News Bureau

Plants release chemical distress signals when under attack from chewing insects. These “911 calls" alert other bugs that dinner or a nice place to lay their eggs is available nearby. If predatory or parasitic insects detect the right signal, they swoop in like saviors to make a meal out of – or lay their eggs in – the bodies of the herbivore insects.

A new study explores the factors that contribute to corn plants’ chemical signaling capacity, comparing how different corn varieties respond to herbivory in the presence or absence of a soil bacterium known to promote plant health.

The U.S. isn’t on the verge of a food crisis but is experiencing rampant food price inflation, says Scott Irwin, professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Every plant, animal or other nucleus-containing cell also harbors an array of miniature “organs” that perform essential functions for the cell. In plants, for example, organelles called chloroplasts photosynthesize to generate energy for the organism. Because some organelles contain their own DNA and resemble single-celled organisms, scientists have long theorized that the evolution of complex life forms got its start when one cell engulfed another and the two learned to live in harmony – eventually forming, and belonging to, a single entity.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign materials science and engineering professor Nancy Sottos and history professor Maria Todorova have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honor societies in the nation.  They are among 261 new members elected to the academy this year in recognition of their accomplishments and leadership in academia, the arts, industry, public policy and research.

The concerts will show the breadth of the school’s music programs, with performances by jazz ensembles, choirs, orchestras and others.

Latinos view the support of friends and neighbors as so vital to their well-being in later life that they redefine these relationships as family, researchers say in a new study that explored older Latinos’ perspectives on positive aging.

A team led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tracked the rise and fall of SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva and nasal cavities of people newly infected with the virus. The study was the first to follow acute COVID-19 infections over time through repeated sampling and to compare results from different testing methodologies.

The Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online project aims to preserve digital records when web servers and physical records and objects are at risk of being destroyed by Russian attacks on Ukraine.

I-Ready, a virtual summer camp for college-bound high school students on the autism spectrum, is being offered by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Deadline to register has been extended to May 16.

Cultivating a love of math – and inspiring the next generation of numbers-oriented professionals – may start with activities that promote enjoyable parent-child experiences, say U. of I. researchers.

A new study shows that it is possible to use the genetic sequences of a person’s antibodies to predict what pathogens those antibodies will target. Reported in the journal Immunity, the new approach successfully differentiates between antibodies against influenza and those attacking SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus may only have meaningful consequences in the longer term, says Taisa Markus, an expert in securities law.

A point-of-care COVID-19 test developed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can now detect and differentiate the alpha variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from earlier strains in saliva samples.

“Rare Stuff,” the debut novel of comparative and world literature professor Brett Ashely Kaplan, features themes of Jewish identity and loss.

The racial health disparities experienced by minority populations in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic ought to be concerning for everyone, said Wendy K. Tam Cho, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political scientist who’s an expert in data-driven social research.

Scientists have developed a promising new method to combat the age-related losses in muscle mass that often accompany immobility after injury or illness. Their technique, demonstrated in mice, arrests the process by which muscles begin to deteriorate at the onset of exercise after a period of inactivity.

Illinois chemistry professors So Hirata and Prashant Jain and dance professor Cynthia Oliver received 2022 Guggenheim Fellowships.

Mohegan playwright Madeline Sayet’s adaptation is a work of Indigenous futurism about building a world where all people and cultures are valued.

DNA evidence has a dramatic relationship with sexual assault prosecutions and convictions, says a new study of one city's data co-written by U. of I. senior research specialist and social work professor Ted Cross.

Japan House offered a Japanese boatbuilding apprenticeship, where students worked with boatbuilding expert Douglas Brooks to build a traditional riverboat in six days.

Linguistics professor Ryan Shosted and computer science professor Neal Davis are providing resources that they hope can shed light on the dialect and culture of late 19th-century Utah, as well as help answer other research questions.

Barrington Coleman, the director of the Varsity Men’s Glee Club and a professor of vocal jazz studies, initiated the New Awakenings concert series. It will include a work that was commissioned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Coleman’s directorship of the Varsity Men’s Glee Club.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looks increasingly like a clear-cut violation of the U.N. charter and a crime of aggression, which is illegal under international law, says Illinois law professor Patrick Keenan.

The School of Art and Design Master of Fine Arts Exhibition opens April 2 and runs through April 23. It will be the first in-person MFA exhibition since 2019.

The damage sustained by Ukraine will require years of rebuilding efforts, says Illinois sociology professor and demographer Cynthia Buckley.

Research led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign identifies the stomach, not the liver, as the site of alcohol first-pass metabolism in women who had sleeve gastrectomies and control-group peers.

