blog posts Caterpillar, fungus in cahoots to threaten fruit, nut crops, study finds Nov 5, 2018 8:00 am The navel orangeworm caterpillar works with a fungus to overcome plant chemical defenses, a new study finds Study: Culture strongly influences coping behaviors after natural disasters Nov 2, 2018 2:30 pm Some of the cultural values associated with resilience, such as a focus on community and informal means of support, are less prominent among middle-class populations than lower income populations Four factors influence social media reach of public health tweets, study says Oct 30, 2018 11:15 am Fear-related language; longer messages; the lack of links to another website; and images – photos, videos or GIFs – were the strongest predictors of whether a public health message was retweeted Illinois joins UChicago, national labs in quantum collaboration Oct 18, 2018 4:15 am Quantum collaboration first step in broad partnership between Illinois and the University of Chicago New center to accelerate quantum information science and engineering Oct 29, 2018 9:30 am Illinois is making a $15 million investment in quantum information science and engineering, a field poised to revolutionize computing, communication, security, measurement and sensing Plump songbirds more likely to survive migration over Gulf of Mexico Oct 25, 2018 3:00 pm If they make it, they’ll continue the journey to a South American winter habitat. If they don't, the journey will end in the waters of the gulf Optimizing airplanes' winglets for more efficient flight Oct 23, 2018 8:45 am 'We were able to systematically explore the space of possible designs, and ultimately obtain designs that may seem unusual, and that we could never have predicted by relying on mere intuition' Study: Stem cell proliferation is controlled directly by nervous system Oct 19, 2018 10:45 am Prior to this study, scientists had suspected the autonomic nervous system was involved in stem cell proliferation, but they didn’t know if the relationship was direct or indirect Beckman researcher examines how caregiving impacts brain development Oct 18, 2018 4:15 pm 'There is tremendous plasticity in the brain in the first years of life, and that brain development is shaped, in part, by the infant’s repeated experiences with parents and other primary caregivers' Study identifies benefits when wildlife, livestock share territory Oct 15, 2018 5:00 am Entomology professor Brian Allan and his colleagues at Bard College found that livestock and wildlife in central Kenya sometimes benefit from sharing territory New book studies friction between religion and family law Oct 15, 2018 9:15 am A spate of Supreme Court decisions has caused a sense of unease among religious people, says Robin Fretwell Wilson, editor of the book 'The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law' Gene Robinson elected to National Academy of Medicine Oct 19, 2018 9:00 pm Illinois entomology professor Gene Robinson was elected to the National Academy of Medicine 'for pioneering contributions to understanding the roles of genes in social behavior' Effects of epilepsy on neural activity in mice fluctuate with reproductive cycle Oct 12, 2018 11:30 am Researchers found that neurons regulating hormone release have different activity in mice with epilepsy, and that those differences fluctuate with the reproductive cycle Study: Online positive psychology exercises improve quality of life in hemodialysis patients Oct 10, 2018 9:30 am Hemodialysis patients who participated in an internet-based positive psychology program for five weeks significantly improved their depressive symptoms and ability to cope with their disease Hopis have made their mark in the world of running, author says Oct 1, 2018 3:00 pm To be Hopi is to run. 'That’s who we are and that’s what we do,' says author and director of the American Indian Studies Program at Illinois, Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert New, highly stable catalyst may help turn water into fuel Oct 1, 2018 8:45 am An Illinois research team developed a new material that helps split water molecules for hydrogen fuel production Christina White wins American Chemical Society's synthetic organic chemistry award Sep 28, 2018 1:30 pm Professor White is the first woman to win the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry Illinois research accurately predicts U.S. end-of-season corn yield Sep 27, 2018 2:00 pm Crop yield predictions impact nearly the entire agricultural supply chain. That’s why improving the accuracy of those predictions is so important Study: Damaged liver cells undergo reprogramming to regenerate Sep 26, 2018 8:00 am New Illinois research has determined how damaged liver cells repair and restore themselves through a signal to return to an early stage of postnatal organ development Schoolyard tree cover predicts math performance in high-poverty urban schools Sep 25, 2018 11:15 am Previous studies have documented a positive relationship between greenness and academic achievement, but, until now, no one had examined the relationship in high-poverty schools Paper: School shootings affect school quality, housing value Sep 21, 2018 10:00 am 'Not a lot of good things happen to property values in the aftermath of a school shooting, and that effect persists, lasting for at least three years,' says graduate researcher Juan Sebastian Munoz Researchers develop microbubble scrubber to destroy dangerous biofilms Sep 19, 2018 11:00 am Researchers harnessed the power of bubbles to propel tiny particles through the surfaces of these tough films and deliver an antiseptic deathblow to the microbes inside Study: Kidney stones have distinct geological histories Sep 14, 2018 3:00 pm Illinois researchers have made new discoveries about how kidney stones repeatedly grow and dissolve as they form inside the kidney. Designer enzyme conquers sulfite reduction, a bottleneck in environmental cleanup Sep 14, 2018 3:00 pm Chemistry professor Yi Lu, left, and graduate student Evan Mirts have designed a new synthetic enzyme that reduces the compound sulfite to sulfide – a notoriously complex multistep chemical reaction that has eluded chemists for years. Adaptation of ‘The Turn of the Screw’ premieres at Krannert Center Sep 12, 2018 12:00 pm The Builders Association, a New York theater company, developed “STRANGE WINDOW: The Turn of the Screw,” a new take on Henry James’ novella, during a residency at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Study: