News

Student-driven changes in laboratories at UChicago, including a Shut the Sash program, yield energy and cost savings.

In the year since the launch of the Parker Solar Probe, UChicago's pioneering astrophysicist, Eugene Parker, has been receiving updates on the NASA mission, which has already come closer to the sun than any spacecraft. Parker recently visited with Nicky Fox, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, to reflect on the launch.

For the past quarter-century, the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory has helped scientists and engineers make groundbreaking discoveries—providing extremely bright X-rays to investigate everything from dinosaur bones and lunar rocks to materials for new solar panels and new pharmaceutical drugs. Now Argonne, which is operated by the University of Chicago, has been cleared to begin building a massive, $815 million upgrade to its kilometer-long X-ray facility. 

Raymond Moellering’s lab reports a new method to identify and interrogate the biophysical properties of tens of thousands of modified proteins simultaneously in live cells. This method, called “Hotspot Thermal Profiling,” therefore enables efficient selection of functionally important modifications for further study, as well as insight into the network of proteins and biomolecules that are interacting with that particular modification site in cells. 

Assoc. Prof. Henry Hoffman of the Department of Computer Science and Assoc. Prof. Abigail Vieregg of the Department of Physics have been awarded the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government to scholars who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology. 

Dorian Abbot, Associate Professor of Geophysical Sciences, piloted a flipped classroom model in the physical sciences course, Global Warming, wherein students watched short video lectures and read texts outside of class. They then met in small sections with a section leader who guided and coached them through a mixture of quantitative, visual, and discussion exercises so they could apply and practice what they'd learned. This model has been shown to drive student engagement and achievement in STEM classrooms.

Congratulations to Greg Engel, professor in the Department of Chemistry, Mark Rivers, Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS), and research professors, Peter Eng and Yanbin Wang, for earning grants from the Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Read more about their projects.

Capital One's data breach leaves millions vulnerable—Ur shares 5 tips to help individuals better manage their information with WTTW. 

Nagel explains how his findings in droplet and bubble experiments affect universality. 

Computer science BX/MS alumna Devshi Mehrotra has utilized her technical background to tackle issues ranging from criminal justice reform to income inequality. She led compileHer, a group dedicated to computer science education for young girls, particularly those of color.

The awarded grant will help Nord, utilize AI to design an experiment optimized to measure the expansion rate of the universe. Nord will also be working with Asst. Prof. Yuxin Chen. 

Assoc Prof. Frabrycky's research group noticed a star's irregular dimming pattern, leading to the discovery and precise measurement of a new exoplanet's mass. 

Prof. Wendy Freedman discusses the possibility of systematic errors in Hubble constant calculations with Science News.