News Bureau

CHAMPAIGN,Ill. - The Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois will explore the impact of indigenous poetry on the expressive cultures of the Western Hemisphere with a poetry reading featuring Inés Hernández-Avila and Heid Erdrich on Tuesday (Sept. 13).

A Minute With™... business professor Ruth V. Aguilera

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will be observed Sunday (Sept. 11) with a brief concert at Smith Hall on the University of Illinois campus. The U. of I.'s Black Chorus will perform, under the direction of voice professor Ollie Watts Davis.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Troops overseas often want nothing more than to get back home to loved ones - but the reunion period often can be more emotionally taxing than the deployment.

A Minute With™...  finance professor David Sinow

CHAMPAIGN,Ill. - An author described by The New York Times Book Review as "a writer for all readers" will open the annual Carr Reading Series. Rolando Hinojosa-Smith - who earned his doctorate at the U. of I. in 1969 and is the Ellen Clayton Garwood Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Texas in Austin - is best known for "Klail City Death Trip," which tells the stories of the residents of a fictional Lower Rio Grande Valley county in a series that so far numbers 15 volumes.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Many wonder why bullies bully, but a new study looks at the other side of the equation: How do children respond to bullying and why? The answer, researchers say, may lead to more effective interventions to reduce the negative consequences - and perhaps even the frequency - of bullying.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Many energy researchers and environmental advocates are excited about the prospect of gaining more efficient large-scale biofuel production by using large grasses like miscanthus or switchgrass rather than corn. They have investigated yields, land use, economics and more, but one key factor of agriculture has been overlooked: water.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Researchers have engineered new sensors that fluoresce in the presence of compounds that interact with estrogen receptors in human cells. The sensors detect natural or human-made substances that alter estrogenic signaling in the body.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - University of Illinois researchers are giving a light answer to the heavy question of cell growth.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The brown marmorated stink bug - scientific name Halyomorpha halys - has been found in four Illinois counties and could be a major threat to fruit, vegetable and agronomic crops if it proliferates.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new physics-based theory could give researchers a deeper understanding of the unusual, slow dynamics of liquids composed of large polymers. This advance provides a better picture of how polymer molecules respond under fast-flow, high-stress processing conditions for plastics and other polymeric materials.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - "Luminarium" - a novel by University of Illinois creative writing professor Alex Shakar - already is garnering glowing reviews. It will be released Tuesday (Aug. 23).

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Assembling chemicals can be like putting together a puzzle. University of Illinois chemists have developed a way of fitting the pieces together to more efficiently build complex molecules, beginning with a powerful and promising antioxidant.

A Minute With™... two U. of I. economic experts

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Darkness truly ruled the night in the Europe of 1500.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Firefighting causes stiff arteries and "cardiac fatigue," conditions also found in weightlifters and endurance athletes, according to two recent studies by researchers at the Illinois Fire Service Institute, located at the University of Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - One of the first images you'll see in Krannert Art Museum's 50th anniversary exhibition is John Singleton Copley's portrait of Mrs. Robert Hyde, painted 1778. With her upswept hair, averted gaze and pearl choker offsetting her milky skin, Mrs. Hyde is the embodiment of demure gentility.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Sticking with an exercise routine means being able to overcome the obstacles that invariably arise. A key to success is having the confidence that you can do it, researchers report. A new study explores how some cognitive strategies and abilities influence this "situation-specific self-confidence," a quality the researchers call "self-efficacy."

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Children who bully others are more likely to perpetrate sexual violence when they enter adolescence, according to a new study led by bullying expert Dorothy Espelage at the University of Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Consumers with close ties to a brand respond to negative information about the beloved brand as they do to personal failure - they experience it as a threat to their self-image, according to a new study by a University of Illinois marketing expert.