Large-scale wind and solar farms in the Sahara would increase heat, rain, vegetation Sep 7, 2018 2:30 pm Using a new climate-modeling approach, U. of I. postdoctoral researcher Yan Li and his colleagues found that a massive wind and solar installation in the Sahara Desert could have beneficial climatic and ecological effects. Infants can distinguish between leaders and bullies, study finds Sep 4, 2018 9:15 am A new study finds that 21-month-old infants can distinguish between respect-based power asserted by a leader and fear-based power wielded by a bully Our brains process irony in emojis, words in the same way Sep 5, 2018 2:00 pm That winky-face emoji at the end of a text isn’t just a fun picture added to a sentence. It can convey linguistic meaning that changes the interpretation of the sentence Discovery: Properties of viral DNA determine course of infection Sep 4, 2018 8:45 am Viruses may inject their DNA into a host cell synchronously or randomly, a new study finds. The difference appears to influence the course of infection Color-changing sensor detects signs of eye damage in tears Aug 31, 2018 9:30 am Carle-Illinois researchers have developed a rapid sensing gel to measure a molecular marker of eye injury in a teardrop College towns important to alumni’s enjoyment of homecoming events, study finds Aug 31, 2018 9:15 am Alumni who were not only strongly emotionally attached to their school but perceived the town as a unique, tourist destination rated homecoming events as much more satisfying Ancient African herders had lasting ecological impact on grazed lands Aug 29, 2018 11:00 am Ancient herding sites increased ecological diversity on the African savanna. Sites where herders penned their animals became fertile hotspots that still nourish large communities of herbivores Post-workout muscle building and repair blunted in obese adults, study finds Aug 28, 2018 8:30 am New study shows 'there is an obesity-related impairment in building new muscle proteins in the fed state after a weightlifting session' Connectivity explains ecosystem responses to rainfall, drought Aug 27, 2018 12:15 pm 'This type of analysis...lets us determine how well different aspects of an ecosystem are connected and whether responses to changes in climate are site-specific or common across different ecosystems' College tours for Chinese teens a rapidly growing market for tourist industry Aug 24, 2018 4:30 pm More families in China are sending their teens on international college tours, creating a potentially lucrative market sector for universities, college towns and tourism-related businesses Many young adults lack financial literacy, economic stability, study finds Aug 28, 2018 3:45 pm Nearly a third of 18 to 24 year olds were found to be 'financially precarious' because they had poor financial literacy and lacked money management skills and income stability Pointy eggs more likely to stay put in birds’ cliffside nests, study finds Aug 22, 2018 10:30 am 'This finding provides experimental support for natural selection shaping the unique form of murre eggs amongst all bird eggs.' Study shows diminished but ‘robust’ link between union decline, rise of inequality Aug 21, 2018 9:30 am 'The bottom line is that paychecks would probably be bigger, and paychecks would probably be more secure and reliable, if unions hadn’t declined over time' Novel nanoparticle-based approach detects and treats oral plaque without drugs Aug 17, 2018 2:15 pm Illinois researchers have recently devised a practical nanotechnology-based method for detecting and treating the harmful bacteria that cause plaque and lead to tooth decay New CRISPR technique skips over portions of genes that can cause disease Aug 16, 2018 12:00 pm Illinois researchers' new gene editing technology gives researchers a way not only to eliminate a mutated gene sequence, but to influence how the gene is expressed and regulated A unique combination of catalysts opens doors to making useful compounds Aug 16, 2018 11:30 am 'Lots of researchers have tried to develop new photocatalysts for different reactions. And enzyme catalysis is a relatively old field.' Few researchers have put these two catalysts together Study: Human wastewater valuable to global agriculture, economics Aug 15, 2018 1:45 pm 'In some cases, wastewater that has been treated for safety can be used to simultaneously irrigate and fertilize crops,' said Illinois grad student and lead author John Trimmer For now, Illinois’ imperiled eastern massasauga rattlesnakes retain genetic diversity Aug 28, 2018 8:00 am A long-term study of these snakes reveals that – despite their alarming decline in numbers – they have retained a surprising amount of genetic diversity Newly sequenced fox genome hints at genetic basis for friendly, aggressive behaviors Aug 6, 2018 2:45 pm 'Finding genomic regions...was beyond any expectations with our previous tools.' With the genome sequenced, they could pinpoint part of a chromosome and even identify specific genes responsible Study finds possible connection between U.S. tornado activity, Arctic sea ice Aug 6, 2018 8:30 am The correlation between Arctic ice retreat and jet stream migration may lead to advances in seasonal severe weather prediction Genomic study ties insect evolution to the ability to detect airborne odors Aug 2, 2018 8:00 am Study from Illinois entomology professor Hugh Robertson and colleagues at UC Davis reveals that all insects have odorant receptors that enable them to detect airborne chemicals Molecular probe illuminates cancer stem cells in live mice Jul 29, 2018 10:15 am The new probe is a small molecule that emits a fluorescent signal only when it reacts with a target enzyme produced in cancer stem cells Study: In darters, male competition drives evolution of flashy fins, bodies Aug 1, 2018 8:45 am A new study of orangethroat darters reveals that the males’ ability to recognize their own and other species drives the evolution of their bright display colors New model reveals rips in Earth’s mantle layer below southern Tibet Jul 22, 2018 1:45 pm Seismic waves are helping researchers uncover the mysterious subsurface history of the Tibetan Plateau, possibly lending insight to future earthquake activity in the region Study: Student loans hamper wealth accumulation among black, Hispanic adults Jul 30, 2018 1:30 pm Black and Hispanic adults in the study who reported having outstanding student loans when they graduated college had $36,000 less in net worth than their peers at age 30