Illinois Featured Content

WNIJ-AM (Aug. 1) Professor Dave Beck describes the legacy of St. Mary’s Training School for Boys in Maryville, Ill., where many Native American children were indoctrinated into white American culture, and where several of them died.

FactCheck.org (Feb. 27) 'Elon’s 394 million is not the number of people receiving benefits. It is the number of people with Social Security numbers,' says Jeff Brown, a U. of I. professor of finance.

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.

Forbes (April 2) The U. of I. System hopes to increase transfer rates from community colleges to its universities. The program will provide eligible students with academic coaching, financial assistance and career advice as they transfer to the U. of I.

As a girl in Egypt, she learned English so she could understand U of I racing coach Adam Bleakney’s videos. She dreamed of one day learning from him face to face. For seven years, she planned and practiced. Then came her break.

Nebraska Public Media (July 21) Insects might find themselves out of sync with plants they rely on, says U of I's May Berenbaum. 'If you’re an insect with one host plant and you emerge when the leaves are no longer edible, you’re out of luck.'

WGN-TV (Nov. 21) New research from the U. of I. may help doctors do a better job of detecting concussions. U. of I. medical student Annabelle Shaffer discusses the new study.

Duck Choo Oh’s Homecoming coronation in 1955 symbolized the blossoming of an international era for the University of Illinois. The seeds of that growth started nearly five decades earlier with President Edmund Janes James (1904–20).

The Midwest played a key role in incubating and expanding the ideas of political activist Marcus Garvey, not only in the U.S., but globally,  Professor Erik McDuffie writes in his new book.

Smithsonian Magazine (May 31) Longer growing seasons can be problematic, says Christopher Evans, a U of I forest ecologist. 'The birds don’t have the food sources at the right time, or the pollinators that may pollinate these plants aren’t out yet.'

The New York Times (March 2) U of I anthropology professor Laura Shackelford said her team's discoveries raised the possibility that Denisovans and modern humans coexisted and interacted for tens of thousands of years. 

'If you want to find all the cancer, imaging one biomarker is not enough. It could miss some tumors. If you introduce a second or a third biomarker, the likelihood of removing all cancer cells increases,' says Professor Viktor Gruev.

L.A. Times (Dec. 7) The Mexican League fully integrated pro baseball. It 'meant that you see each other as equals,' says U of I's Adrian Burgos. 'You share the locker room, the dugout space. It is a different dimension.'

WTVO-TV (Dec. 19) 'The risk to humans is incredibly small... from the dairy products that we’ve consumed from stores,' Professor Jim Drackley says. 'I'd always recommend that people don’t consume raw milk ... the virus could still be there.'

Scientific American (April 5) When generative AI models produce responses that don’t match reality, it's called 'hallucination.' U of I professor Dilek Hakkani-Tür, says AI hallucinations spring from their fundamental construction. 

National Geographic (March 14) Some Americans plan to sauté some of this year’s double cicada brood. Cicadas are edible, according to U. of I. Extension. People eat them alongside other bugs – such as silkworms, locusts and crickets – worldwide. 

Illinois' premier pregame tailgating location will once again be open with a full slate of entertainment planned for the season. 

The New York Times (March 20) 'I have not experienced, across 46 years of higher education, a period where there’s been this much distance' between the agendas of university leaders and Washington, says U. of I. chancellor Robert Jones. 

Chicago Tribune (June 26) 'They are now using E15 fuel, which has lower emissions.... But, at the end of the day, (race cars) are still having a very low efficiency. So there’s no way around that,' says atmospheric sciences professor Nicole Riemer.

The Microbiologist (Jan. 6) That’s why researchers at U. of I.'s National Center for Supercomputing Applications are developing ways to map the microbiome to help create personalized nutrition plans for individuals. 

The Illini open the spring schedule with a match against DePaul on March 8. First serve from Huff Hall is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT. Admission is free. 

Five U of I professors have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. The award is presented by the University of Illinois System to faculty members from the Chicago, Springfield and Urbana universities. 

Shannon is a major addition to the 2023-24 Illini lineup. He averaged 17.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals in his inaugural season in Champaign, earning first-team All-Big Ten accolades. 

Events throughout the week include a student dinner on the Quad, the Global Talent Show, Saturday Night Live: Homecoming Edition in downtown Champaign,  two concerts at State Farm Center and - of course - football on Saturday.

