Illinois Featured Content

If confirmed, this discovery would be the first fossil evidence that Denisovans — an extinct hominin species that co-existed with Neanderthals and modern humans — lived in southeast Asia.

'We're optimistic this initiative will help scientists develop new, untested approaches that can reveal how pathogens work and how the human immune system responds to pathogen infection,” said Leslie Vosshall of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

'The prevalence of interracial couples in advertising suggests that firms assume this is an effective strategy. But there’s no clear evidence that brands benefit from this inclusion,' said business professor Rosanna K. Smith.  

More than 25% of the young adults surveyed in a recent study mistakenly believed that sexual activity increases older adults’ risk of heart attack and that disinterest in sex is a normal and inevitable part of aging.  

A new paper co-written by Gies College of Business professor David Molitor found that air pollution via drifting wildfire smoke disproportionately elevates the risk of suicide among rural populations in the U.S.

"It’s pretty clear that wildfire smoke is affecting a lot more people on a lot more days than it used to,” says Christopher Tessum, a professor of civil and environmental engineering.

U of I entomology professor Adam Dolezal, who studies how environmental stressors affect honey bees and wild bees, spoke to News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the current status of bees in the U.S.

A new study finds that revenue from college sports TV networks increased spending by universities’ athletic programs while decreasing subsidization by other campus units. 

Bats help keep forests growing. Without bats to hold their populations in check, insects that munch on tree do three to nine times more damage than when bats are on the scene, according to a groundbreaking new study from the U of I.

Bank runs still occur, and banks still fail because of them. But they look very different from the days of George Bailey and Mr. Potter. 

Professor of African American studies Mary Frances Phillips wrote about the spiritual wellness practices of political activist Ericka Huggins in her new book “Black Panther Woman.”

Sociology professor Brittney Miles explored the ways in which Black women’s beauty is connected to their social and political experiences.

The study finds that mandatory and strongly enforced gender diversity interventions trigger larger enhancements in investment efficiency compared to voluntary or weakly enforced policies. 

 A new book by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor David Beck examines how the federal government used bribery schemes to end its relationships with Native American tribal nations in the early 20th century. 

Urban planning professor Marc Doussard examines grassroots organizing efforts in six cities, including Chicago, and how collaborations with racial justice groups have strengthened campaigns for economic policy changes.

History professor Robert Morrissey writes about how the ecology of the tallgrass prairie shaped the culture and created unique opportunities for the Indigenous people who lived there.

Landscape architecture professor Pollyanna Rhee examines how the modern environmental movement has been used to protect the property and interests of affluent homeowners in her new book.

Healing America’s political discord — and saving democracy — demands that we abandon our certainty we are right and snap judgments about those who disagree, says sociology professor Ilana Redstone in a new book. 

Aerosols produced by bubble bursting can impact air pollution, global climate and even the transmission of infectious diseases, and smaller aerosol drops are more easily lifted by winds and can travel much further.   

A camera-trap study of two ecosystems – one with pumas and one without – adds to scientists’ understanding of the many ways apex predators influence the abundance, diversity and habits of other animals, including smaller carnivores.

Illinois reserachers found that school children who more closely adhered to the so-called MIND diet (high in fiber and antioxidants, low in fat and full of colorful berries and vegetables) showed better control over their attention.  

'We need to combat the hysteria that legalizing cannabis is going to have a wild and resounding impact on teens in terms of substance use rates and prevalence,' says social work professor Doug Smith. 'That’s simply not the case.'

A CAR-T immune therapy effective at attacking late-stage ovarian cancer in mice with a single dose provides evidence that CAR-T therapies could effectively treat solid-tumor cancers.  

Professor Fatima Husain explains why individuals with tinnitus may find peace among the audial onslaught and offers suggestions for how people can safely shield their ears from the impending 'wall of sound.'

'Too often these college students’ career aspirations are negatively shaped by the limiting attitudes of family, campus policies and society to lock in an identified career,' said Professor Chang-kyu Kwon. 

College yields higher earnings postgraduation for all Illinois students, but disparities persist among graduates from low-income families, even if they have the same college degree as peers from more affluent families. 

