News Bureau

Research News Campus News About

blog navigation

News Bureau - Research
Physical Sciences

 

  • Photo of Stephen Taylor, Martin Gruebele and Carla Scaletti in front of a brick wall.

    Illinois musicians, chemists use sound to better understand science

    The use of sonification to understand the physical mechanisms of protein folding led to a new discovery about the ways a protein can fold.

  • Graduate student Joseph Courtney and chemistry professor Chad Rienstra developed a method to quickly and reliably determine a proteins intricately folded structure

    COMPASS method points researchers to protein structures

    Searching for the precise, complexly folded three-dimensional structure of a protein can be like hacking through a jungle without a map: a long, intensive process with uncertain direction. University of Illinois researchers developed a new approach, dubbed COMPASS, that points directly to a protein’s likely structure using a combination of advanced molecular spectroscopy techniques, predictive protein-folding algorithms and image recognition software.

  • A scanning electron microscope micrograph of a rolled microinductor architecture, viewed from one end looking inward. Reprinted with permission from X. Li et al., Science Advances (2020).

    Researchers expand microchip capability with new 3D inductor technology

    Smaller is better when it comes to microchips, researchers said, and by using 3D components on a standardized 2D microchip manufacturing platform, developers can use up to 100 times less chip space. A team of engineers has boosted the performance of its previously developed 3D inductor technology by adding as much as three orders of magnitudes more induction to meet the performance demands of modern electronic devices.

  • The graphic shows an orange and blue fractal image illustrating mathmatical order and chaos

    Theory sorts order from chaos in complex quantum systems

    It’s not easy to make sense of quantum-scale motion, but a new mathematical theory could help, providing insight into the various computing, electrochemical and biological systems. Chenghao Zhang, a physics graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and chemistry professor Martin Gruebele performed a computational analysis of the new mathematical theory developed by Rice University theorist Peter Wolynes and theoretical chemist David Logan at Oxford University. The theory gives a simple prediction for the threshold at which large quantum systems switch from orderly motion like a clock to random, erratic motion like asteroids moving around in the early solar system.

  • Photo of Ann-Perry Witmer

    What is place-based adaptation to climate change?

    A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll states that roughly half of registered voters say climate change is either “very important” or “one of the most important issues” in their vote for Congress this year. However, many citizens struggle to understand their place in this global issue. Applied Research Institute senior research scientist Ann-Perry Witmer, also a lecturer in agricultural and biological engineering, spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about a more digestible approach to the climate crisis and encouraged readers to participate in a public panel discussion this week.

  • A new assessment makes grim predictions about the effects of climate change in the Great Lakes region.

    Report outlines growing climate change-related threats to Great Lakes region

    A team of Midwestern climate scientists has released a new report with grim predictions about the impact of climate change on the Great Lakes region. The report foresees a growing trend of wetter winters and springs, with increases in heavy rain events leading to flooding, particularly in urban areas with hard surfaces that cannot absorb the excess water. Rural areas will likely see more erosion, and unpredictable cycles of heat and rainfall could undermine agriculture.

  • A portrait of the Illinois researchers who contributed to the study.

    Study provides basis to evaluate food subsectors' emissions of three greenhouse gases

    A new, location-specific agricultural greenhouse gas emission study is the first to account for net carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from all subsectors related to food production and consumption. The work, led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain, could help identify the primary plant- and animal-based food sectors contributing to three major greenhouse gas emissions and allow policymakers to take action to reduce emissions from the top-emitting food commodities at different locations across the globe.

  • Silicon solar panels are reaching their technological limit, but researchers are experimenting by combining silicon with other materials to squeeze more energy out of sunlight. Electrical and computer engineering professor Larry Lee led a new study that could boost the efficiency of consumer solar panels by 50%.

    Multi-institutional team extracts more energy from sunlight with advanced solar panels

    Researchers working to maximize solar panel efficiency said layering advanced materials atop traditional silicon is a promising path to eke more energy out of sunlight. A new study shows that by using a precisely controlled fabrication process, researchers can produce multilayered solar panels with the potential to be 1.5 times more efficient than traditional silicon panels.

  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign atmospheric sciences professor Deanna Hence discusses how some hurricanes become so large, the paths they take and how global climate change may affect these factors.

