News

2026

Sex, drugs and … AI?: students think everyone else is doing it more than they are

June 23, 2026

Photo of pills spilled on a desk.

Researchers say a lack of reliable information on artificial intelligence use on campus could lead to misguided policies.


Math and novels with Carlos Kenig

June 23, 2026

Photo of Carlos Kenig.

Carlos Kenig discusses the Fields Medal, Jorge Luis Borges, and the Chicago School of Analysis.
 


Professor Dam Thanh Son: from International Mathematical Olympiad gold medalist to world-leading physicist

June 23, 2026

Professor Dam Thanh Son.

From a student who won a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad with a perfect score in 1984, Professor Dam Thanh Son has become one of the most influential Vietnamese-born theoretical physicists on the international stage.


The AI revolution mirrors the green transition

June 23, 2026

Corporate safeguards for workers using artificial intelligence include having a dedicated AI complaint mechanism, according to AI Company Data Initiative.

The need for massive upfront investments and the likelihood of significant job displacement imply remarkable parallels between the AI buildout and the green transition. In both cases, the state has an important role to play in guiding market forces on behalf of the public good.


UChicago forum examines the future of climate intervention

June 23, 2026

People gathered to listen to a panel of speakers.

The two-day conference, Frontiers in Climate Systems Engineering, began with an uncomfortable premise: Climate change is real, its consequences could be catastrophic, and avoiding the worst outcomes will likely require dramatic intervention.


Like a wire bender, but for pop tubes

June 23, 2026

A tube folded up on itself in a contraption.

Are you familiar with pop tubes? Resembling the corrugated section of a bendy straw, they are at the core of PopTuber, an intriguing research project from the Actuated Experience Lab at the University of Chicago.


Peter B. Littlewood, condensed matter physicist and internationally recognized leader, 1955–2026

June 23, 2026

Peter Littlewood

Remembered for expansive expertise, collaborative spirit, and dynamic leadership.


SciFM 2026 at UChicago: inside the premier gathering of AI, foundation models, and the future of scientific discovery

June 17, 2026

Photo of members gathered in a room listening to a speaker.

Walking onto the University of Chicago campus this May, visitors to SciFM 2026 could sense the electric anticipation. As the third installment of the Scientific Foundation Models conference series unfolded, world-renowned researchers, national lab experts, and industry leaders collided in a three-day conversation that asked: How is AI reshaping the practice of science—and what still stands in its way?


Prof. Giulia Galli appointed CNRS fellow-ambassador

June 17, 2026

Photo of professor Giulia Galli.

Galli joins a prestigious cohort of leading figures from the world’s scientific community


Finding Home: How North Dakota Native vote and the University of Chicago Data Science Institute are protecting indigenous voting rights

June 17, 2026

Close-up satellite map of NDNV’s Find Your Address tool with an address’ voting information.

A new tool born from a community partnership is supporting Native voters to navigate an ID system that wasn't built with them in mind.


Can AI agents replicate science? Argonne’s Rick Stevens puts them to the test.

June 17, 2026

AI looking through a microscope.

Have we reached a point where AI agents can reliably function as scientific collaborators? Can they go one step further and work as autonomous scientists?


Most exoplanets might be ‘soot factories,’ scientists say: ‘Like you have a natural diesel engine’

June 17, 2026

Soot planets.

A chemical engineer noticed that the spectra of the hazy atmosphere of mini-Neptune planets looked like the soot produced by combustion engines.


PSD recognizes four students with a William Rainey Harper Dissertation Fellowship for 2026-27

June 11, 2026

Top: Jiaheng Chen, Sarah Christensen. Bottom: Hanyu Hong, Rachel Scrandis.

The Physical Sciences Division has selected four graduate students to receive a William Rainey Harper Dissertation Fellowship for the 2026-2027 academic year.


This soft and bendy hologram fan is touch friendly, and also *checks notes* can be used to prevent chemical burns

June 8, 2026

Image of the hologram fan in action.

Called the BloomBeacon, the project features two soft and flexible blades for the purposes of creating a touchable holographic display.


Superconducting diamond reveals a hidden three-phase order

June 8, 2026

Inside a structurally perfect diamond crystal, physicists uncovered an electronic patchwork no instrument could have predicted, and it may change what quantum chips are made of.