News Bureau

As I scroll through another sheet of data, I know each entry represents the story of a high school athlete whose season — and, potentially, life — was altered due to a possible concussion. I am looking for trends and risk factors, with the goal of helping physicians and coaches better evaluate whether an athlete has sustained a concussion and when it is safe to resume activity.

The Illinois dance department’s October Dance concert “Rewind/Remix” will look back at historical modern dance figures and put a contemporary spin on dance history.

After making landfall, Hurricane Helene moved north and dumped an enormous amount of rainfall onto the mountainous regions of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, leading to catastrophic flooding hundreds of miles away from the storm's initial landfall location. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Jim Best, an earth science and environmental change expert, discussed the event and future ones like it with Illinois News Bureau editor Lois Yoksoulian.

New artworks acquired by Krannert Art Museum will transform the museum’s collection and be used for research and teaching.

Artificial intelligence tools can help physicians deliver care and medical researchers make discoveries, but cannot replace the human connection in medicine, says Dr. Mark Cohen, dean of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He discusses the risks and rewards of using AI tools in health care and medical discovery. 

Journalism professor emeritus Matthew C. Ehrlich examines the dramatic story of a controversial medicine once touted as a miracle cure for cancer in his new book, “The Krebiozen Hoax: How a Mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine.”

Gerald McWorter, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor emeritus of African American studies and information sciences, donated his faculty and personal papers to the University Archives.

The theatre department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will offer views of healing and reconciliation in this season’s plays.

In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tackled a thorny problem: How do nutritional stress, viral infections and exposure to pesticides together influence honey bee survival? By looking at all three stressors together, the scientists found that good nutrition enhances honey bee resilience against the other threats.

Thanks to a serendipitous discovery and a lot of painstaking work, scientists can now build biohybrid molecules that combine the homing powers of DNA with the broad functional repertoire of proteins — without having to synthesize them one by one, researchers report in a new study. Using a naturally occurring process, laboratories can harness the existing molecule-building capacities of bacteria to generate vast libraries of potentially therapeutic DNA-protein hybrid molecules.

A new paper co-written by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign business administration professor Rosanna K. Smith provides a more nuanced understanding of how consumers respond to interracial couples in advertisements.

Existing global energy projections underestimate the impact of climate change on urban heating and cooling systems by roughly 50% by 2099 if greenhouse gas emissions remain high, researchers report. This disparity could profoundly affect critical sustainable energy planning for the future.

Taking inspiration from enzymes, chemists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a catalyst to simplify the synthesis of ethers, key functional components of many drugs, foods, personal care items and other consumer goods. The catalyst puts the two chemical ingredients in just the right proximity and position to come together, bypassing the need for the steps and quantities required under standard synthesis protocols. 

Iowa’s 2021 law banning instruction on divisive topics negatively affected educators’ relationships with colleagues and thwarted progress on equity and inclusivity, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign education professor Gabriel Rodriguez and his team found in a recent study.

According to two psychologists, the field of psychological science has a problem with the concept of self-control. It has named self-control both a “trait” — a key facet of personality involving attributes like conscientiousness, grit and the ability to tolerate delayed gratification — and a “state,” a fleeting condition that can best be described as willpower. These two concepts are at odds with one another and are often confused, the authors report.

The word “atlas,” may conjure images of giant books chock full of maps and a dizzying array of facts and figures. However, the new book “The World Atlas of Rivers, Estuaries, and Deltas” tells the story of these waterways long before human intervention and how they continue to evolve in the presence of — and often at odds with — human civilization. The new atlas is a highly visual guide to the most up-to-date research on the world's river systems, with an emphasis on the mutual relationship between people and these vital landscapes. 

“Battleground: Electoral College Strategies, Execution, and Impact in the Modern Era” draws on seven decades of data from public and private sources to explore the Electoral College strategies of every major presidential campaign from 1952-2020, said Scott Althaus, the Merriam Professor of Political Science at Illinois and co-author of the book.