'(Edmond) Ruth is really starting to cement himself as a national title threat. Him becoming the first Big Ten champion for us since (now-assistant coach for the Illini) Isaiah Martinez is truly incredible,' said head coach Mike Poeta.

The Illinois men's and women's track and field teams finished the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Sunday (May 12). Junior Jessica McDowell cruised to victory in the 400m dash (51.73) to earn gold and 10 team points. 

The list recognizes research scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence – reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade.  

'Readers will find a healthy variety of subjects and genres, and we even have a bonus of short story collections, a format we are always thrilled to see thrive,' says editor Kate Quealy-Gainer. 

At only eight inches high and two inches in diameter, the metal MoonArk sculpture has four stacked chambers packed with hundreds of images, poems, music, mechanisms, earthly samples, and nano-objects.

We have a whole week of activities planned to welcome new students to the campus and to the Illinois family. Check the schule of events here.

These pinwheel-shaped structures self-assemble from nanoparticles and exhibit a characteristic called chirality – one of nature’s strategies to build complexity into structures at all scales, from molecules to galaxies.  

The New York Times (Jan. 29) Trump’s science adviser during his first term was U. of I. professor of climate sciences Kelvin Droegemeier. The president’s current nominee, Michael Kratsios, does not hold degrees in science or engineering.
 

A new framework for studying the intersection of climate anomalies and social conflicts finds a strong link between temperature fluctuations and aggregated global conflicts, says Gies College of Business professor Ujjal Kumar Mukherjee.

How the joy of paper planes led graduate student, Yu-Chieh Chiu, to compete on the world stage at the Red Bull Paper Wings World Championships in Austria, and find community at Grainger Engineering

The Atlantic (April 11) Trump's tariffs may increase the cost of olive oil - a lot. 'If the goal is to get people away from the seed oil, well, these tariffs are going to drive people into the arms of seed oils,' says professor William Clifton Ridley.

Today (April 21)  Prebiotics and probiotics aren’t the same. U. of I. professor Kelly Swanson says prebiotics help support overall health and may have a number of benefits when consumed at a sufficient dose. 

Green Market Report (Dec. 15) Given its strengths in agriculture, genomics, medicine, 'It’s a natural for us to be a gathering point' for cannabis research, says DPI director Bill Jackson. 'It’s an industry Illinois wants to win in, ...that’s going to be sizable.'

The black ink and watercolor paintings by Shozo Sato, including landscapes of the American West, are featured at Krannert Art Museum. Contemporary work by artists using traditional Japanese  aesthetics has not been well-studied by art historians, says curator Maureen Warren.

Murray, and his colleagues won for their series 'Poisoned,' an exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to protect workers and nearby residents.

Professor Yang Wang and doctoral student Yaman Yu examined teens’ use of generative AI and found parents had little understanding of how their children used it and that GAI platforms offer insufficient safety protections.

'This research highlights not only the potential for more accurate cancer imaging, but also selective chemotherapy delivery, a significant advancement over current...treatments,' said U. of I. Professor Bumsoo Han.

Nick Holonyak Jr., whose development of the first practical visible-spectrum light-emitting diode(LED) was a breakthrough with countless applications, including lightbulbs, cellphones, TVs and microscopic surgical equipment, died Sept. 18.

Fighting Illini Athletics is set to host Spring Sports Fest from April 12-14, featuring 11 home events across four sports - Track & Field, Softball, Baseball, and Women's Tennis.

The Washington Post (June 9): “Book banning” has become a catchall phrase, says Emily Knox, who teaches library science at the U. of I. and is the author of “Book Banning in 21st-Century America.”

Eight more Illini stars have been elected to the Athletics Hall of Fame. This is the eighth Hall of Fame class and includes one coach and representatives from basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, and fencing. 

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.

Illinois volleyball welcomes No. 2 Nebraska for the annual Stuff Huff match Thursday night. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. on FS1. 

he tower’s 15 bells have provided a soundtrack for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus for more than 100 years. Now they are being removed for the first time since they were installed in 1920.

Journal Courier (Feb. 5) "So our story — small 'o' — is now Our story — capital 'O'," says U of I professor Gerald McWorter, the great-great-grandson of he first African Americans to found a town in the U.S.

'I think this strike will last much longer than three months. In 1988, the writers were on strike for nearly 22 weeks. This time, they're striking over job-killing issues, such as the use of artificial intelligence in generating creative works.'