2020
PSD in the News - March 2020
March 30, 2020
![PSD in white against a maroon background](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
This month PSD researchers have been featured for the efforts of chemists to decode RNA of the new coronavirus, using AI to decode cuneiform tablets, and predicting a new state of matter.
Labs around UChicago donate protective equipment to hospital
March 27, 2020
![aerial view of hospital](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Prof. Margaret Gardel leads effort to donate thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment from UChicago labs.
Mark Levin awarded Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigators Prize
March 24, 2020
![Mark Levin](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry Mark Levin was awarded the Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigators Prize for his proposal to find a new way to create a synthetic tracer compound which will significantly improve the effectiveness of current PET scan technology. If he is successful, his technology will open the door to a whole new class of more effective imaging compounds.
Margaret Gardel awarded the Sackler Prize in Biophysics
March 24, 2020
![Margaret Gardel](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Margaret Gardel, Professor in the Department of Physics and Director of the Material Research Science and Engineering Center, was awarded $25,000 for work on how cells sense mechanical forces and respond to those forces with chemical activity.
Understanding RNA could boost effectiveness of future COVID-19 vaccine
March 23, 2020
![COVID-19](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Prof. Chuan He hopes to begin working on purified viral RNA from collaborators early this week.
Richard Miller, pioneer of computational astrophysics, 1926–2020
March 23, 2020
![Prof. Richard Miller](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Prof. Richard Miller, founding Chair on the Committee of Information Sciences and pioneer in numerical simulations of the formation of structure in the universe and dynamics of galaxies, died Mar. 7 in Chicago.
An Automated Menu for LHC Data and the Search for Dark Matter
March 18, 2020
![Particle accelorator data](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
With a CDAC Discovery Grant, physicist David Miller and computer scientist Yuxin Chen hope to build a "self-driving" system for selecting and analyzing data from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN
UChicago Medicine’s Emily Landon answers common questions about COVID-19
March 17, 2020
![COVID-19 virus image](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
UChicago Medicine’s Emily Landon answers common questions about COVID-19. Assoc. Prof. Landon specializes in infectious disease, and serves as medical director of antimicrobial stewardship and infection control at University of Chicago Medicine.
“Active materials” could inspire new technology
March 13, 2020
![slinky](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
James Franck Institute physicist Prof. Vincenzo Vitelli and his group push the boundaries between materials and machines. In a new Nature Physics paper, they explain "active materials” could inspire new technology
How AI could help translate the written language of ancient civilizations
March 13, 2020
![Dig at Persepolis](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Oriental Institute, Computer Science scholars collaborate on program to read cuneiform tablets
A theory for generating and moving energy efficiently
March 10, 2020
![LeeAnn Sager, Prof. David Mazziotti, and Shiva Safaei](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Scientists Shiva Safaei, Prof. David Mazziotti, and LeeAnn Sager discuss a prediction that dual states of matter can exist in the same material—which may be useful for applications
What makes a UChicago computer scientist a beloved campus figure
March 3, 2020
![Borja Sotomayor](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Geeky T-shirts, open door policy make UChicago computer scientist beloved campus figure
Wired Magazine covers Astro Prof. Wendy Freedman’s work on the Hubble Constant
March 2, 2020
![TRGB Stars](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Wired Magazine covers Astronomy Prof. Wendy Freedman and team's use of the “tip of the red giant branch” (TRGB) stars to arrive at a significantly lower Hubble rate than other observers
CS Education Expert Diana Franklin Promoted to Associate Professor
February 27, 2020
![Headshot Diana Franklin](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
Computer Science Education Expert Diana Franklin Promoted to Associate Professor
Astronomy Professors John Carlstrom, Wendy Freedman, and Michael Turner named AAS Legacy Fellows
February 26, 2020
![John Carlstrom, Wendy Freedman, and Michael Turner](https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/shared-resources/i/template/transparent.gif)
American Astronomical Society has announced their new Fellows program, kicking it off with an initial group of 200 Legacy Fellows. Astronomy Professors John Carlstrom, Wendy Freedman, and Michael Turner were among those named Legacy Fellows.