News Bureau

Biochar may not be the miracle soil additive that many farmers and researchers hoped it to be, according to a new University of Illinois study. Biochar may boost the agricultural yield of some soils – especially poor quality ones – but there is no consensus on its effectiveness. Researchers tested different soils’ responses to multiple biochar types and were unable to verify their ability to increase plant growth. However, the study did show biochar’s ability to affect soil greenhouse gas emissions.

Soil temperatures are increasing after a cooling period the second week of June, according to Jennie Atkins, the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Newly developed geological techniques help uncover the most accurate and high-resolution climate records to date, according to a new study. The research finds that the standard practice of using modern and fossil coral to measure sea-surface temperatures may not be as straightforward as originally thought. By combining high-resolution microscopic techniques and geochemical modeling, researchers are using the formational history of Porites coral skeletons to fine-tune the records used to make global climate predictions.

Experts have ranked May 2019 as one of the wettest Mays on record in central Illinois. Is it possible that the incidence of mosquito-borne illnesses increases with the amount of rainfall? To find out, News Bureau science writer Ananya Sen asked Brian F. Allan, an entomology professor at the University of Illinois.

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.

Thirteen University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students and young alumni accepted Fulbright grants for the upcoming academic year, providing opportunities for international educational, research and teaching experiences.

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.

Amy M. Blue-Short ... Joyce A. Butsch ... Kenneth Morris Davidson ... Virginia Guthrie ... Jean M. Jessee ... Ralph A. Smith ... William Murphy Tilton ... Harry C. Triandis ... Sherry Marie Weaver ... Jefferey “Jeff” Allen Welch

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.

Tim Bannon will become the executive director of the University of Illinois Willard Airport in Savoy. Bannon, currently serving as the airport’s interim executive director, replaces Gene Cossey, who left in February for a similar position in Tennessee.

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.

The U. of I. selected Sean Garrick to the new senior-level position of vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion, pending approval by the Board of Trustees.

The final report from the Chancellor’s Commission on Native Imagery: Healing and Reconciliation's is available online.

“The College Years of a Catholic Radical: Dorothy Day, University of Illinois Dropout,” scheduled for July 18 at 4 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, 500 S. Gregory St., Urbana, illuminates Day’s experiences as a U. of I. student, their impact on her later work and the legacy of Day’s presence on campus.

John C. Hough Jr. ... Janet D. Knesek (nee Scott) ... Joseph “Joe” Konitzki ... Richard Newport Wright III 

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.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Fox/Atkins Development LLC and the University of Illinois present a free summer concert featuring the Barcelona, Spain-based Alma Afrobeat Ensembleat 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 19, in Research Park.

Some areas of Illinois experienced record-breaking amounts of rain in May, as statewide totals mark the sixth consecutive month with above average rainfall, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

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.

Through the centuries, people have devised imaginative puzzles to test our wits. Three-dimensional puzzles crafted of wood, metal, plastic and other durable materials are designed to be taken apart, rearranged or untangled. The exhibit “Fall to pieces: Ingenious mechanical puzzles from around the world,” debuts June 4 at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures and runs through July 21.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois freshman Ari Kelo, a graduate of Northside College Preparatory High School in Chicago, will join a three-week summer program at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London as part of the Fulbright Summer Institute, an initiative of the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two University of Illinois undergraduates have been awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarshipsto study critical languages during the summer of 2019.

John “Jack” L. Hayes Jr. ... Wilma J. Parsons ... Jim Schuster

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.

Crisis knows no season, and for as little as $5 per month, faculty members and staff can make a difference in the life of a co-worker in crisis.

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.

Eleven faculty members were honored with the Provost’s Campus Distinguished PromotionAward for 2019.

Katharine “Kay” Oline Aston ... “Carol” Margadene Bateman ... Lucille “Lucy” L. Finn ... Joseph A. Garza ... Gerald “Jerry” E. Miner Jr. ... Shirley Bash Rittenhouse ... Louis Allen Walthall

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.

Gabriel Wacks is the first University of Illinois student accepted into Peking University’s Yenching Academy. Along with about 125 scholars from more than 40 countries, he will enroll this fall in an interdisciplinary master’s degree program in China studies.

After a cooling spell last weekend, soil temperatures are once again rising in Illinois, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

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.

Robert W. McCleary

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today transferred oversight of the University of Illinois Research Park from the U. of I. System to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

U. of I. student Philip Kocheril of Champaign was awarded a Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.

Emergency responders will take part in a full-scale emergency exercise at Willard Airport in Savoy on Monday, May 20, beginning at 6 p.m. The exercise will not affect scheduled air travel.

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.

Illinois alumnus St. Elmo Brady was the first African American to obtain a doctorate in chemistry in the U.S. He received his degree in 1916 for work completed at Noyes Laboratory and continued his career as a professor of chemistry at historically black colleges and universities. Brady was recently honored for his accomplishment by the American Chemical Society through the designation of a national historic chemical landmark.

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.

Janice Lynn Allen ... Donald Chien-Tao Chiang ... Doris M. Downs ... Max Elmer Reid ... Helen Louise (Camp) Ridlen

“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 Office of the State Fire Marshal will host the Illinois Fire Service Institute Training Showcase on May 15 outside the Illinois state Capitol in Springfield. The event will provide state legislators with an in-depth look at the training efforts for firefighters taking place throughout the state.

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.

The Office of the Provost honored three University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty members May 7 with Campus Awards for Excellence in Faculty Leadership.