The U.S. recently confirmed that the Russian Ministry of Defence fired a hypersonic ballistic missile to destroy an underground arms depot in western Ukraine. This event marks Russia’s first use of the Kinzhal ballistic missile in this war and the first known use of a hypersonic missile in combat. Mechanical science and engineering professor Kelly Stephani spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about the significance of this technology.

Researchers studying epileptic seizures of the temporal lobe – the most common type of epilepsy – discovered a compound that reduces seizures in the hippocampus, a brain region where many such seizures originate. The compound, known as TC-2153, lessened the severity of seizures in mice.

Acquiring new medical knowledge and assessing health are not as objective as people think, said history professor Rana Hogarth, who is the adviser for a new series of podcasts by the Science History Institute in Philadelphia to explore issues of racism in science and medicine.

A genomic study of Native peoples in the San Francisco Bay Area finds that eight present-day members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe share ancestry with 12 individuals who lived in the region several hundred to 2,000 years ago.

A project that is underway in East St. Louis, Illinois, is investigating strategies for overcoming barriers to COVID-19 testing and vaccination among more than 548 medically and socially vulnerable residents of St. Clair County.

A new study finds that some people routinely monitor the behavior of others and are eager to punish those who violate laws or societal norms, especially when they believe authorities have failed to do so. These self-appointed enforcers willingly embrace the job of keeping order, aren’t particularly concerned about accidentally punishing innocent people, and consider themselves kind and moral actors, the researchers found.

Agricultural runoff from Midwestern farms is a major contributor to a vast “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Nitrogen, phosphorous and other farm nutrients drain into the Mississippi River, which empties into the Gulf, spurring algae to overpopulate and suffocating other aquatic life. Illinois is a main culprit in this ongoing environmental blight. News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates spoke with U. of I. natural resources and environmental sciences researcher Lowell Gentry about possible solutions.

Benjamin Bross used the public square and historic events that took place there to explain the emergence and evolution of Mexican identities over time.

The large-scale infrastructure needed to attract private investment in solar energy makes it more vulnerable to climate extremes, said urban and regional planning professor Sean Kennedy.

Director Guillermo del Toro and screenwriter Kim Morgan will screen a black-and-white version of their Oscar-nominated movie “Nightmare Alley” at the 22nd Annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, co-founded and hosted by Chaz Ebert and also known as “Ebertfest.” Director Terry Zwigoff also will attend with his cult classic film “Ghost World.” Previously announced participants are directors Azazel Jacobs and Ramin Bahrani.

The novel is a retelling of the Civil War story of brother against brother, only this time one is the former slave of the other.

The current MLB lockout is already shaping up to be the most pivotal labor dispute in the sport since the mid-1990s, which means fans should prepare for the likelihood of more canceled games, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law and labor relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The oratorio depicts the events of Kristallnacht. The music includes five spirituals that express hope and reconciliation.

A new study challenges the conventional approach to designing soft robotics and a class of materials called metamaterials by utilizing the power of computer algorithms. Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Technical University of Denmark can now build multimaterial structures without dependence on human intuition or trial-and-error to produce highly efficient actuators and energy absorbers that mimic designs found in nature.

A multidisciplinary team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has devised a new approach to 3D imaging that captures DNA methylation, a key epigenetic change associated with learning in the brain. The scientists say their proof-of-concept study in pigs will easily translate to humans, as the new method relies on standard MRI technology and biological markers already in use in human medicine.

Voters reward political parties that espouse pro-worker ideas with more votes in elections, says a new paper co-written by J. Ryan Lamare, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

Researchers at the U. of I. diagnosed a pet dog in Chicago with infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. This is the first dog in Illinois to test positive for the coronavirus. A team led by pathobiology professor Ying Fang made the diagnosis. She talks about the findings and future research in pets.

Despite California’s push for computer science education, race and gender disparities persist among the high schools offering these courses, the students enrolled in them and the teachers.

Morphogenesis is nature’s way of building diverse structures and functions out of a fixed set of components. While nature is rich with examples of morphogenesis – cell differentiation, embryonic development and cytoskeleton formation, for example – research into the phenomenon in synthetic materials is scant. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers are taking a step forward using electron tomography, fluid dynamics theories and machine learning to watch soft polymers as the polymers learn from nature.

Scientists have identified a molecule that regulates the fate of cells, switching off their ability to differentiate into distinct cell types.

The local economies of regional public universities tend to be more resilient to economic shocks, says new research co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economists.

A study of one state's arrest data in the FBI's NIBRS database found that while the majority of the cases were correct, the timings of arrests and other factors may lead to inaccuracies.

The short films and film clips will feature humorous and horrific depictions of stinging insects and their effects.

The use of sonification to understand the physical mechanisms of protein folding led to a new discovery about the ways a protein can fold.