as those who graduated in August 2022. 

  • Fred Kummerow, a professor of comparative biosciences at the University of Illinois, reports that LDL cholesterol results from a simple dietary deficiency.

    'Bad cholesterol' indicates an amino acid deficiency, researcher says

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad cholesterol" that doctors consider a sign of potential heart disease, is merely a marker of a diet lacking all of the essential amino acids, says University of Illinois comparative biosciences professor Fred Kummerow, 99, a longtime opponent of the medical establishment's war on cholesterol.

  • University of Illinois graduate student Douglas A. Becker and his colleagues found that U.S. counties with more trees and shrubs tended to have lower Medicare costs.

    Counties with more trees and shrubs spend less on Medicare, study finds

    A new study finds that Medicare costs tend to be lower in counties with more forests and shrublands than in counties dominated by other types of land cover. The relationship persists even when accounting for economic, geographic or other factors that might independently influence health care costs, researchers report.