News: Faculty

UChicago’s Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics celebrates 20 years of discovery.

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have observed new details about the boundary of a tidally locked planet—where half of the planet is always exposed to its star while the other is always shrouded in darkness. University of Chicago's Maria Steinrueck, Jacob Bean, and Diana Powell were co-authors of the paper presenting these results.

PhD student Romain Nith, research collaborator Yun Ho, and Associate Professor Pedro Lopes propose increasing the efficiency of multitasking by incorporating electrical muscle stimulation called “SplitBody.”

Some climate experts say carbon removal start-ups will limit global warming, but significant questions remain. David Keith, head of the Climate Systems Engineering initiative at the University of Chicago, comments on the rise of carbon removal strategies. 

Researchers combined the characteristic parts of two well-known reagents into a versatile new compound for transplanting carbon atoms into organic molecules. Chemistry professor Guanbin Dong comments on the scientific interest behind the research. 

UChicago researchers have created Glaze and Nightshade, programs aimed at protecting artists' work from AI scraping. Artists and researchers are embracing these tools as a first step toward fighting against unregulated AI practices.

In work that has been 30 years in the making, mathematicians have proven a major part of a profound mathematical vision called the Langlands program. Justin Campbell and Kevin Lin from the University of Chicago are part of this team of researchers.

Propelled by UChicago’s Climate Systems Engineering initiative, a group of scientists has published a landmark report. It represents the first public effort by glaciologists to assess potential technological interventions that could help address catastrophic sea-level rise scenarios.

The 2024 winners of UChicago’s annual Quantrell and PhD Teaching awards share their summer reading recommendations.

With the rapid development of AI technologies in the private sector, universities are expanding their research to participate in the conversation. Professor Hoffman, chair of the Computer Science Department, comments on UChicago's computing infrastructure.

Generative artificial intelligence tools, now part of the everyday user experience online, are causing stress on local power grids and mass water evaporation. Assistant Professor of Computer Science Junchen Jiang comments on the relationship between AI’s carbon footprint and its energy consumption. 

How can we incentivize the private and public sectors to develop and deploy solutions to climate change, while accounting for uncertainties? This episode of The Pie covers a panel discussion among professors David Keith of GeoSci at UChicago, Franklin Allen of Imperial College in London, and José Scheinkman of Columbia. Nobel laureate Lars Peter Hansen moderates the conversation.

As questions mount regarding how AI tools will impact higher education, some experts believe that candidates with skills such as critical thinking and creativity will be at an advantage. UChicago Professor Rebecca Willett comments on the role that individuals with a liberal arts education will play in training and developing AI models.

New research by Hao Yan and Weixin Tang at the University of Chicago explores the capabilities of an evolved bacterial adenosine deaminase, DECOR, to enhance RNA editing technology. This advancement will expand gene therapy efficiency by successfully targeting and editing disease-causing RNA sequences.

New investments in AI-powered robots are bound to significantly expand their role in everyday life and the workplace. Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Sarah Sebo, discusses how AI will enhance the reliability and skills of robots.