    Monster hurricanes: Why have recent storms been so huge?

    Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, as the first Category 4 storm in recorded history to reach shore in the northeast Gulf Coast. News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with Illinois atmospheric sciences professor Deanna Hence about the storm’s size, strength and path, and the impact of global climate change on future hurricanes. 

  • Physics professor and Nobel laureate Anthony Leggett

    Physics professor, Nobel laureate Anthony Leggett donates papers to University Archives

    Anthony Leggett’s papers from more than 50 years of research and teaching will provide a window on his groundbreaking research in theoretical condensed matter physics.

  • A photo of the Chicago skyline, looking north with Lake Michigan in the foreground

    Lake Michigan water-level rise affects inland waterways, study finds

    2020 marked Lake Michigan’s highest water level in 120 years, experts said, and climate variance makes future water levels challenging to predict. Coastal impacts are well-documented, but the effect of lake level rise on the area’s inland waterways is poorly understood. A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study examined how Lake Michigan’s rising levels affect water quality, flood control and invasive species management within the Chicago-area waterway system that connects the lake to Illinois, Indiana and the Mississippi River basin.  

  • A synthetic DNA enzyme inserts into a cell membrane, causing lipids to shuffle between the inner and outer membrane layers.

    DNA enzyme shuffles cell membranes a thousand times faster than its natural counterpart

    A new synthetic enzyme, crafted from DNA rather than protein, flips lipid molecules within the cell membrane, triggering a signal pathway that could be harnessed to induce cell death in cancer cells. It is the first such synthetic enzyme to outperform its natural counterparts.

  • A NASA illustration showing a supernova in the backround and a planet in the foreground

    New stellar danger to planets identified by NASA'S Chandra program

    An exploded star can pose more risks to nearby planets than previously thought, according to a new study from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other X-ray telescopes. This newly identified threat involves a phase of intense X-rays that can damage the atmospheres of planets up to 160 light-years away. 

  • Chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Charles Schroeder, left, and graduate student Yuecheng (Peter) Zhou study the flow dynamics of ring and linear polymer solutions to tease out clues about how synthetic polymers interact during processing.

    Polymers jump through hoops on pathway to sustainable materials

    Recyclable plastics that contain ring-shaped polymers may be a key to developing sustainable synthetic materials. Despite some promising advances, researchers said, a full understanding of how to processes ring polymers into practical materials remains elusive. In a new study, researchers identified a mechanism called “threading” that takes place when a polymer is stretched – a behavior not witnessed before. This new insight may lead to new processing methods for sustainable polymer materials.

  • New research from engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows how oxygen transfer is altered in diseased lung tissue.

    New study shows how oxygen transfer is altered in diseased lung tissue

    A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed tiny sensors that measure oxygen transport in bovine lung tissue. The study – which establishes a new framework for observing the elusive connection between lung membranes, oxygen flow and related disease – is published in the journal Nature Communications.

  • A microscope image of brilliantly colored crystals in a kidney stone.

    Geology helps map kidney stone formation from tiny to troublesome

    Advanced microscope technology and cutting-edge geological science are giving new perspectives to an old medical mystery: How do kidney stones form, why are some people more susceptible to them and can they be prevented?

  • Researchers at a table with various models of new multimaterial devices.

    New approach to flexible robotics and metamaterials design mimics nature, encourages sustainability

    A new study challenges the conventional approach to designing soft robotics and a class of materials called metamaterials by utilizing the power of computer algorithms. Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Technical University of Denmark can now build multimaterial structures without dependence on human intuition or trial-and-error to produce highly efficient actuators and energy absorbers that mimic designs found in nature.

  • Chemistry professor Chad M. Rienstra is among six Illinois faculty members elected as 2016 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

    Six Illinois faculty members elected AAAS Fellows

    Six University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty members have been elected 2016 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Jianjun Cheng, Brian T. Cunningham, Kevin T. Pitts, Bruce L. Rhoads, Chad M. Rienstra and Josep Torrellas.

  • il and environmental engineering professor Tami Bond is part of a team modeling the impact of the freight industry on human health and the eniviroment.

