News

2023

Regenstein’s ‘Capturing the Stars’ honors the women of Yerkes Observatory

November 8, 2023

Astronomer at the 40-inch refractor telescope of Yerkes Observatory under the 90-foot dome.

Hyde Park Herald article features "Capturing the Stars: The Untold History of Women at Yerkes Observatory," an exhibition at the Regenstein Library.


How neural networks can think like humans and why it matters

November 8, 2023

Chenhao Tan

In an AI Business article, CS Asst. Prof. Chenhao Tan says that “being made to model human thought processes is critical for developing AI systems that can be tailored to human needs and preferences so that they can effectively assist humans towards their goals.”


James Hansen’s new climate warning and controversial plan to cool the planet

November 8, 2023

Portrait of David Keith against a brick wall

In a Newsweek article, GeoSci Prof. David Keith discusses his research on solar geoengineering, saying that it is "at best a weak supplement to what we must do to cut emissions," rather than a climate solution in and of itself, adding that the risks of solar geoengineering must be weighed against the risks of continued warming without it.


What happens to illustrators when robots can draw robots?

November 8, 2023

Ben Zhao

New York Times article highlights CS Prof. Ben Zhao's "Nightshade," a tool that aims to “poison” A.I. models by allowing artists to upload their images with code intended to mislead A.I. art generators.


Mathematics Professor Luis Silvestre named 2024 AMS Fellow

November 8, 2023

Luis Silvestre

Congratulations to Mathematics Professor Luis Silvestre, who was named a 2024 Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS)! Forty mathematical scientists from around the world have been named Fellows of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) for 2024, the program's twelfth year. AMS members designated as Fellows of the AMS have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics. 


CS Alumni Spotlight: Andrew McNutt

November 3, 2023

Andrew McNutt

CS alumnus Andrew McNutt talks visualization career, lessons from UChicago, and the road from PhD to tenure track at University of Utah.


UChicago undergrad analyzes machine learning models used by CPD, uncovers lack of transparency about data usage

November 3, 2023

Anika Vyas

Fourth-year student Anika Vyas utilized her time in Computer Science Asst. Prof. Raul Castro Fernandez’s ethics in data science course to investigate the successes and failures of the Chicago Police Department’s crime surveillance technology; the research suggests citizens aren’t getting the full story.


AxLab features multidisciplinary works at world’s largest art and technology festival

November 3, 2023

Actuated Experience Lab members

Computer Science Assistant Professor Ken Nakagaki and a group of undergraduate students from the University of Chicago displayed three research prototypes at this year’s Ars Electronica Festival. The work played off of the festival’s theme, “Who Owns the Truth?”.


The universe’s puzzlingly fast expansion may defy explanation, cosmologists fret

November 2, 2023

map of cosmic microwave background

Science article discusses the scientific debate around the universe's rate of expansion, with quotes from UChicago research fellow Tanvi Karwal.


Introducing the new PhD Program in Data Science

November 2, 2023

The University of Chicago Data Science Institute

New PhD program will train students to become the next generation of intellectual leaders in this fast-growing field of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.


UChicago CS chair, faculty, and students inducted into Samsung Hall of Fame for identifying vulnerability in SmartTVs

November 2, 2023

Samsung SmartTV

Researchers from the Department of Computer Science have created a side-channel attack that identifies how easily hackers could guess a user's passwords or credit card numbers by listening to the audio of a SmartTV. The work has been recognized by Samsung, and the group is now featured in the Samsung Hall of Fame for Smart TV, Audio, and Displays.


UChicago chemists make breakthrough in drug discovery chemistry

November 2, 2023

Mark Levin and Jisoo Woo at blackboard

For years, if you asked the people working to create new pharmaceutical drugs what they wished for, at the top of their lists would be a way to easily replace a carbon atom with a nitrogen atom in a molecule. But two studies from chemists at the University of Chicago, published in Science and Nature, offer two new methods to address this wish. The findings could make it easier to develop new drugs.


Meet Isabella Scott, Math

November 2, 2023

Isabella Scott

Isabella Scott, born in San Francisco and brought up between there and London, earned a BSc in Pure Maths from the University of St Andrews. They are now a 6th-year PhD student in Math, studying mathematical logic, “which sort of studies the ‘mathematics of mathematics’.”


NSF awards up to $21.4M for design of next-gen telescopes to capture earliest moments of universe

October 27, 2023

photograph of the current radio telescopes at NSF’s South Pole Station

The National Science Foundation has awarded $3.7 million to the University of Chicago for the first year of a grant that may provide up to $21.4 million for the final designs for a next-generation set of telescopes to map the light from the earliest moments of the universe—the Cosmic Microwave Background.


Storm signals

October 26, 2023

Mid-latitude cyclone on the first day of summer

Climate scientist Tiffany Shaw will study whether climate predictions were right, for the right reasons.