News Bureau

If current climate and crop-improvement trends continue into the future, Midwestern corn growers who today rely on rainfall to water their crops will need to irrigate their fields, a new study finds. This could draw down aquifers, disrupt streams and rivers, and set up conflicts between agricultural and other human and ecological needs for water, scientists say.

Courts have consistently affirmed that parents and guardians have significant latitude in making decisions on how to raise children. But in the juvenile justice context, the traditional role of parental authority has been supplanted or nearly eliminated by the child’s attorney, said Margareth Etienne, a professor of law at Illinois.

Gastrointestinal problems are common among endurance athletes, and many of them may be struggling with undiagnosed irritable bowel syndrome, a new study by University of Illinois food scientists suggests.

A Rare Book and Manuscript Library exhibit will showcase typewriters used by Hugh Hefner, Roger Ebert, Carl Sandburg and James Jones.

An Illinois historian describes how everything changed for those involved in the Stonewall riots 50 years ago, and the event’s place in the history of gay rights.

Researchers report that they have developed a faster, easier and cheaper method for making new amino acid chains – the polypeptide building blocks that are used in drug development and industry – than was previously available. The new approach purifies the amino acid precursors and builds the polypeptides at the same time, unlike previous methods in which the processes were separate, laborious and time-consuming.

As foxes and coyotes adapt to urban landscapes, the potential for encounters with humans necessarily goes up. A team of scientists is taking advantage of this fact to enlist the eyeballs and fingertips of humans – getting them to report online what they see in their own neighborhoods and parks.

In a recent study of the forensic evidence in 563 sexual assault cases, U. of I. researchers found “striking similarities” in the types of injuries and violence experienced by adult and adolescent victims.

The University Library’s Oak Street Library Facility stores more than 4 million volumes in climate-controlled storage vaults.

The Supreme Court has to consider public opinion and its popularity in deciding politically divisive cases, says a University of Illinois political scientist.

A rover scanning the surface of Mars for evidence of life might want to check for rocks that look like pasta, researchers report in the journal Astrobiology.

The bacterium that controls the formation of such rocks on Earth is ancient and thrives in harsh environments that are similar to conditions on Mars, said University of Illinois geology professor Bruce Fouke, who led the new, NASA-funded study.

New evidence suggests that the mutation rate in amaranth – a group that includes several agricultural weeds – is quite low and that low-level exposure to herbicides contributes little, if anything, to the onset of herbicide-resistant mutations in this group.

Analyses of Jay-Z’s music and Edward P. Jones’ fiction are among the first projects of Publishing Without Walls, a University of Illinois digital publishing initiative for humanities scholars.

Chemists at the University of Illinois have successfully produced fuels using water, carbon dioxide and visible light through artificial photosynthesis. By converting carbon dioxide into more complex molecules like propane, green energy technology is now one step closer to using excess CO2 to store solar energy – in the form of chemical bonds – for use when the sun is not shining and in times of peak demand.

Recyclable plastics that contain ring-shaped polymers may be a key to developing sustainable synthetic materials. Despite some promising advances, researchers said, a full understanding of how to processes ring polymers into practical materials remains elusive. In a new study, researchers identified a mechanism called “threading” that takes place when a polymer is stretched – a behavior not witnessed before. This new insight may lead to new processing methods for sustainable polymer materials.

When employees think of their labor union as supportive and caring, says new research co-written by U. of I. labor professor M. Teresa Cardador, they are more likely to rate their union as fulfilling their psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness – all of which are related to enhanced work meaningfulness.

Participating in a food-distribution program that provides children from food-insecure households with backpacks of meals for the weekend improves their school attendance on Fridays, a new study found.

“Engineering Fire,” 30-minute documentary video chronicling the work of University of Illinois engineers to introduce a solar-cooking device in Haiti, premieres May 12 at 7 p.m. CDT on the Big Ten Network.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will present its 50th season of performances in 2019-20.

The primary reason why current bankruptcy law doesn’t work well is that it dates back to 1978, before the explosion of consumer credit, says Robert M. Lawless, the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at Illinois and a leading consumer credit and bankruptcy expert. Lawless served as reporter for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy, which recommended several changes to the law.

A fortuitous conversation between two University of Illinois scientists has opened a new line of communication between biomedical researchers and the tissues they study. The new findings, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, show that high-intensity focused ultrasound waves can penetrate biological tissue to activate molecules able to perform specific tasks.

Researchers report that a protein known to be important to protein synthesis also influences muscle regeneration and regrowth in an unexpected manner. The discovery, reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could one day lead to new methods for treating disorders that result in muscle weakness and loss of muscle mass, the researchers said.

Coca-Cola’s history is one of innovation in image-making, outsourcing and other now-common practices of global capitalism – and of adapting to challenges from activists and movements resisting its practices, says an Illinois professor in a new book.

The number of Illinois high school seniors who think their peers perceive using marijuana as “cool” doubled – from 25% to 50% over the past decade, according to a new report from the latest Illinois Youth Survey.