Krannert Art Museum is presenting the first retrospective of contemporary artist Millie Wilson, whose work examines stereotypes and media representations regarding sexuality and gender identity.

A better understanding of the inner workings of neutron stars will lead to a greater knowledge of the dynamics that underpin the workings of the universe and also could help drive future technology, said the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign physics professor Nicolas Yunes. A new study led by Yunes details how new insights into how dissipative tidal forces within double — or binary — neutron star systems will inform our understanding of the universe. 

Couples who participated in the Illinois Strong Couples relationship improvement program, delivered through Illinois Extension, found that it enhanced their connections with their partners and benefited their individual mental health, a new study led by Allen W. Barton reports.

Engaging in a creative-idea generation task subsequently led to more indulgent eating, drinking and exercise behaviors such as assembling burgers with more calories, crafting cocktails with higher alcohol content and planning workouts that burned fewer calories, says new research co-written by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign business administration professor Jack Goncalo.

A new book by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign emeritus professor of religion Wayne Pitard talks about the accomplishments of influential leader John J. Bird, the first Black trustee for the U. of I.

I can barely hear Esther Ngumbi over the roar of greenhouse fans as she shows me around her rooftop laboratory. The benches are full of tomato plants, and the tomatoes don’t look good. Half of the plants are submerged in bins of water. Their leaves are yellow and withering. Some of the dying tomatoes have flowered. I see one or two baby tomatoes on a couple of spindly plants. 

This isn’t the only torture inflicted on the tomatoes. Someone has tied little baggies to their stems. Inside the bags, fat green caterpillars are chowing down on the tomato leaves.

Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for researchers, but with a significant limitation: The inability to explain how it came to its decisions, a problem known as the “AI black box.” By combining AI with automated chemical synthesis and experimental validation, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has opened up the black box to find the chemical principles that AI relied on to improve molecules for harvesting solar energy. 

A newly funded U.S. National Science Foundation iBioFoundry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will build on more than a decade of research at the U. of I. to integrate synthetic biology, laboratory automation and artificial intelligence to advance protein and cellular engineering. This is one of five new biofoundries to be established in the U.S.

Transitioning to a future of work that accounts for the job-destroying perils of artificial intelligence will require unions to be proactive in their bargaining and policy advocacy around automation, says Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

Using evolution as a guiding principle, researchers have successfully engineered bacteria-yeast hybrids to perform photosynthetic carbon assimilation, generate cellular energy and support yeast growth without traditional carbon feedstocks like glucose or glycerol. By engineering photosynthetic cyanobacteria to live symbiotically inside yeast cells, the bacteria-yeast hybrids can produce important hydrocarbons, paving new biotechnical pathways to non-petroleum-based energy, other synthetic biology applications and the experimental study of evolution.

In a new book, sociology professor Ilana Redstone examines the faulty mindsets that are fomenting political discord in the U.S. and challenges readers to abandon certainty in their rightness to rebuild social trust, move toward healing and preserve democracy.

In a book club with a death row inmate, Rachel McMillian’s students explored the complexities and joys of Black life, including mass incarceration and the empowerment of education. McMillian is an education professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Marsha Barrett examines Nelson Rockefeller’s career and the shift away from moderation in politics in her new book, “Nelson Rockefeller’s Dilemma: The Fight to Save Moderate Republicanism.”

Researchers analyzed meteorological data from nine Upper Midwest states from 1979-2021, tracking trends in extreme heat and cold over every 4-kilometer square of that territory. They found striking regional differences in the extremes. Many parts of the Upper Midwest experienced significant upticks in the number of extreme heat days over the 40 years — an increasing trend — while others saw a rise in extreme cold events. Some communities experienced more of both extremes. Others appeared to be more resistant to changes in extreme heat or cold.

Flexibility, personalization and increased consumption of protein and fiber were key in optimizing dieters’ weight-loss success on the Individualized Diet Improvement Program, created by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign food scientists.

