News Bureau

The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced $28.6 million in grants to support 233 humanities projects nationwide, including four at the University of Illinois. Each of the Illinois researchers will receive an award of $6,000.

An initiative of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the Health Make-a-Thon aims to help Champaign County residents bring to life their ideas for improving human health through the Health Maker Lab – a network of maker labs, design spaces and fabrication facilities across the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois. Out of 140 ideas submitted, 20 finalists have been selected to pitch their concepts to a panel of judges and a live audience on April 13. Ten will each win $10,000 in Health Maker Lab resources to create a prototype of their idea.

The University of Illinois Library is sponsoring a Small Press Fest to celebrate small press publications and self-published media.

University of Illinois professor and artist Stacey Robinson will show his photo collages and abstract drawings at several shows this spring.

Manfred Raether ... Ralph Stoner Wolfe

“Quantum Rhapsodies” uses narration, video images and the music of the Jupiter String Quartet to explore the world of quantum physics.

The 14th Annual Edible Book Festival, sponsored by the University Library at the University of Illinois and Common Ground Food Co-operative, will be held April 6. The campus and local community are invited to experience this unique intersection of literature and cuisine.

Significant rain in March led to above-normal soil moisture in Illinois and major flooding events for many local streams and rivers, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the U. of I.’s Illinois State Water Survey. 

University of Illinois history professor Marsha Barrett has been awarded a prestigious ACLS Fellowship.

Ralph Stoner Wolfe, a professor emeritus of microbiology at the University of Illinois who contributed to the discovery of a third superkingdom of life, died Tuesday, March 26, at Meadowbrook Health Center in Urbana. He was 97.

When families gather for dinner at night, they spend nearly half of their time distracted by electronic devices, toys and tasks that take them physically or mentally away from the table, a new study at the University of Illinois found.

A new study finds that Medicare costs tend to be lower in counties with more forests and shrublands than in counties dominated by other types of land cover. The relationship persists even when accounting for economic, geographic or other factors that might independently influence health care costs, researchers report.

Frank Gallo ... Charles E. “Charlie” Hartman ... Helen Wright

DoCha, downtown Champaign’s premiere free chamber music festival, announces its 10th anniversary season, Friday to Sunday, April 5-7.

Visiting scholar to present 'Can You Trust Your Local News' lecturePenny Muse Abernathy, a Knight Chair of journalism and digital media economics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, will present her lecture “Can You Trust Your Local News?” Saturday, April 6, at 12:20 p.m. in Room 300 of Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana.

Shoreline erosion can transform freshwater wetlands from carbon-storage pools to carbon sources, according to a new study led by Illinois State Geological Survey researchers. Wave action and high water levels sweep away soils and plants at a rate much higher than nature can replace them. An accurate measurement of this carbon budget imbalance may help better prioritize coastal management efforts and improve global carbon-cycle models.

Come Home to Krannert Center weekend, Friday-Sunday, April 12-14, celebrates Krannert Center for the Performing Arts’ 50th anniversary. The cornerstone event of the weekend, the Come Home Gala, will be held in the center’s lobby Saturday, April 13 at 6 p.m.

An Illinois political science professor explains some of the forces behind “Brexit” and why it’s so difficult.

Information provided for news media interested in covering the Day of Service on the U. of I. at Urbana-Champaign campus Saturday, April 6. Hundreds of volunteers will package 28,000 pounds of food for delivery to families in need throughout eastern Illinois.

Krannert Art Museum has produced a book about performance artist Autumn Knight, with essays and photographs that document Knight’s 2017 performances on campus.

A new version of the U. of I. license plate is available starting today. The updated version, with the "block I" logo, will be mailed to current plate-holders at no charge to them. A portion of the license plate fee goes toward scholarships for in-state students with demonstrated need.

A study of more than 500 military couples in the months after a deployment suggests how and when to help with the transition.

A team of Midwestern climate scientists has released a new report with grim predictions about the impact of climate change on the Great Lakes region. The report foresees a growing trend of wetter winters and springs, with increases in heavy rain events leading to flooding, particularly in urban areas with hard surfaces that cannot absorb the excess water. Rural areas will likely see more erosion, and unpredictable cycles of heat and rainfall could undermine agriculture.

University of Illinois researchers found in a new study of mice that consuming the chemical compounds found in thermally abused cooking oil may trigger changes that promote the progression of late-stage breast cancer.

Allan G. Mueller ... Stephen Steele Slivon

An expo, national symposium and film screening are planned in Champaign to heighten awareness of women’s mental and physical health during and after pregnancy. The IDEA Women's Health Coalition is planning the events.

This year’s Ebert Film Fest will include “Almost Famous” and “Sideways,” documentaries on Maya Angelou and Fred Rogers, and guest actresses Gina Gershon, Virginia Madsen and Jennifer Tilly.