    New model predicts how ground shipping will affect future human health, environment

    The trucks and trains that transport goods across the United States emit gases and particles that threaten human health and the environment. A University of Illinois-led project developed a new model that predicts through 2050 the impact of different environmental policies on human mortality rates and short- and long-term climate change caused by particulate and greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Marcello Rubessa, Gabriel Popescu and Matthew B. Wheeler teamed up to produce 3-D images of live cattle embryos that could help determine embryo viability before in vitro fertilization in humans.

    New microscope technique reveals internal structure of live embryos

    University of Illinois researchers have developed a way to produce 3-D images of live embryos in cattle that could help determine embryo viability before in vitro fertilization in humans.

  • University of Illinois geography professor Jesse Ribot has received a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship. Ribot studies the politics of resource access, subnational democracy and climate-related vulnerability. He will uses his fellowship to complete on a book about his field research in the West African Sahel region and multiple comparative studies on human rights, representation, rural food security and theoretical work on climate-related vulnerability.

    Geography professor awarded Guggenheim Fellowship

    University of Illinois professor of geography Jesse Ribot has been awarded a 2018 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.

  • Midwest volcanologist and geology professor Susan W. Kieffer holds a Charles R. Walgreen Jr. Chair at Illinois.

    What makes Merapi such a dangerous volcano?

     A Minute With™... Midwest volcanologist and geology professor Susan W. Kieffer

  • Professor Sheldon Jacobson

    Can data analytics help you fill out a March Madness bracket?

    Fill in your March Madness bracket from the center out, says bracketologist Sheldon H. Jacobson.

  • Narayana Aluru, William Gropp, Andrew Leakey and Ray Ming are among 416 scientists elected AAAS Fellows this year.

    Four Illinois faculty members elected AAAS Fellows

    Four professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been elected 2018 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are: mechanical science and engineering professor Narayana Aluru, computer science professor William Gropp and plant biology professors Andrew Leakey and Ray Ming.

  • Chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Bill Hammack, aka “the engineering guy,” has won the prestigious Hoover Medal for his civic and humanitarian contributions to engineering.

    Illinois 'engineer guy' Hammack awarded Hoover Medal

    Bill Hammack, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, has been awarded the Hoover Medal.

  • Mechanical science and engineering professor Nenad Miljkovic, left, and graduate students Kalyan Boyina and Yashraj Gurumukhi collaborated with researchers at Kyushu University, Japan, to develop a system that can de-ice surfaces in seconds.

    Researchers develop technique to de-ice surfaces in seconds

    Airplane wings, wind turbines and indoor heating systems all struggle under the weight and chill of ice. Defrosting and de-icing techniques are energy-intensive, however, and often require large masses of ice to melt completely in order to work. Researchers from the University of Illinois and Kyushu University in Japan have developed a new technique that requires only a thin layer of ice at the interface of a surface to melt, allowing it to slide off under the force of gravity.

  • Graduate students Junyi Wu and Curtis Wang and professor Milton Feng found that light stimulates switching speed in the transistor laser, a device they hope will usher in the next generation of high-speed data.

    Light helps the transistor laser switch faster

    Light and electrons interact in a complex dance within fiber optic devices. A new study by University of Illinois engineers found that in the transistor laser, a device for next-generation high-speed computing, the light and electrons spur one another on to faster switching speeds than any devices available.

  • Researchers

    Ultrathin self-healing polymers create new, sustainable water-resistant coatings

    Researchers have found a way to make ultrathin surface coatings robust enough to survive scratches and dings. The new material, developed by merging thin-film and self-healing technologies, has an almost endless list of potential applications, including self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti-fogging, anti-bacterial, anti-fouling and enhanced heat exchange coatings, researchers said.  

  • Physics and astronomy professor Stuart Shapiro used data from a computer simulation that solves Einsteins equations of general relativity to create a visualization of merging binary black holes.

    100 years of relativity: How has Einstein's theory shaped modern physics, astronomy?

    A Minute With...™ U. of I. physicist Stuart Shapiro

  • Professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering Simon Rogers, left, postdoctoral researchers Jun Pong Park and Yongbeom Seo and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering Hyunjoon Kong led an international team that developed hydrogen peroxide-bubbling microparticles that may help eradicate dangerous biofilms.

