blog posts Beckman's Visualization Laboratory is helping train local snipers Jan 4, 2018 1:15 pm Members of the sniper unit of the Champaign County Metropolitan Emergency Tactical Response Operations (METRO) gathered last month for an unconventional target practice that was captured on video. Agricultural fungicide attracts honey bees, study finds Jan 8, 2018 9:00 am Reserachers found that honey bees have a slight preference for food laced with the fungicide chlorothalonil at certain concentrations Many Midwestern retailers sell mislabeled invasive vines Jan 8, 2018 9:30 am Gardeners hoping to plant American bittersweet – a native vine that produces orange berries in the fall and is used for wreaths – may be unwittingly buying an invasive bittersweet instead New book tackles challenges of strategic brand management in global markets Jan 8, 2018 4:30 pm Book co-written by a U of I business professor explores strategic brand management in a way that’s scalable from the individual entrepreneur to the multinational corporation How massive is super-massive? Astronomers measure more black holes, farther away Jan 9, 2018 1:30 pm Astronomers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey announced new measurements of the masses of a large sample of supermassive black holes far beyond our universe Illinois, Mayo team up to improve identification of seizure-causing brain regions Jan 10, 2018 11:15 am Their new approach has the potential to decrease the time of an epilepsy procedure from days or weeks to just a couple of hours Northern corn leaf blight genes identified in new study Jan 11, 2018 4:00 pm Scientists have long known that corn and fungal genes interact, but until now, they didn’t know the molecular makeup of those genes in the fungus, or where they were located in the genome Preterm babies may suffer setbacks in auditory brain development, speech Jan 16, 2018 11:15 am Preterm babies born early in the third trimester of pregnancy are likely to experience delays in the development of the auditory cortex Prebiotics in infant formula could improve learning and memory and alter brain chemistry Jan 17, 2018 10:30 am Scientists from the Piglet Nutrition and Cognition Lab at U of I worked with piglets to show prebiotics included in infant formula can enhance memory and exploratory behavior Lessons in nature boost classroom engagement afterward, researchers report Jan 17, 2018 4:00 pm Third-graders who spend a class session in a natural outdoor setting are more engaged and less distracted in their regular classroom afterward Key to willpower lies in believing you have it in abundance Jan 18, 2018 2:30 pm People who believe they have an abundant supply of self-control are more likely to feel invigorated by mentally taxing activities than people who believe their willpower is a finite resource Researchers use sound waves to advance optical communication Jan 22, 2018 11:00 am Optical isolators may help solve major data capacity and system size challenges for photonic integrated circuits, which are used for computing and communications Illinois Research: Breadth and Depth Jan 24, 2018 9:45 am Whether the measure is research funding, corporate partners, companies created, or students involved, Illinois research is a national powerhouse Only half of youths involved in problem behaviors graduate on time Jan 25, 2018 8:30 am Addressing middle school students’ problems with bullying, fighting and attendance may be critical to ensuring they graduate high school on time Shape-shifting organic crystals use memory to improve plastic electronics Jan 25, 2018 10:15 am An Illinois research has identified a mechanism that triggers shape-memory in organic crystals used in plastic electronics Product recall decisions need balance to prevent overreacting Jan 29, 2018 10:15 am The timely detection of potential medical device recalls could both reduce the cost of and improve the effectiveness of health care delivery Researchers shed light on how influenza evades immune systems Jan 29, 2018 11:00 am According to new research at Illinois, certain mutations in the genome of influenza A may help counteract the weakening effects of other mutations Illinois scientists pioneer use of deep learning for real-time gravitational wave discovery Jan 29, 2018 7:00 pm New approach pioneered by NCSA scientists enables study of gravitational waves using minimal computational resources, cutting time to discovery In impoverished communities, health care awareness as important as access, affordability Jan 30, 2018 10:00 am 'It turns out that the most critical issue for an NPO is working on community awareness,' said researcher Ujjal Kumar Mukherjee Ancient American goddesses on display Feb 2, 2018 9:00 am New exhibit at Illinois’ Spurlock Museum show artistic, spiritual legacy of people who built Cahokia, a great, thousand-year-old urban center on the Mississippi River Doctors played a role in ideas about racial differences Feb 6, 2018 10:15 am Slavery and racism played their roles in planting beliefs about race and racial difference, but so did medicine, says history professor Rana Hogarth Soil characteristics may be related to chronic wasting disease persistence, study finds Feb 6, 2018 10:45 am There is no cure and no vaccine for chronic wasting disease in deer. U of I researchers looked at the relationship between soil characteristics and presence of the disease in Illinois Illinois researchers contribute to publicly accessible agronomy database Feb 7, 2018 9:45 am Comprising data from five years and 30 field research sites in the Midwest, it has been called one of the most comprehensive agricultural datasets ever to be published Biochar could replace unsustainable peat moss in greenhouse industry Feb 8, 2018 3:30 pm Plant lovers are familiar with peat moss as the major component of potting mix, but harvest of the material is becoming unsustainable Study: Many parents of children with disabilities don’t make care plans Feb 9, 2018 12:15 pm Fewer than half of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities make long-term plans about who will take over their child’s care if