Chicago's Large Lot Program is promoting positive changes in inner-city neighborhoods by allowing residents to buy and repurpose vacant lots that have been plagued by crime and other problems, U. of I. researchers found.

The new exhibit “Chess: Gymnasium of the Mind” opens April 4 in Spurlock Museum of World Culture’s central core gallery, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana. The display features a variety of chess sets from around the world highlighting unique pieces, boards and moves, and runs through July 7.

Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, the director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois, discusses why so few community college students transfer to selective colleges and universities.

Despite record cold air temperatures, soil temperatures averaged slightly warmer than normal in Illinois this winter. Consequently, the arctic conditions are expected to have little effect on overwintering field crop insect pest populations.

A wide range of air temperatures occurred in Illinois this winter with periods of warmer temperatures in the 60s and 70s and extreme cold with lows in the -30s. Overall, temperatures averaged 29.9 degrees, 0.8 degrees above normal for the season.

An Aretha Franklin concert film from nearly 50 years ago, now restored and released, will open this year’s Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or “Ebertfest.”

Dick J. Albers ... Martha Baxter North

Scientists at the University of Illinois have found that free fatty acids in the blood appear to boost proliferation and growth of breast cancer cells - potentially explaining obese women's higher risk of breast cancer after menopause.

An approved drug normally used to treat fungal infections could also do the job of a protein channel that is missing or defective in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis, operating as a prosthesis on the molecular scale, says new research from the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa.

Cystic fibrosis is a lifelong disease that makes patients vulnerable to lung infections. There are treatments for some but not all patients, and there is no cure. The drug restored infection-fighting properties in lung tissue donated by human patients as well as in pigs with cystic fibrosis. It has potential to become the first treatment to address all types of cystic fibrosis, regardless of the genetic mutation that causes the protein deficiency.

University of Illinois labor professor Emily E. LB. Twarog is the recipient of a 2019 Frederick Burkhardt Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. The award will fund the research and writing of her second book, “Hands Off: The History of Sexual Harassment Resistance in the Service Sector, 1935-2018.”

RNA transcribed from genes that seem not to code for anything may play an important role in regulating cancer, a new study suggests.

A number of these noncoding RNA fragments lie next to known cancer genes, the study found. Understanding how they interact with those cancer genes could open new avenues to understanding cancer’s behavior and treating it.

A new paper from University of Illinois law professor and education law expert Margareth Etienne explores the fictional portrayal of popular educational policy reforms favored by academics in the fourth season of “The Wire,” the critically acclaimed TV show on HBO from 2002-08, and reviews what the show got right and wrong in its depiction of how a large, urban public school functions in a community.

The Midwest has a new national park at Indiana Dunes, and a University of Illinois professor explains how it happened and why the park is valuable.

Food waste campaigns are a low-cost way to curb waste at all-you-can-eat dining establishments, but they may need to be combined with other environmental changes to make a difference, says new research co-written by Brenna Ellison, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at Illinois.

Paul D. Bermingham ... William “Bill” G. Dean ... Arthur J. Harper ... Lois Ann Allhands Harpst

A study co-written by Theodore P. Cross, a senior research specialist in social work at the University of Illinois, examines the impact on families' coping when a child is diagnosed with pediatric onset multiple sclerosis.

We lug heavy equipment up a steep ravine in the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. A local landowner leads our team of archaeologists past a small waterfall up to the top of the bluff, where two rock shelters contain a number of ancient petroglyphs.

An arctic outbreak in late January led to widespread bitterly cold temperatures across much of the Upper Midwest, including Illinois. On the morning of Jan. 31, the cooperative weather observer at Mount Carroll in Carroll County reported a temperature of -38 degrees.  

Brazilian music educator and scholar Juliana Cantarelli Vita presents a lecture and recital on Afro-Brazilian percussion genres, Saturday, March 30 at 7 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana.

Christians’ attitudes toward the environment and climate change are shaped by whether they hold a view of humans as having stewardship of the Earth or dominion over the planet, and reading material from religious sources advocating a stewardship interpretation can increase their concern for environmental issues, a new study found.

The Rare Book and Manuscript Library has acquired a significant scientific treatise known for its beautiful illustrations of Mount Vesuvius.

The fourth annual Illini Success report documents the exceptional success of graduates from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s undergraduate programs in securing a “first destination” within six months of graduation.

David P. Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics and the director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, will deliver the annual Marjorie Hall Thulin Lecture in Religion on Wednesday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m., in Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana.

Since at least 1906, South Asian students have attended the University of Illinois. In a talk scheduled for March 21 at 5 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, archivist Salvatore V. De Sando will highlight some of the first South Asian students, early South Asian student-organized events on campus and early South Asian student organizations. This presentation is based on original archival research, and historic campus photos will be featured to bring the story to life.