News: Faculty

2023

Chemical tricks offer real-life sensations

February 6, 2023

A woman wears a haptic device on her arm paired with images of the VR scene she sees in her VR goggles

By applying chemicals to the skin, researchers from the University of Chicago have created a new form of haptics that make VR-experiences more real.


Erik Shirokoff, astronomer who built instruments to map the universe, 1979-2023

February 3, 2023

Erik Shirokoff

Assoc. Prof. Erik Shirokoff, a UChicago astronomer who built instruments to understand the earliest ages of the universe, and who was known as a generous and patient mentor and teacher, died Jan. 26. He was 43.


George Crabtree, distinguished energy researcher remembered as ‘boundless explorer,’ 1944-2023

February 2, 2023

George Crabtree

George Crabtree, widely recognized and admired as a brilliant, passionate materials scientist who led groundbreaking work in superconductivity and energy storage over the course of nearly seven decades at Argonne National Laboratory, died Jan. 23. He was 78.


High-stakes Tamagotchi: living smartwatch literally dies if you don’t feed it

February 2, 2023

A hand and wrist displaying a conceptual smartwatch with a visible compartment for growing slime

Gizmodo explores the UChicago Human Computer Integeration Lab conceptual smartwatch that requires thriving slime mold or the smartwatch’s functionality becomes limited.


Scientists release newly accurate map of all the matter in the universe

January 31, 2023

The Dark Energy Survey Telescopes under a starry sky

A group of scientists, including several with the UChicago and Fermilab, have released one of the most precise measurements ever made of how matter is distributed across the universe today, using DES and SPT data.


Three PSD scholars named 2022 AAAS fellows

January 31, 2023

Philippe Guyot-Sionnest, Chemistry, Physics
Robert Rosner, Physics
Norbert F. Scherer, Chemistry

Philippe Guyot-Sionnest, Departments of Chemistry and Physics, Robert Rosner, Department of Physics, and Norbert F. Scherer, Department of Chemistry have been named in the 2022 class of American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows. The award recognizes their advancing scientific excellence, tackling complex societal challenges, and pushing boundaries that will reap benefits for years to come.


Norman Lebovitz, UChicago mathematician who unraveled the behaviors of stars and galaxies, 1935-2022

January 30, 2023

Norman Lebovitz

Norman Lebovitz, a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Chicago who taught for more than 40 years and worked to unravel the complex behaviors of stars and galaxies, died Dec. 28, 2022. He was 87.


Unmasking ‘trickster’ exoplanets with bogus signatures of alien life

January 27, 2023

Edwin Kite

Assoc. Prof. Edwin Kite, Dept. of Geophysical Sciences, is part of a team striving to identify nontraditional abiotic methane sources that could potentially be in play on exoplanets of interest.


Albert Madansky, AB’52, SM’55, PhD’58, renowned statistician with an ‘endless curiosity’ for business, 1934–2022

January 27, 2023

Albert Madansky

Remembering Albert Madansky, Statistics AB’52, SM’55, PhD’58, and longtime UChicago Booth professor who studied subjects ranging from nuclear war to behavioral science and pastrami.


Wisconsin NPR: Artificial intelligence on the rise with Profs. Willet and Zhao

January 27, 2023

illustration of a green hologram of a human shoulders and head layered on wall with binary code

Wisconsin Public Radio Morning Show host Kate Archer Kent interviews computer science professors Rebecca Willet and Ben Zhao about the potential uses and security challenges to AI.


PSD in the News - January 2023

January 26, 2023

PSD against a white and turquoise background

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to determine why the Southern Hemisphere is stormier than the Nothern Hemisphere, explain how the HIV virus replicates itself, and gather and analyze data on the funding, location, and research status for more than 230 GMO crop varieties in Africa.


Where is physics headed (and how soon do we get there)?

January 24, 2023

Illustration of blue and red particles colliding

The New York Times interviewed the co-chairs of the national committee on Elementary Particle Physics: Progress and Promise, emeritus Professor Michael Turner, Depts. Physics and Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Maria Spiropulu, to discuss the group’s progress, the disappointments of the last 20 years and the challenges ahead.


Doomsday Clock moves closest to apocalypse than ever before, at 90 seconds to midnight

January 24, 2023

Clock with hands 90 seconds to midnight

The 2023 unveiling of the Doomsday Clock at a Jan. 24 event in Washington, D.C. showed  hands of the clock at 90 seconds to midnight. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which includes Profs. Holz and Rosner of PSD, cite ‘unprecedented danger’ amid war in Ukraine, concerns over climate change.


Tiny ion is crucial for HIV replication, say UChicago chemists

January 24, 2023

Two HIV capsules demonstrate new finding

A study by UChicago chemists has uncovered a new key step in the process that HIV uses to replicate itself. “The thought is that if we could stop the capsids from forming, or cause them to malform, we could prevent HIV from being infectious and replicating,” said senior author, Prof. Greg Voth, Dept. of Chemistry.


Prof. Ka Yee Lee named Biophysical Society Fellow

January 19, 2023

Ka Yee Lee

Prof. Ka Yee C. Lee, Dept. of Chemistry, was named a Fellow of the Biophysical Society in 2023 “for her impactful and creative contributions to our understanding of the structure and stability of lipid membranes and their interactions with proteins.”