they can't Illinois stream fauna: A look back at pre-settlement biodiversity Feb 9, 2018 1:45 pm The dramatic changes in the Illinois' landscape, from tall grass prairies and forests to farms, road, and cities have greatly affected freshwater organisms and their habitats Illinois Summit on Diversity in Psychological Science Feb 12, 2018 9:45 am The goal of this Summit is to set a new agenda for research in psychological science that will transform the way we think about diversity, its context in the academy, society Drug-delivering capsules could sustain transplant insulin-producing cells for diabetics Feb 12, 2018 10:30 am A drug-carrying microsphere within a cell-bearing microcapsule could be the key to transplanting insulin-secreting pig pancreas cells into human patients Study links fox domestication to gene activity in the pituitary gland Feb 14, 2018 8:45 am A study of foxes offers new insights into the brain changes that occur in wild canids as they become more tame Bridging the gap between medicine and literature Feb 14, 2018 10:15 am 'Nowadays, you have a separation between the humanities departments and the sciences, but up until the 18th century that was not the case,' says Professor Stephanie Hilger The beneficial side of pets’ bacterial microbiome Feb 14, 2018 4:15 pm '...animals that live together and have similar diets will have microbiomes that share common features. Studies have found that people and their pet dogs develop similar microbiomes' Three Illinois professors named Sloan Research Fellows Feb 15, 2018 9:15 am Sloan Research Fellowships 'honor early career scholars whose achievements mark them as among the very best scientific minds working today' Social media as good a barometer of public health attitudes as traditional phone polling Feb 15, 2018 10:45 am 'People aren’t afraid to go public and crowd-source their health concerns.' Illinois psychology professor Dolores Albarracin Sleep problems in menopause linked to hot flashes, depression - and may not last Feb 19, 2018 9:45 am The findings suggest that addressing hot flashes and depression may also address sleep disruptions that often accompany menopause Illinois graphic design professor fights human trafficking with app, education Feb 19, 2018 9:45 am Illinois graphic design professor Lisa Mercer created Operation Compass, an app that allows users to anonymously report suspected cases of human trafficking Emancipated blacks often targeted for relocation to the tropics Feb 19, 2018 11:00 am Every significant emancipation of black enslaved people came with efforts to move the freed people off the continent, says Illinois professor Ikuko Asaka Portrayals of doctors in comics have become more realistic, nuanced Feb 20, 2018 9:45 am In contemporary comics, doctors finally get away from being stark heroes or villians, more lilely to show human uncertainty, ethical struggles Continental interiors may not be as tectonically stable as geologists think Feb 20, 2018 10:45 am New data suggest geologic activity within continental interiors may have occurred more recently than previously believed. The findings challenge leading theories regarding plate tectonics Paper: 'Pseudo-contract' creeps into digital terms and conditions Feb 20, 2018 4:45 pm The boilerplate text that nobody reads when signing up for an online service has very tenuous legal footing, says Illinois contract law expert Robin B. Kar Neuroimaging reveals lasting brain deficits in iron-deficient piglets Feb 21, 2018 9:45 am Researchers used neuroimaging to study how iron deficiency influences piglet brain development. The findings may have implications for human infant brain development Mathematician: Tips could bite into restaurant profits Feb 22, 2018 9:15 am A mathematics researcher has found that there is a point where restaurants would be better off eliminating tipping altogether Illinois researchers seek better solutions for skull injury repair Feb 22, 2018 5:00 pm Researchers seek ways to repair complicated skull injuries with malleable biomaterials that work with the body’s natural healing processes—instead of titanium plates or grafts Retired Illinois soil scientist digs up information about Vietnam War tunnels Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm The Viet Cong's tunnels 'grew from temporary quarters for a few soldiers to encompass underground villages of soldiers with kitchens, living quarters, and hospitals.' Study links responsible behavior in high school to life success 50 years later Feb 26, 2018 8:45 am Above and beyond other factors known to influence life success, responsible behavior and interest in high school correspond to economic and career success 50 years later DOE grant: $10.6 million to produce more biodiesel, biojet fuel Feb 26, 2018 3:15 pm The five-year grant will help Illinois scientists transform two of the most productive crops in America into sustainable sources of biodiesel and biojet fuel Scientists seeking rare river crayfish aren't just kicking rocks Feb 27, 2018 8:30 am Scientists use an established method, kick-seining, and a newer technique, environmental DNA, to study a rare crayfish in the Eleven Point River Individual quantum dots imaged in 3-D for first time Feb 27, 2018 10:45 am Illinois research team that is first to demonstrate imaging of individual nanoparticles at different orientations while in a laser-induced excited state Clouds are brighter near Antarctica. How does that affect climate? Feb 28, 2018 10:15 am Brighter clouds reflect more sunlight back to space, which 'means the energy balance over the Southern Ocean is different than the energy balance over everywhere else' Paper: Videos help medical students master physiology concepts Feb 28, 2018 12:30 pm Creating short videos that explain information presented during physiology lectures makes teaching easier for medical educators and learning easier for their students Cyberslug: Virtual predator is self-aware, behaves like the real thing Mar 1, 2018 10:30 am Illinois scientists have built an AI ocean predator that reacts to food and responds to members of its own kind much like an actual sea slug