News: Faculty

Research on so-called mirror cells, which defy fundamental properties of living organisms, should be prohibited as too dangerous, biologists said. 

“The consequences could be globally disastrous,” said Jack Szostak, who helped write a 299-page technical report on the risks of the research.

The energy-devouring technology is giving new life to fossil fuels. CS professor Andrew Chien comments.

Wendy Freedman shares her standout discovery of the year.

UChicago retrospective article features PSD breakthroughs and accolades.

Researchers from Computer Science and DSI have received a $900,000 sub-award for their critical contributions to the NSF SafeInsights project, which aims to build a transformative infrastructure for inclusive education research at a national scale.

University of Chicago Computer Science Seymour Goodman Professor Fred Chong is part of a national team building software to manage quantum noise, an increasingly relevant problem due to the rapid development of quantum computing technologies.

Fourth-year PhD student Kelly Wagman, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory and the Greater Chatham Initiative, develops a community-based app that bridges the gap between the residents’ and the scientists’ needs for flood-reporting resources and data.

When mixing disciplines, there are some subjects that are much more readily paired—psychology and biology or visual arts and photography. However, one physical science course at the University of Chicago seeks to combine three subjects that aren’t a natural fit on the surface. “The Chemistry of Artists' Materials,” taught by Assistant Instructional Professor Hannah Lant, blends together art, history and science.

Scientists from UChicago created a new way to study snoRNAs, showing they may serve a surprisingly broad range of functions across many cell types.

The US Department of Defense has invested $2.4 million over two years in deepfake detection technology from a startup called Hive AI. UChicago Prof. Ben Zhao comments on the potential efficacy of this tool.

Internet service providers offer a wide range of speeds in their plans. However, the speed customers pay for is not always consistent with what they experience. Computer Science Prof. Nick Feamster comments on factors that might contribute to varied internet speeds.

California is making so much solar energy that large commercial operators are increasingly forced to stop production, raising questions about the state’s costly plan to shift entirely to carbon-free sources of electricity. Computer science Prof. Andrew Chien comments.

The term “dark energy” was coined by the UChicago astrophysicist Michael Turner in 1998. Since then, details about this phenomenon have remained a mystery to scientists. Prof. Joshua Frieman comments on why it is likely that dark energy was not prevalent during the initial inflation of the Big Bang.

Scientists and companies increasingly support blocking some sunlight to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. David Keith, head of UChicago's Climate Systems Engineering initiative, is leading the movement in favor of geoengineering experimentation. 

A collaboration between computer engineers and AI specialists at Microsoft and UChicago resulted in the creation of a new language that allows large language models (LLMs) to communicate more efficiently.