News: Faculty

Dozens of articles feature Astrophysics postdoc Rafael Luque's study describing the discovery of six planets orbiting a bright star in perfect resonance 100 light-years from Earth. Explore a few of those articles sampled here.

In a Forbes article, Astro Prof. John Carlstrom discusses the significance of the international CMB-S4 telescope project being designed to examine and map ancient cosmic microwave background radiation involving 400 scientists from more than 20 countries.

Solar geoengineering technology holds possibilities and pitfalls, says David Keith, professor of Geophysical Sciences and founding director of the Climate Systems Engineering Initiative at UChicago.

In a USA Today article, Assoc. Prof. Marshini Chetty discusses Meta Pixel's tracking efforts on sites required for college applications, saying you could make the argument that these educational sites are “just the same as any other site,” but noting that dealing with kids raises bigger questions about tracking on the web: “Why is there the Meta Pixel? Why are there session recorders?” she said. “What is the place of that on these sites?" Doctoral Candidate Jake Chanenson says, “Some sort of comprehensive federal privacy regulation would be helpful...the last privacy act we had was in the ‘90s"
 

Scientists, including Rafael Luque and Jacob Bean, have discovered a rare sight in a nearby star system: Six planets orbiting their central star in a rhythmic beat. The planets move in an orbital waltz that repeats itself so precisely it can be readily set to music. A rare case of an “in sync” gravitational lockstep, the system could offer deep insight into planet formation and evolution.

Image by Roger Thibaut (NCCR PlanetS)

As upgrades enable the LHC to produce more and more particle collisions, physicists are using machine learning to keep up with the growing task of sorting through everything. David Miller, an associate professor of Physics and a member of the ATLAS experiment, weighs in.

KICP Fellow Patricio Gallardo discusses in a U.S. Sun article his doubts over a claim that a sphere found in the Pacific Ocean is of extraterrestrial origin.

In a NewScientist article, CS Prof. Heather Zheng discusses AI's ability to figure out what someone is typing in VR meetings, saying, "You don't even need to know the person. As long as you can get in the same VR room as them, they're done."

Six UChicago physical and mathematical scientists were named in Web of Science's 2023 report of highly cited researchers. According to Web of Science, researchers on the list have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields and contribute “disproportionately to extending the frontiers of knowledge and gaining for society innovations that make the world healthier, more sustainable and more secure.” 
 

APS Ramsey Prize winner David DeMille describes his groundbreaking ACME experiment and how it puts the Standard Model to the test.

UChicago team chronicles dozens of women who worked and made discoveries in early 20th century.

In a WBEZ-FM Chicago audio segment, CS Prof. Marshini Chetty discusses how too much screen time on devices can hurt health by increasing anxiety, depression, and a sedentary lifestyle and how to change that.

An interview with the new chair of Mathematics

Ngô Bảo Châu, the Francis and Rose Yuen Distinguished Service Professor, was named the Department of Mathematics chair, starting July 1, 2023. In this Q&A, he discusses his priorities for the department, the exciting work of his colleagues, and his vision for collaboration.

High school students in the Collegiate Scholars Program get to know robots, with Assistant Professor of Computer Science Sarah Sebo.

Phys.org article reviews a paper describing the most distant black hole ever seen in X-rays, on which Astro Asst. Prof. Irina Zhuravleva is an author.