2021
The Doomsday Clock will be unveiled again this week
January 26, 2021
The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor that represents how close humanity is to self-destruction, due to nuclear weapons and climate change. The clock hands are set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group formed by Manhattan Project scientists at the University of Chicago who helped build the atomic bomb but protested using it against people. Jan. 26 they will unveil where the hands are for 2021.
PUEO mission led by Assoc. Prof. Abigail Vieregg chosen for NASA Pioneers Program
January 26, 2021
As part of its new Pioneers Program, NASA has chosen four small-scale astrophysics missions for further concept development, including PUEO, a balloon mission led by Assoc. Prof. Abigail Vieregg, that will launch from Antarctica and detect signals from ultra-high energy neutrinos.
PSD in the News - December 2020 and January 2021
January 22, 2021
There were 39 news articles featuring Physical Sciences Division research and accomplishments in December and January. Scientists created the first computational model of the entire virus responsible for COVID-19, pioneered measurements of electricity in cells, and charted the evolution of U.S. energy consumption. Several valued members of PSD were memorialized, including a Nobel lareaute and a graduate student. See highlights below and read the full list.
Prof. Voth interviewed about the first usable computational model of the entire virus on Fox 32
January 20, 2021
Chemist Prof. Gregory Voth was interviewed about the first usable computational model of the entire virus that is responsible for COVID-19 on Fox 32 Chicago.
NanoPattern Technologies, ReAx Biotechnologies receive $150,000 each to commercialize research
January 15, 2021
NanoPattern Technologies, co-founded by Prof. Dmitri Talapin, and ReAx Biotechnologies, founded by Asst. Prof Raymond Moellering, receive $150,000 each to commercialize research.
Prof. Benson Farb resurrects Hilbert’s 13th Problem and mines web of connections
January 15, 2021
Prof. Benson Farb is among mathematicians resurrecting Hilbert’s 13th Problem. Long considered solved, David Hilbert’s question about seventh-degree polynomials is leading researchers to a new web of mathematical connections.
Dark Energy Survey releases catalog of nearly 700 million astronomical objects to the public
January 14, 2021
On January 14, Dark Energy Survey released a catalog of nearly 700 million astronomical objects to the public. The pioneering Fermilab-led survey, directed by Astronomy & Astrophysics Prof. Emeritus Rich Kron, covered 5,000 square degrees of the southern sky
Prof. Gladders’s undergrads discover bright lensed galaxy in the early universe
January 13, 2021
Prof. Gladders's undergrads discover bright lensed galaxy in the early universe
Preeminent statistician Leo Goodman, who spent 36 years in the PSD, 1928–2020
January 12, 2021
The PSD community mourns the passing of the preeminent statistician Leo Goodman, who spent 36 years in the PSD and greatly innovated social sciences research. He died at 92.
After decades of effort, scientists are finally seeing black holes—or are they?
January 8, 2021
After decades of effort, scientists are finally seeing black holes—or are they? Gravitational theorist Prof. Robert Wald weighs in on the sudden observability of black holes.
UChicago scientists create first computational model of entire virus responsible for COVID-19
January 7, 2021
Researchers in chemist Greg Voth’s lab have created the first computational model of the entire virus responsible for COVID-19. The pioneering multiscale model allows researchers to plug in and better understand information as new discoveries are made.
The World War II-era Chicago school of meteorology that decoded weather forecasting
January 4, 2021
The World War II-era Chicago school of meteorology that decoded weather forecasting
2020
Three PSD faculty members receive named, distinguished service professorships
December 22, 2020
Three PSD faculty members receive named, distinguished service professorships. Rina Foygel Barber has been named the Louis Block Professor in the Department of Statistics and the College. Dmitri Talapin has been named the Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry, the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the College. Laura Gagliardi has been named the first Richard and Kathy Leventhal Professor of Molecular Engineering and Chemistry.
PSD’s Sunyoung Park and Sarah Sebo join faculty and staff recommending what you should read over winter break
December 21, 2020
PSD's Assistant Professors Sunyoung Park and Sarah Sebo were among faculty and staff asked what they've read that they’d recommend to the campus community: Their list includes subjects ranging from the multigenerational family struggles of Korean immigrants living in Japan, to a treatise on mushrooms and capitalism, to a meditation on what therapy can bring to our lives.
New study helps pinpoint when Earth’s tectonic plates began
December 18, 2020
New study helps pinpoint when Earth’s tectonic plates began—rocks tell story of planet’s transition from alien landscape to continents, oceans and life