News Bureau

Researchers have found a way to make ultrathin surface coatings robust enough to survive scratches and dings. The new material, developed by merging thin-film and self-healing technologies, has an almost endless list of potential applications, including self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti-fogging, anti-bacterial, anti-fouling and enhanced heat exchange coatings, researchers said.  

A new book by education professor Jon Hale examines the complex history of the school choice movement in the U.S., which was overshadowed by racism and resistance to desegregation.

“Hal Fischer Photographs: Seriality, Sexuality, Semiotics” features his well-known photographic series focused on gay life in 1970s San Francisco, as well as his early work as an Illinois student.

Job seekers’ perceived risk of contracting and falling seriously ill from COVID-19 may take a significant mental health toll and ultimately affect their ability to secure employment, says new research co-written by Yihao Liu, a professor of labor and employment relations and of psychology at Illinois.

“To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults” documents the life stories of transgender older adults through photographs and interviews.

A new, location-specific agricultural greenhouse gas emission study is the first to account for net carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from all subsectors related to food production and consumption. The work, led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain, could help identify the primary plant- and animal-based food sectors contributing to three major greenhouse gas emissions and allow policymakers to take action to reduce emissions from the top-emitting food commodities at different locations across the globe.

With colleagues at several institutions, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign crop sciences professor Stephen Moose will lead the development of a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems. With $25 million in newly announced funding, the center will create an Internet of Living Things to learn the intimate biological language of plants and their associated organisms. Moose spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about this new initiative.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign freshman enrollment of 8,303 for the 2021-22 academic year is a record. The new class brings total student enrollment to 56,299, the largest in university history.

Pianist Rochelle Sennet said she wants her “Bach to Black” project to show that classical music is for everyone, regardless of race or cultural background.

Researchers built a mathematical model to calculate how much it will cost airlines to cope with rising temperatures in a changing climate.

An avocado a day could help redistribute belly fat in women toward a healthier profile, according to a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators. One hundred and five adults with overweight and obesity participated in a randomized controlled trial that provided one meal a day for 12 weeks. Women who consumed avocado as part of their daily meal had a reduction in deeper visceral abdominal fat.

Taking large or multiple doses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin can cause a toxic overdose, and humans should not take forms intended for animal use, says Illinois veterinary medicine expert Dr. Jim Lowe.

Years of meticulous experimentation have paid off for researchers aiming to unify the physics that defines materials that transition from solids to liquids. The researchers said a new theoretical model could help develop new synthetic materials and inform and predict civil engineering and environmental challenges such as mudslides, dam breaks and avalanches.

At first glance, Trelease Woods looks like any other central Illinois woodland. There’s a well-worn track inside its fenced eastern edge, and the forest floor is littered with twigs and branches. But as I walk along the path with my companions, I notice that some of the trees are bigger than any I’ve seen in this area.

Researchers say the high salt content of whey – the watery part of milk left behind after cheesemaking – helps make it one of the most polluting byproducts in the food processing industry. In a new study, chemists demonstrate the first electrochemical redox desalination process used in the food industry, removing and recycling up to 99% of excess salt from whey while simultaneously refining more than 98% of whey’s valuable protein content.

“A Question of Emphasis: Louise Fishman Drawing” is the first retrospective of Fishman’s works on paper, and features many works of art that have never been shown.

Patent law could create an “ethical thicket” that discourages access to the medically and ethically dubious practice of heritable human-genome editing, said Jacob S. Sherkow, a professor of law at Illinois and bioethics expert.

The state legislative district map that was signed into law earlier this summer by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was based on population estimates rather than official U.S. Census data, rendering it vulnerable to legal challenges, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor Brian Gaines.

Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, also known as “Ebertfest,” has been rescheduled to April out of concern for a spike in COVID-19 variants in the state. The Virginia Theatre in Champaign will automatically transfer all pass and seat reservations for the event to the new dates, and refunds are available to those who cannot attend the rescheduled event. 

Sixteen civil service employees – eight this year and eight in 2020 – at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were recognized for exceptional performance with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award.

ELLNORA: The Guitar Festival will feature influential guitarists playing a wide range of musical styles. The festival will take place on a smaller scale than in past years.

Scientists have developed and deployed a series of new imaging and machine-learning tools to discover attributes that contribute to water-use efficiency in crop plants during photosynthesis and to reveal the genetic basis of variation in those traits.

An exhibition of work by Ben Grosser, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of new media, considers what software might look like if its underlying philosophy was not the creation of more, but less.

Meritocratic employment practices such as performance bonuses often fail to reduce gender-based pay inequality and may actually exacerbate it by allowing the status quo to remain intact at firms, says new research co-written by Eunmi Mun, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

It’s a sweltering summer afternoon. I’m pushing aside tree limbs and crunching leaves to get back to the trap that I baited two hours ago with dry ice to attract ticks. When I get closer, I can see a gossamer mist hovering over a bright white cloth in the dark underbrush. Dry ice “sublimates” in the open air, going from a solid to a gaseous state. It gives off a vapor of carbon dioxide gas that’s denser than the air, mimicking the breath of a tick host resting on the ground.