    Researchers develop microbubble scrubber to destroy dangerous biofilms

    Stiff microbial films often coat medical devices, household items and infrastructure such as the inside of water supply pipes, and can lead to dangerous infections. Researchers have developed a system that harnesses the power of bubbles to propel tiny particles through the surfaces of these tough films and deliver an antiseptic deathblow to the microbes living inside.

  • Civil and environmental engineering professor Helen Nguyen has found that water-softening additives may increase the risk of pathogen release into drinking water by weakening the grip that bacteria have on pipe interiors.

    Chemicals that keep drinking water flowing may also cause fouling

    Many city drinking water systems add softening agents to keep plumbing free of pipe-clogging mineral buildup. According to new research, these additives may amplify the risk of pathogen release into drinking water by weakening the grip that bacteria – like those responsible for Legionnaires’ disease – have on pipe interiors.  

  • Inspired by nature, Illinois researchers developed synthetic structure-based color materials – like those found in chameleon skin – for polymer inks used in 3D printing.

    Researchers mimic nature for fast, colorful 3D printing

    Brilliantly colored chameleons, butterflies, opals – and now some 3D-printed materials – reflect color by using nanoscale structures called photonic crystals. A new study that demonstrates how a modified 3D-printing process provides a versatile approach to producing multiple colors from a single ink is published in the journal Science Advances.

  • Illinois researchers developed a spherical lens that allows light coming into the lens from any direction to be focused into a very small spot on the surface of the lens exactly opposite the input direction. This is the first time such a lens has been made for visible light.

    Researchers confront optics and data-transfer challenges with 3D-printed lens

    Researchers have developed new 3D-printed microlenses with adjustable refractive indices – a property that gives them highly specialized light-focusing abilities. This advancement is poised to improve imaging, computing and communications by significantly increasing the data-routing capability of computer chips and other optical systems, the researchers said.

  • Sheldon Jacobson and Janet Jokela stand outdoors.

    2020 deadlier than previous five years, even with COVID-19 numbers removed, study finds

    An upswing in death rates from non-COVID-19 causes in 2020 hit hard for men ages 15-64, according to a new study by computer science professor Sheldon H. Jacobson and internal medicine professor Janet Jokela.

  • Chemistry professor Thomas Rauchfuss and collaborators are looking to biological processes to find an efficient source of hydrogen gas as an environmentally friendly fuel.

    New study looks to biological enzymes as source of hydrogen fuel

    Research from the University of Illinois and the University of California, Davis has chemists one step closer to recreating nature’s most efficient machinery for generating hydrogen gas. This new development may help clear the path for the hydrogen fuel industry to move into a larger role in the global push toward more environmentally friendly energy sources.

  • photos of Tamer Basar, David Cahill and Vidya Madhavan

    Three Illinois scientists elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

    Three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scientists have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


  • University of Illinois electrical and computer engineering professor Viktor Gruev led a study demonstrating underwater global positioning made possible by a bio-inspired camera that mimics the eyes of a mantis shrimp.

    Shrimp-inspired camera may enable underwater navigation

    The underwater environment may appear to the human eye as a dull-blue, featureless space. However, a vast landscape of polarization patterns appear when viewed through a camera that is designed to see the world through the eyes of many of the animals that inhabit the water. 

  • A portrait of researcher Xiao Su

    Sustainable electrochemical process could revolutionize lithium-ion battery recycling

    Spent lithium-ion batteries contain valuable metals that are difficult to separate from each other for recycling purposes. Used batteries present a sustainable source of these metals, especially cobalt and nickel, but the current methods used for their separation have environmental and efficiency drawbacks. A new technology uses electrochemistry to efficiently separate and recover the metals, making spent batteries a highly sustainable secondary source of cobalt and nickel – the reserves of which are currently dwindling.

  • Illinois geology professor Xiaodong Song led a research team that used seismic waves to look at the Earth's inner core. They found that the inner core has surprisingly complex structure and behaviors.

    Earth's surprise inside: Geologists unlock mysteries of the planet's inner core

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Seismic waves are helping scientists to plumb the world's deepest mystery: the planet's inner core.

  • Materials science and engineering professor Qian Chen, center, and graduate students Binbin Luo, left, and Ahyoung Kim find inspiration in biology to help investigate how order emerges from self-assembling building blocks of varying size and shape.