A Minute With™... Anne Villamil a professor of economics and of finance

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Engineers have developed a device platform that combines electronic components for sensing, medical diagnostics, communications and human-machine interfaces, all on an ultrathin skin-like patch that mounts directly onto the skin with the ease, flexibility and comfort of a temporary tattoo.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - We all know one, or think we do: the person whose self-regard seems out of proportion to his or her actual merits. Popular culture labels these folks "narcissists," almost always a derogatory term. But a new study suggests that some forms of narcissism are - at least in the short term - beneficial, helping children navigate the difficult transition to adulthood.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Parents considering enrolling their young children in after-school piano lessons, ballet classes, gymnastics or martial arts now have another option for enriching their future - a Spanish language course. Taught by native or near-native Spanish speakers, the curriculum presents Spanish to children ages 4 through 8 using games, crafts, stories and songs.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - There may be a few atheists in foxholes, but a new study suggests that in societies under stress, those who are religious outnumber - and are happier than - their nonreligious counterparts. Where peace and plenty are the norm, however, religious participation is lower and people are happier whether or not they are religious, the researchers found.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A large-scale project designed to bring old and often obscure books into the digital age has yielded a surprising bonus at the University of Illinois: Not only will the text of the books become fully searchable online, but the original versions - the old-fashioned kind a reader can hold - are being rescued from the library stacks, repaired and preserved.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Four University of Illinois chemistry professors are among 213 distinguished scientists elected fellows of the American Chemical Society this year. Thom Dunning, Catherine Murphy, Ralph Nuzzo and Jonathan Sweedler "have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in chemistry and made important contributions to ACS," the society wrote in its announcement about the new fellows.

Last month, while leading his historic campus clocks tour through the College of Engineering dean's office, geography professor Bruce Hannon interrupted his own presentation to reach for the cellphone in his pocket.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Firefighting causes stiff arteries and "cardiac fatigue," conditions also found in weightlifters and endurance athletes, according to two recent studies by researchers at the Illinois Fire Service Institute, located at the University of Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - A new survey reveals that many people in the U.S. - in some cases a substantial majority - think that memory is more powerful, objective and reliable than it actually is. Their ideas are at odds with decades of scientific research.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new study by a scholar at the University of Illinois suggests that the U.S. may not be falling as far behind its industrialized peers in educating future generations of scientists as previously thought. Significantly more female and minority college students are majoring in and obtaining degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields than reports have indicated if these disciplines, known by the acronym STEM, are viewed broadly.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - They make up less than one-hundredth of 1 percent of the microbes that live in the colon, but the bacteria and archaea that sop up hydrogen in the gut are fundamental to colon health. In a new study, researchers take a first look at these "hydrogenotrophic" microbes, mapping where they live and how abundant they are in different parts of the lower intestine.

A Minute With™... business professor Deepak Somaya

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - Whatever does not kill a plant may actually make it stronger. After being partially eaten by grazing animals, for example, some plants grow bigger and faster and reproduce more successfully than they otherwise would. In a new study, researchers report that one secret to these plants' post-traumatic triumph lies in their ability to duplicate their chromosomes - again and again - without undergoing cell division.

A Minute With™... finance professor George Pennacchi

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new book co-written by University of Illinois dance professor Rebecca Nettl-Fiol presents what at first glance seems like a counterintuitive concept for people whose work necessarily requires movements large enough to be seen by the back row of a theater. The book shows dancers they can dramatically improve their artistry through the Alexander Technique - a system of tiny, subtle changes.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Many of the adults living in Chicago's South Lawndale neighborhood are first-generation immigrants, raised in Latin American communities where people feel close to nature, leave their doors wide open to their neighbors and the outdoors is an extended space for socializing with the community.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In an advance that could open new avenues for solar cells, lasers, metamaterials and more, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated the first optoelectronically active 3-D photonic crystal.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Glucose meters aren't just for diabetics anymore. Thanks to University of Illinois chemists, they can be used as simple, portable, inexpensive meters for a number of target molecules in blood, serum, water or food.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Taking their cue from biological circulatory systems, University of Illinois researchers have developed vascularized structural composites, creating materials that are lightweight and strong with potential for self-healing, self-cooling, metamaterials and more.

A Minute With™... David Tewksbury, heads of the department of communication

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Social safety net programs that reduce psychosocial stressors for low-income families also ultimately lead to a reduction in childhood obesity, according to research by a University of Illinois economist who studies the efficacy of food assistance programs on public health.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Subsidizing the wages of caregivers at group homes would likely reduce worker turnover rates and help contain costs at long-term care facilities, according to new University of Illinois research.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Regulatory hurdles abound for the successful commercialization of emerging liquid biofuels, which hold the promise of enhancing U.S. energy security, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and serving as a driver for rural economic development, according to new research at the University of Illinois.

When it comes to science, Joanne Manaster admittedly inspires easily.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - A new study reveals how enzymes in the honey bee gut detoxify pesticides commonly used to kill mites in the honey bee hive. This is the first study to tease out the precise molecular mechanisms that allow a pollinating insect to tolerate exposure to these potentially deadly compounds.

A Minute With™... law professor Richard L. Kaplan

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Nick Holonyak Jr. is called the godfather of the light-emitting diode. His scientific career, spanning more than 50 years, has changed the world and is the subject of a program to premiere on the Big Ten Network July 28 at 7 a.m. (CDT).

A Minute With™... investigative journalist Brant Houston