2024
What astronomers are learning from the James Webb Space Telescope
January 3, 2024
In a WBEZ Morning Edition audio segment, astrophysicist Jacob Bean discusses the initial research frenzy following the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and the process of settling into a reasonable pace.
How to create a black hole out of thin air
January 3, 2024
In a NYT article, astrophysicist Daniel Holz discusses new research that shows black holes may form in different ways than expected.
CS Assistant Professor Robert Rand receives Air Force Young Investigator Grant
January 3, 2024
The three-year, $450,000 grant will fund Rand’s work on formal verification of the ZX-calculus, a graphical system for representing quantum programs.
Fermilab’s ‘muon shot’ could see suburban lab become site of revolutionary particle collider
January 3, 2024
Prof. Abigail Vieregg discusses the possible construction of a new particle collider, one more powerful than any ever created, at Fermilab.
Photo by Ryan Postel / Fermilab
2023
UChicago scientists innovate ‘hook and slide’ method to improve drug discovery
December 20, 2023
UChicago scientists have developed a new "hook and slide" method where they can insert atoms within an already existing carbon framework. The innovation comes from a paper recently published in Science, by Rui Zhang, a fifth-year graduate student with the Guangbin Dong Lab. This new strategy developed by Zhang, with assistance from undergraduate Tingting Yu, promises to optimize medicinal chemistry.
Image by Skrypnykov Dmytro/Shutterstock
New technique could make modeling molecules much easier
December 15, 2023
Chemists Daniel Gibney, David Mazziotti, and Jan-Niklas Boyn invented a new way to allow computers to simulate certain quantum mechanical effects in complex electronic materials with far less effort.
What to read and watch over winter break 2023
December 14, 2023
UChicago teaching award winners, including Michael Gladders, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Quantrell Award winner, share their selections for the holidays.
Their budget already stretched near bursting, U.S. particle physicists dream small
December 14, 2023
Prof. John Carlstrom discusses funding for CMB-S4, which, he says, would scrutinize the cosmic microwave background for evidence that the newborn universe underwent an exponential growth spurt called inflation.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs measure lifting Illinois’ moratorium on new nuclear power plants
December 14, 2023
Of a moratorium on building nuclear power plants in Illinois coming to an end, Prof. Robert Rosner says in a Chicago Tribune article, "There’s no one waiting here to start building a nuclear power plant as soon as the law changes."
Committee lays out research priorities for future of U.S. particle physics
December 11, 2023
P5 report includes UChicago, Fermilab experiments to study neutrinos, cosmic microwave background.
UChicago, NCAR research suggests world will see ‘record-breaking’ winds
December 8, 2023
Jet streams circulate around the world. A new study by GS Prof. Tiffany Shaw and National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist Osamu Miyawaki finds fast jet stream winds (those in dark red in the figure) will get even faster over time as climate change accelerates.
Nutrient found in meat and dairy improves immune response to cancer
December 7, 2023
Research by UChicago scientists, including Chemistry Prof. Chuan He, suggests that the nutrient called TVA could have potential as a nutritional supplement to complement clinical treatments for cancer.
Together lands $102.5M investment to grow its cloud for training generative AI
December 6, 2023
Together, a startup co-founded by CS Assoc. Prof. Ce Zhang creating open-source generative AI and AI model development infrastructure, announced that it closed a $102.5 million Series A funding round.
UChicago Explainer Series: Cosmic rays
December 5, 2023
Scientists are fascinated by cosmic rays because they can tell us about space—where they came from and what they encountered along the way—as well as the makeup of the galaxy and the universe. Read the UChicago Explainer Series to learn all about cosmic rays.
New understanding of oobleck-like fluids contributes to smart material design
December 1, 2023
Research led by postdoctoral scholar Hojin Kim, Prof. Stuart Rowan in Chemistry and PME, and Prof. Heinrich Jaeger in Physics and JFI on the science behind non-Newtonian fluids could lead to applications ranging from clump-free paint to wearable protective gear.