    Multistep self-assembly opens door to new reconfigurable materials

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Self-assembling synthetic materials come together when tiny, uniform building blocks interact and form a structure. However, nature lets materials like proteins of varying size and shape assemble, allowing for complex architectures that can handle multiple tasks.

     

  • Researchers, from left, Manuele Faccenda, of the University of Padova, and Stephen Marshak, Quan Zhou, Craig Lundstrom, Jiashun Hu and Lijun Liu, all of the University of Illinois, are challenging some of today's leading theories regarding plate tectonics with their interpretation of ancient mantle-crust interactions.

    Continental interiors may not be as tectonically stable as geologists think

    Geologic activity within stable portions of Earth’s uppermost layer may have occurred more recently than previously believed.

  • Industrial and enterprise systems engineering professor Lavanya Marla and her team have developed models to help the airline industry create schedules that are less susceptible to delay and easier to fix once disrupted.

    New aircraft-scheduling models may ease air travel frustrations

    Flight schedules that allow for a little carefully designed wiggle room could prevent the frustration of cascading airport delays and cancellations. By focusing on the early phases of flight schedule planning and delays at various scales, researchers have developed models to help create schedules that are less susceptible to delays and easier to fix once disrupted.

  • Honey bee chemoreceptors found for smell and taste

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Honey bees have a much better sense of smell than fruit flies or mosquitoes, but a much worse sense of taste, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  • Researchers used supercomputers to construct a 136 million-atom model of the chromatophore, a primitive light-harvesting structure in purple bacteria.

    Simulation reveals how bacterial organelle converts sunlight to chemical energy

    Scientists have simulated every atom of a light-harvesting structure in a photosynthetic bacterium that generates energy for the organism. The simulated organelle behaves just like its counterpart in nature, the researchers report. The work is a major step toward understanding how some biological structures convert sunlight into chemical energy, a biological innovation that is essential to life.

  • Illinois professors Nancy Sottos and Andrew Gerwith developed a method to comprehensively measure the mechanical stress and strain in lithium-ion batteries. It revealed a point of stress in charging that, if addressed through new methods or materials, could lead to faster-charging batteries.

    Method opens a window on how stress and strain affect battery performance

    Batteries that charge faster and have greater capacity could boost portable electronic devices and electric cars. A new method to simultaneously test stress and strain in battery electrodes gives researchers a window into the mechanical, electrical and chemical forces within lithium-ion batteries. The method revealed an unexpected point of stress in the charging cycle, which could guide development of better batteries.

  • Five Illinois faculty members named Sloan Research Fellows

    Five University of Illinois faculty members received the 2016 Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

  • Civil and environmental engineering professor Jeremy Guest, left, and graduate student John Trimmer evaluated the feasibility of using human-derived waste as a safe and valuable nutrient commodity.

    Study: Human wastewater valuable to global agriculture, economics

    It may seem off-putting to some, but human waste is full of nutrients that can be recycled into valuable products that could promote agricultural sustainability and better economic independence for some developing countries.

  • Professor Praveen Kumar and graduate student Dong K. Woo developed a model to tell the age of inorganic nitrogen in soil, which could help farmers more precisely apply fertilizer to croplands.

    Measure of age in soil nitrogen could help precision agriculture

    University of Illinois engineers developed a model to calculate the age of nitrogen in corn and soybean fields, which could lead to improved fertilizer application techniques to promote crop growth while reducing leaching.

  • Self-healing electronics. Microcapsules full of liquid metal sit atop a gold circuit. When the circuit is broken, the microcapsules rupture, filling in the crack and restoring the circuit.

    Self-healing electronics could work longer and reduce waste

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - When one tiny circuit within an integrated chip cracks or fails, the whole chip - or even the whole device - is a loss. But what if it could fix itself, and fix itself so fast that the user never knew there was a problem?

  • A graphic showing the structure of the nickel-iron hydrogenase enzyme

    Mimicking biological enzymes may be key to hydrogen fuel production

    An ancient biological enzyme known as nickel-iron hydrogenase may play a key role in producing hydrogen for a renewables-based energy economy, researchers said. Careful study of the enzyme has led chemists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to design a synthetic molecule that mimics the hydrogen gas-producing chemical reaction performed by the enzyme.