Louisiana's Houma tribe are especially vulnerable to climate change, but mistrust fomented by overt discrimination and forcible relocation complicates efforts to help them adapt to it, new research suggests.

Stephen P. Long, a professor of crop sciences and plant biology at the University of Illinois, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest professional honors a scientist can receive.

ELLNORA: The Guitar Festival will feature a wide variety of musicians Sept. 5-7 at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Recent flooding in the Midwest has brought attention to the complex agricultural problems associated with too much rain. Data from the past three decades suggest that excessive rainfall can affect crop yield as much as excessive heat and drought. In a new study, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Illinois linked crop insurance, climate, soil and corn yield data from 1981 through 2016.

Mindfulness therapy may be an effective way of mitigating the stress experienced by spouses and other informal caregivers for military veterans, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois suggests.

Freshmen from low-income families who received Illinois Promise loan-replacement grants at the University of Illinois were significantly more likely to graduate within five years, a new study found.

By injecting cells that support blood vessel growth into muscles depleted by inactivity, researchers say they are able to help restore muscle mass lost as a result of immobility.

A good estimate of how many college students struggle with food insecurity is a difficult number to pin down, says new research from a team of University of Illinois experts who study food choice issues.

Illinois ethnomusicologist Michael Silvers, who specializes in the music of Brazil, has been awarded a 2019 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship. He’ll use the fellowship to research a book that will examine the aesthetics and natural resources of instrument-making using Brazilian woods.

In a study reported in the journal Physical Review Physics Education Research, nearly 75% of 471 undergraduate women in physics who responded to a survey offered during a professional conference reported having experienced at least one type of sexual harassment – mostly gender harassment – in their field. U. of I. anthropology professor Kathryn Clancy, a co-author of the report, talked to News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the study, which also examined the respondents’ feelings of belonging and legitimacy as scientists and scholars.

The Lyric Theatre @ Illinois spring musical features tap dancing and Gershwin tunes in “Crazy for You.”

Award-winning poet Claudia Rankine will visit the University of Illinois this week to give a reading and meet with students.

Treating breast tumors with two cancer drugs simultaneously may prevent endocrine resistance by attacking the disease along separate gene pathways, University of Illinois scientists found in a new study.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Self-assembling synthetic materials come together when tiny, uniform building blocks interact and form a structure. However, nature lets materials like proteins of varying size and shape assemble, allowing for complex architectures that can handle multiple tasks.

Notre Dame Cathedral, severely damaged by fire this week, is widely understood as “the beating heart of France,” with global significance beyond that, says one University of Illinois historian in a Q&A. Another notes how a key aspect of music as we know it today was invented for the cathedral’s unique resonant space, a soundscape lost in the fire.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Surplus industrial carbon dioxide creates an opportunity to convert waste into a valuable commodity. Excess CO2 can be a feedstock for chemicals typically derived from fossil fuels, but the process is energy-intensive and expensive. University of Illinois chemical engineers have assessed the technical and economic feasibility of a new electrolysis technology that uses a cheap biofuel byproduct to reduce the energy consumption of the waste-to-value process by 53 percent.

Chancellor Robert J. Jones and chemistry professor Catherine J. Murphy have been elected as members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

A team that studies how biological structures such as cactus spines and mantis shrimp appendages puncture living tissue has turned its attention to viper fangs. Specifically, the scientists wanted to know, what physical characteristics contribute to fangs’ sharpness and ability to puncture?

Oxidants found within living organisms are byproducts of metabolism and are essential to wound-healing and immunity. However, when their concentrations become too high, inflammation and tissue damage can occur. University of Illinois engineers have developed and tested a new drug-delivery system that senses high oxidant levels and responds by administering just the right amount of antioxidant to restore this delicate balance.

Author Richard Powers, a professor emeritus of English at the University of Illinois, has won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel “The Overstory.”

The quest to satisfy the sweet tooth without adding to the waistline has a new weapon in its arsenal: a strain of yeast that can metabolize lactose, the sugar in dairy products, into tagatose, a natural sweetener with less than half the calories of table sugar.

Scientists at the University of Illinois developed new hybrids of purple corn with differing combinations of phytochemicals that may fight obesity, inflammation and diabetes, a new study in mice indicates -- and give the food industry sources of natural colorants.

Bacteria in the human body are sharing genes with one another at a higher rate than is typically seen in nature, and some of those genes appear to be traveling – independent of their microbial hosts – from one part of the body to another, researchers report in the journal Scientific Reports.

An Illinois historian dug into the history of the Midwest and found it’s never been the insular place of heartland myth, but full of global connections.

The Event Horizon Telescope Project announced that it has captured the first image of a black hole. The feature is located at the center of Messier 87 – a giant elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo. News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with University of Illinois physics and astronomy professor Charles Gammie, who heads up the theory working group for the large, multi-institutional collaboration.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will celebrate its 50th anniversary April 12-14 with music, a gala and a global toast.