blog posts Bringing yesterday's plants to digital life Jul 31, 2019 1:00 pm This imaging process is part of Endless Forms, an NSFdigitization project. Our part is to digitize specimens from across the country in three groups: succulent plants, carnivorous plants and epiphytes. Tracking an invisible world Jul 22, 2019 9:30 am Successful experiments are worth the sleepless nights I spend dissecting the processes in living things that are essentially invisible to us. Extracting history from a cornfield Jul 17, 2019 8:45 am The scientists and students have access only to the foundations of the 800-year-old village, as plows have erased everything else. Looters, too, have damaged the site. Govindjee's photosynthesis museum Jul 9, 2019 8:00 am Plant biology professor emeritus Govindjee, who has made key contributions to the scientific understanding of photosynthesis, is also an archivist and historian of photosynthesis research. Petroglyphs: Preserving the Past in 3D Mar 7, 2019 1:45 pm Archaeology team uses a portable 3D scanner to recreate the details of a hand petroglyph from a site overlooking the Mississippi River in Monroe County, Illinois. Building an orchestra of brass Feb 21, 2019 10:15 am The University of Illinois Saxophone Ensemble tackles music never meant for the saxophone. Destination: Conservation Feb 12, 2019 8:45 am My task is to survey randomly chosen fields in the (Conservation Reserve Enhancement) program to figure out whether and how these conservation areas are affecting birds that have declined in numbers Finding the holiday spirit in rare books Dec 20, 2018 3:00 pm The Rare Book and Manuscript Library has holiday- and winter-themed books and images, from a depiction of a 1683 frost fair on a frozen river to illustrations of Norse folk tales Excavating a cave without leaving campus Nov 14, 2018 11:45 am Students learn to map a cave, lay out an excavation grid and use ground-penetrating radar to locate potential underground features - all in virtual reality Finding water closer to home in Jimu Village Oct 10, 2018 4:00 am Many of these happy faces wore skeptical frowns last April when we first approached the villagers with our crazy idea to find a new water source for them using high-tech instruments Deciphering the history of a Chinese vase Sep 29, 2018 8:45 am Scientists are helping determine the age of an antique Chinese porcelain vase in Krannert Art Museum’s collection through an X-ray fluorescence analysis of its paint Playing a parasite for science Aug 22, 2018 10:15 am I act the part of the cowbird: I spy on robins to find their nests and slip a foreign egg into each one. Finding an ancient Maya city in the jungles of Belize Aug 7, 2018 8:45 am 'The site is impressive, with monumental buildings and a temple that rises 30 meters above our heads. ...the west side of the temple platform is a sheer 10-meter drop' Tracking a forest’s recovery one year after storm Aug 1, 2018 10:00 am In February, 2017, a tornado swept through this part of the Shawnee National Forest. There are few canopy trees left standing and invasive understory plants have taken over In search of ‘white birds in a nest’ Jul 24, 2018 8:00 am Our willingness to tromp through swamps and brambles is fueled by the hope of catching a glimpse of “white birds in a nest” (Macbridea alba) in bloom Journey to becoming a physician-innovator Jul 17, 2018 8:45 am A a member of the inaugural class of the world’s first engineering-based medical school talks about how she got to Illinois Illinois outreach: The weavers of Tambo Perccaro Jul 16, 2018 3:45 pm 'About 70 people are waiting for us in the courtyard of the community center when we arrive. They are llama herders, farmers and weavers. Many have walked for miles to be here...' Exploring the unknown: The Motmot sinkhole Jul 9, 2018 9:00 am 'The ancient Maya viewed openings in the earth, such as this sinkhole and a nearby pool, as portals to the underworld – a realm within which deities and ancestors reside' Searching for turtles in a sea of grass Jun 5, 2018 10:30 am To survey local Ornate Turtles, one has to find them. Turtle tracking dogs help a lot. Aiming for hoops and practicing English May 29, 2018 9:45 am I can see that their trust is growing. They are looking to their female trainer as a role model, an outlier in a society that doesn’t always encourage young girls to pursue athletics Rocks, moss and muddy tree roots Apr 15, 2018 12:30 pm Campus staff member tells of finding inspiration for her art on a trip to the Great Smokey Mountains. 'I have one goal in mind,' she writews. 'I want to see something extraordinary.' Double the traps, double the turkeys Apr 11, 2018 9:45 am Since 2015, I've spent each winter capturing and tagging wild turkeys with GPS transmitters to study their habitat use and nesting behavior in forests managed with prescribed fire