Organized labor has fared considerably better during the Biden administration than it did during the Trump years, and would likely be better off under a Kamala Harris presidency, says Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign social work professor Will Schneider is leading a team of national experts in exploring whether providing short-term financial help prevents repeated child maltreatment in Illinois families involved with the state's child welfare system.

Anthropology professor Kendra Calhoun studies the creative language people use on social media platforms to fool algorithms that may incorrectly categorize content as “inappropriate” or “offensive.” Calhoun spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about this phenomenon, which she calls “linguistic self-censorship.”

All nine of the wheelchair racing athletes representing the U.S. at the 2024 Paralympics have a connection to Illinois. U. of I. head coach Adam Bleakney discusses his background, the competition and what he’s looking forward to at the Paris Games.

As the scorching May sun of Central Belize blazes down on us, temperatures soar to a staggering 106°F. Local farmers anxiously await the onset of the rainy season to sow their crops, but the much-needed first rain remains elusive. This property is owned by a community of Mennonites who live in the town of Outlook to the west. The maize fields lie empty except for us. We are the Valley of Peace Archaeology project team, named after a nearby village where our foremen and excavation assistants live. We are braving the extreme heat to conduct salvage excavations of 11 ancient Maya mounds.

Heat stroke is a medical emergency, but recognizing the signs leading up to it and knowing how to mitigate exposure and vulnerability factors can improve outcomes, says Dr. Holly Rosencranz, an internal medicine physician and a clinical teaching professor in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Gender history is relevant to understanding political, economic and private life in the past and today, says Antoinette Burton, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor and the director of the Humanities Research Institute.

An interdisciplinary research project of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explored Indigenous practices of making music and of engineering design in Bolivia and Sierra Leone.

The increasingly militarized enforcement practices at the southern U.S. border have hardened attitudes toward migrants and contributed to violence against them, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Latina/Latino studies and anthropology professor Gilberto Rosas said about the fifth anniversary of the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that targeted Latinos.

J. David Cisneros' research explores political candidates' dichotomous rhetoric about Latinos that alternately courts them for votes while disparaging immigrant communities, and the ways in which U.S. presidents embody ideas about race and national identity.

Scientists tested nine fish species from four northern Illinois rivers for contamination with per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals found in numerous industrial and commercial products and known to be harmful to human health. They found fish contaminated with PFAS in every one of their 15 test sites. Elevated levels of PFOS, one type of PFAS compound, were found in nearly all fish tested.

Communication professor JungHwan Yang is a member of a research team that is exploring the biases associated with political polls posted on social media, how their results compare with those reported by mainstream media and their potential influence on public discourse.

Many studies have focused on falls among people who are ambulatory and have conditions like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease, but research to address falls among those who rely on wheelchairs or motorized scooters is rare, scientists report in a new study. The researchers found that full-time wheelchair or motorized-scooter users also experience falls and fall-related injuries, and many live with the fear of falling again. 

The Biden administration’s new rule to protect workers from the dangers of extreme heat ultimately may be undermined by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Researchers analyzed the financial and environmental costs and benefits of four biofuels crops used to produce sustainable aviation fuels in the U.S. They found that each feedstock — corn stover, energy sorghum, miscanthus or switchgrass — performed best in a specific region of the rainfed United States. Their study will help growers and policymakers select the feedstocks most suited to meeting goals like reducing production costs, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and building soil carbon stocks.

A new virtual reality training series being co-developed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign teaches medical students about implicit bias in health care and the ways it harms Black patients and contributes to race-based health disparities.

Understanding how soft materials fail under stress is critical for solving engineering challenges as disparate as pharmaceutical technology and landslide prevention. A new study linking a spectrum of soft material behaviors — previously thought to be unrelated — led researchers to identify a new parameter they call the brittility factor, which allows them to simplify soft material failure behavior. This will ultimately help engineers design better materials that meet future challenges.

Doctoral student in humanities participating in community-based project to bring awareness to food sourcing and sustainable agriculture.