U. of I. researchers found that shared decision-making and the quality of the health care provider’s history-taking and physical exam were the main drivers of spinal pain patients’ satisfaction with, trust in and agreement with their doctors. 

A study by Professor Paul Bruno found that instructors’ teaching experience both in general and in computer science specifically had the greatest impact on student learning - not whether faculty members were licensed to teach the subject. 

'Fathers using constructive conflict resolution led to more parental involvement, which led to more positive child development. Destructive conflict has the opposite effect on kids,' says family development professor Karen Kramer.

“The dynamics of a spike are very important – how much it moves and how flexible it is to search for and bind to receptors on the host cell. ...We hope that the results of our simulations can be used for developing new treatments.'

Why preserve the weirdos? Because mutant genes confer some of the most important traits in modern corn hybrids. They allow us to perpetuate the wide array of genetic variation in the Midwest’s most economically important crop.  

Researchers found that college students derive belongingness from four broad factors – their identification with the university overall; feelings of being a social match with others; their sense of being accepted and welcome; and their cultural capital.  

'SPOTLITE,' identified more than 23,000 incidents of police uses of lethal force in the U.S. during 2014-2021. It includes incidents in which police used a firearm - including those with nonfatal outcomes - and other uses of force that result in a death. 

Has spring weather become windier, leading to storms that coincide with the period when crop fields are most vulnerable in April and May, before and just after planting?

New research on the origins of emotional overeating in 3-year-olds suggests that caregivers' responses to infants’ and toddlers’ negative emotions (disappointment, fear, anger) influences a child’s development of emotional overeating. 

Military spouses reported that they relied more often on people in their social networks for emotional support and assistance than formal sources, according to a new study led by communication professor Leanne Knobloch.

LGBTQ+ people involved in farm work are more than three times more likely to experience depression and suicidal intent and about two and a half times more likely to experience anxiety than the general population. 

Post-starburst galaxies were previously thought to scatter all of their gas and dust in violent bursts of energy. A study co-authored by a U of I astronomer reveals that these galaxies don’t scatter all of their star-forming fuel after all. 

Many of the same social media platforms and websites are popular around the world, but how people use them remains vastly different based on their languages and geography.

'Because executives are often the only people who know that earnings have been manipulated, we thought it would be worthwhile to at least try asking executives directly about whether they have manipulated earnings,' said researcher Alex Vandenberg.

The microbial growth from blackberry leaves in aquatic habitats is detrimental to mosquito larval survival. 'It looked to be an organic form of mosquito control,' said professor Brian Allan. They appear to be just as effective as larvicides. 

Head and neck cancer patients whose eating habits aligned with the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 at diagnosis were significantly more likely to survive three years later, according to a study led by scholars at Illinois.

People who found ways to explore their sexuality and use it as a coping mechanism during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic had more active and fulfilling sex lives, according to U of I studies.

Although meaningful work is a strongly valued attribute when seeking a job, it may be less influential than salary when prospective employees evaluate career opportunities, according to new U of I research.

A study by urban and regional planning professor Rebecca Walker is the first to examine the environmental impact of racial covenants, using the first database to map the presence of the covenants in a U.S. metropolitan area. 

'Our findings showed that pairing honey with yogurt supported the survival of the yogurt’s probiotic bacteria in the gut, so the lab study results did translate to real-world application in humans,' said food sciences professor Hannah Holscher.

Beekeepers 'move colonies to the places where there are flowers blooming so the bees can find food. I’m interested in how beekeepers deal with risk in their operation and how that affects pollination contracts,' Professor Brittney Goodrich said. 

Mortality from COVID-19 from 2020 to 2023 boosted the U.S. Social Security fund by about $156 billion. But Black, Hispanic families received fewer survivors' benefits despite greater losses of young parents, highlighting underlying inequities.

History professor Teri Chettiar's new book looks at how the intimate emotional life of families took on great political importance in post-WWII Britain, and emotional well-being was seen as a key factor for a stable democracy. 

'When we rely on mothers to self-report (intimate partner violence) to their attorney...they aren’t necessarily going to disclose it... That indicates a need for universal screening and assessment for IPV in divorce cases.'