January 29, 2020
This month, PSD researchers have been featured for helping identify the first habitable exoplanet, discovering the oldest material on Earth, and finding evidence that RNA modulates how DNA is transcribed.
Voices
- Adler Planetarium highlights graduate student Andrea Bryant as part of its Chicago Black Women in STEAM series.
- WTTW: UChicago STEM Ed's Rebecca Maxcy discusses finEDge, a high school curriculum focused on personal finance.
- See also: WBEZ
- Sci-News: Asst. Prof. Edwin Kite discusses his recent research exploring why smaller “sub-Neptune” planets vastly outnumber larger Neptune-sized planets.
- Popular Mechanics: study co-authored by Asst. Prof. Marshini Chetty highlights 'dark patterns' used to urge online shoppers to spend more.
- WTTW: Prof. Daniel Holz discusses black hole image in Top Science Stories of 2019 feature.
- APS Physics: Prof. Wendy Freedman discusses benefits of increased collaboration in the dark energy arena.
- IUPAC spotlights Assoc. Prof. Bozhi Tian, 2011 IUPAC Solvay Award for Young Chemists winner.
- Asst. Prof. Bill Fefferman comments on a new mathematical proof that seems to disprove the Connes embedding conjecture.
- Inside Science; Prof. Joshua Frieman comments on recent study on supernovae and the measurement of intergalactic distances.
- WTTW: Prof. Dan Holz discusses decision to move 'Doomsday Clock' closer to midnight.
Research
- NASA’s TESS spacecraft discovers its first habitable planet, first world with two stars.
- See also: CNN, Space.com, New Scientist, Scientific American, and NASA (TOI 700 d, TOI 1338 b)
- UChicago, Field Museum scientists discover oldest material on Earth: 7-billion-year-old stardust.
- See also: Smithsonian, Live Science, Science Daily, BBC, Popular Mechanics, Vice
- Researchers discover new method to measure how photocurrents flow in a 2D material.
- Asst. Profs. Lorenzo Orecchia and Ray Moellering receive NSF CAREER Awards.
- EPiQC researchers simulate 61-bit quantum computer with data compression.
- How to feed 10 billion people without wrecking the planet.
- Study shows that RNA modulates how DNA is transcribed.
Education & Community
- Prof. Ka Yee C. Lee appointed provost of University of Chicago.
- See also: Crain's Chicago Business
- Four UChicago scientists speculate about science in the decade ahead.
- Breakthrough Prize video explains Prof. Alex Eskin's winning work.
- Doomsday Clock closer than ever before to apocalypse.
- See also: USA Today
- A look at the UChicago roots of the Doomsday clock.
- CDAC announces Autumn 2019 Discovery Grant projects.
- Chien group receives best paper at workshop on serverless computing.
- New quantum certificates program to retrain scientists and build the quantum workforce.
In Memoriam
- Fred T. Anderson, scientist who studied rocks to recreate volcanic eruptions, 1937-2020.
- See also: Hyde Park Herald