The future connection between human waste, sanitation technology and sustainable agriculture is becoming more evident. According to research directed by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign civil and environmental engineering professor Jeremy Guest, countries could be moving closer to using human waste as fertilizer, closing the loop to more circular, sustainable economies.

Subjective perceptions of their social status may have stronger effects on the cardiovascular health of Hispanics and Latinos in the U.S. than objective markers such as income, according to a new study led by Lissette Piedra.

History professor Roderick Wilson looks at how the interactions between rivers, society and government helped shape Japan’s modern transformation.

The 22nd Annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, co-founded and hosted by Chaz Ebert and also known as “Ebertfest,” announced some of its films and guests for the 2021 event and shared updated COVID-19 safety protocols for the festival.   

Artist Stacey Robinson illustrated the graphic novel to portray the prosperity of the Black community.

Blue light is illuminating new understanding of a key signaling pathway in embryo development, tissue maintenance and cancer genesis.

Illinois researchers developed a method that makes membrane-bound receptors reactive to light, triggering the Wnt pathway.

A team of scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a bioprocess using engineered yeast that completely and efficiently converted plant matter consisting of acetate and xylose into high-value chemicals.

As the military withdraws from Afghanistan nearly two decades after 9/11, the U.S. public should carefully consider the costs and benefits of the effort, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political scientist and international relations expert Nicholas Grossman.

The feeding patterns of black holes offer insight into their size, researchers report. A new study revealed that the flickering in the brightness observed in actively feeding supermassive black holes is related to their mass.

A new paper co-written by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economist Yilan Xu says taming domestic transmission of COVID-19 ought to be prioritized over international travel bans.

In a randomized control study of 10 healthy young men, researchers compared how consuming the single amino acid leucine or its two-molecule equivalent, dileucine, influenced muscle-building and breakdown. They found that dileucine boosts the metabolic processes that drive muscle growth 42% more than free leucine does.

Researchers report that infantile spasms, a rare but serious seizure disorder in babies, appear to be the result of a molecular pathway gone awry. In their study of a mouse model of the disorder, the researchers discovered that genetic mutations associated with the disease impair a pathway that is involved in building new synapses in the hippocampus, a brain region essential to learning and memory.

Attending high-profile and mass-participation sporting events may increase individuals’ physical activity levels and enhance their emotional well-being, according to Mikihiro Sato, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism.

A new paper in the journal Ecology documents an unusual behavior among titmice, chickadees and tits: A bird will land on an unsuspecting mammal and, cautiously and stealthily, pluck out some of its hair.

Vaccine passports strike the right balance between letting life go on for the vaccinated while still being realistic about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said Jacob S. Sherkow, a professor of law at Illinois and bioethics expert.

In a new study, researchers explore the use of microplasma – a highly focused stream of chemically excited ions and molecules – as a noninvasive method for attacking the bacterial biofilms that resist antibiotic treatment in the middle ear.

Venetria K. Patton will become the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign effective Aug. 2, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Patton is currently the head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue University.

Many K-12 students in Illinois are not receiving the computing education needed to succeed in the workforce they'll enter after high school graduation, according to a new report by U. of I. scholar Raya Hegeman-Davis.

A new approach to treating breast cancer kills 95-100% of cancer cells in mouse models of human estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers and their metastases in bone, brain, liver and lungs. The newly developed drug, called ErSO, quickly shrinks even large tumors to undetectable levels.

The Supreme Court affirmed that while public schools have an extra duty to protect unpopular opinions and minority speech rights, school officials still have the power to discipline students for bad behavior, says a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign media law scholar who studies free speech issues.

According to a new report co-written by Illinois Natural History Survey postdoctoral researcher Valeria Trivellone, climate change, poverty, urbanization, land-use change and the exploitation of wildlife all contribute to the emergence of new infectious diseases, which, in turn, threaten global food security. Trivellone spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about how global authorities can tackle these intertwined challenges.

An upswing in death rates from non-COVID-19 causes in 2020 hit hard for men ages 15-64, according to a new study by computer science professor Sheldon H. Jacobson and internal medicine professor Janet Jokela.

A new study shows that it is possible to use mechanical force to deliberately alter chemical reactions and increase chemical selectivity – a grand challenge of the field.  

Online learning engagement can be increased by nearly one-third by simply prompting students to share course ideas instead of personal details.

A new book by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign journalism professor Nikki Usher examines the market failure of local newspapers in the context of larger U.S. problems such as rising social inequality, geographic polarization and political discord. In “News for the Rich, White, and Blue: How Place and Power Distort American Journalism,” Usher posits that newspapers are becoming more focused on serving wealthy, white and politically liberal news consumers.