News: Faculty

2023

FeetThrough tech guides walking users ... by shocking their feet?

October 13, 2023

bare feet wearing FeetThrough prototype

New Atlas article features FeetThrough, a prototype being developed by Assoc. Prof. Pedro Lopes.


In defense of DEI in science

October 13, 2023

psd logo

For a Chicago Maroon op-ed, Assoc. Prof. Andrew Ferguson, Prof. Benoît Roux, Assoc. Prof. John Anderson, Biophysical Sciences Curriculum Director Adam T. Hammond, Assoc. Prof. Graham Slater, Prof. Henry Hoffmann, and Prof. Aaron P. Esser-Kahn argue that DEI initiatives in higher education fundamentally align with scientific rigor and institutional policies and play an important role in ensuring that we recruit and retain the absolute best scholars and provide a supportive climate within which all of us can pursue world-class research and teaching.
 


Arctic sea ice resumes its slide

October 13, 2023

John Anderson

Forbes article mentions a 2018 lecture by James Anderson.


What’s inside Earth?

October 10, 2023

Sunyoung

GeoSci Asst. Prof. Sunyoung Park says Earth's mantle isn't liquid, but it's less rigid than sinking oceanic crust, adding that "in geological timescale[s], it's almost acting like a fluid, although it's solid rock."


How many animals have ever existed on Earth?

October 9, 2023

David Jablonski

GeoSci Prof. David Jablonski says, "The standard estimate is that 99.9% of species that have ever lived are extinct," but adds that that is "a crude approximation."


UChicago researchers identify a novel function of RNA-binding protein RBFOX2 that drives leukemia

October 6, 2023

Image depicting DNA methylation, the main epigenetic modification of DNA

To understand how RBFOX2 modifies cell function, Chemist Chuan He and colleagues grew malignant hematopoietic stem cells with RBFOX2 deactivated in petri dishes and found that the proliferative capacity of the cells was markedly reduced, indicating that there might be higher expression of RBFOX2 in leukemia cells.


UChicago professor wins ‘genius grant’

October 5, 2023

Rina Foygel Barber

Crain's Chicago Business reports on Prof. Rina Foygel Barber being awarded a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation.


Illinois makes play for billion-dollar National Semiconductor Technology Center

October 5, 2023

Paul Alivisatos

In an Axios article, UChicago President Paul Alivisatos comments on the combined efforts of UChicago and University of Illinois to land a new flagship federal center of advanced semiconductor research and manufacturing, saying, "We have a long and deep history of being at the forefront of the study of quantum science, physics and chemistry."


Congrats to statistician Rina Foygel Barber for winning MacArthur Fellowship!

October 4, 2023

Rina Foygel Barber

University of Chicago Prof. Rina Foygel Barber, a statistician known for her work in quantifying uncertainty, has been awarded a 2023 MacArthur Fellowship.


Predicting spin defect formation for use in quantum technologies

October 4, 2023

Giulia Galli

AzoQuantum article highlights a computational analysis led by Chemistry Prof. Giulia Galli forecasting the circumstances necessary to produce certain spin defects in silicon carbide.


For first time, scientists follow sodium and potassium inside cell organelles

October 4, 2023

Junyi Zhou at work in the laboratory

UChicago chemists create sensors to track potassium, sodium in organelles.


New 6G networks are in the works. Can they destroy dead zones for good?

October 3, 2023

Alexis Schrubbe

Commenting on the FCC's broadband map in a Scientific American article, Director of the Internet Equity Initiative Alexis Schrubbe says, “The way that data decisions were made in the creation of this map will have ramifications for generations...this map is probably the highest-stakes data product that the federal government has ever created."


Nobel Physics Prize awarded to trio for work on electrons

October 3, 2023

Robert Rosner

In a Wall Street Journal, Robert Rosner comments on today's Nobel Prize in Physics, saying the winners have "basically created a tool that allows you to look at phenomena and timescales that we’ve never been able to explore before."


Workers are worried about AI taking their jobs. Artists say it’s already happening.

October 2, 2023

Ben Zhao

In a Business Insider article, computer scientist Ben Zhao says the explosion in generative AI has sparked a "race to the bottom" as companies cut expenses and lay off low-level art roles, adding that "there's a lot of actual replacement going on, but many companies are just using generative AI as a way to argue for downsizing, to try to drive down costs and maximize profits."


David Keith on why carbon removal won’t save big oil but may help the climate

September 29, 2023

Portrait of David Keith against a brick wall

An Economist article by Prof. David Keith discusses oil company investments into carbon capture technology.