2021
UChicago turbocharges quantum computing quest
September 1, 2021
Crain’s Chicago Business profiles UChicago’s major investment in quantum computing research in hopes of putting itself and Chicago at the forefront of the next big innovation in technology.
Internet protocol for different quantum information encoding awarded DOE funding
August 26, 2021
As part of a new $61 million investment from the Department of Energy in quantum research, a consortium of scientists from University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were awarded funding to design a new internet protocol that manages different types of quantum information encoding.
Machine learning provides a shortcut to simulate interactions in materials for solar energy harvesting
August 25, 2021
Professor of Chemistry Giulia Galli is among a team of scientists at Argonne National Laboratory using machine learning to speed up development of materials that can harness energy from sunlight. The team was able to simplify the solution of the quantum mechanical equations that describe how light is absorbed by a solid, liquid or molecule.
The secret Nazi past and billionaire future of U.S. space innovation, podcast with Jordan Bimm
August 20, 2021
In this latest episode of the podcast Big Brains, space historian Jordan Bimm examines our militaristic relationship to the stars, and how it still shapes our future.
New startup from CS Prof. Fred Chong and Pranav Gokhale, PhD’20, builds software to make quantum computing faster
August 18, 2021
Just out of stealth, Seymour Goodman Professor of Computer Science Fred Chong and Pranav Gokhale, PhD’20, have a new startup for software that makes quantum computing faster. Part of Duality, the first accelerator in the U.S. for quantum startups, Super.tech is building software to power next-gen quantum computing.
How a genetic breakthrough could address global hunger, podcast with Chuan He
August 9, 2021
The University of Chicago podcast network interviews PSD biochemist Chuan He about his breakthrough discovery manipulating RNA for higher yields and greater drought resistance in rice and potatoes, for "Big Brains Podcast: How a genetic breakthrough could address global hunger."
Brian Nord envisions hybrid analysis method, applying AI to cosmology
August 4, 2021
Fermi and UChicago Kavli scientist Brian Nord has envisioned a new hybrid data-analysis method that was awarded funding by the Department of Energy. It integrates both the strengths of machine learning and the interpretations of statistics. His new method could potentially advance how scientists approach cosmology.
UChicago researchers excel in IBM Quantum Open Science Challenge
August 3, 2021
Two UChicago-affiliated researchers came out on top at the IBM Quantum Open Science Challenge — Alexey Galda for the graph state challenge and Pranav Gokhale for the SWAP gate challenge. The first-of-its-kind challenge presented two targets to the research community and offered prize money and experimental time on their quantum computer as rewards.
PSD in the News - July 2021
August 2, 2021
This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to understand how manipulating RNA can allow plants to yield dramatically more crops and increase drought tolerance, explain why planets with oxygenated atmospheres like ours could host alien life, and extol what billionaires mean for the changing arc of aerospace history. And, a Nobel-winning biochemist, Jack Szostak, will join the faculty in 2022.
Chicago Quantum Exchange adds new international and regional partners
August 2, 2021
The Chicago Quantum Exchange, a growing hub for the research and development of quantum technology that is based at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, has added to its community two world-leading research institutions at the forefront of quantum information science and engineering: the Weizmann Institute of Science and The Ohio State University.
RNA breakthrough creates crops that can grow 50% more potatoes, rice
July 22, 2021
Manipulating RNA can allow plants to yield dramatically more crops, as well as increasing drought tolerance, announced a group of scientists from the University of Chicago, Peking University and Guizhou University. The discovery of the exciting and simple modification was co-led by John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Chuan He.
Event Horizon Telescope takes pioneering image of massive jet spewing from black hole
July 20, 2021
UChicago-led South Pole Telescope has helped pinpoint the location of a supermassive black hole in galaxy Centaurus A. Contributing to the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, the new imagery reveals how a gigantic jet is being born. Most remarkably, only the outer edges of the jet seem to emit radiation, which challenges our theoretical models of jets.
Astronaut historian Jordan Bimm on the changing arc of aerospace history
July 20, 2021
We are in the arc of aerospace history where small spaceflight experiences are sold—and may realize long-term visions of off-world settlements. Read more from postdoctoral scholar Jordan Bimm, historian of astronauts and astrobiology at the UChicago Stevanovich Institute, who published a commentary on billionaire space flights for Barron’s economy & policy coverage.
To catch deep-space neutrinos, astronomers lay traps in Greenland’s ice
July 15, 2021
High on Greenland’s ice sheet, particle astrophysicists like Cosmin Deaconu are searching for the cosmic accelerators responsible for the universe’s most energetic particles. By placing hundreds of radio antennas on the ice surface and dozens of meters below it, they hope to trap elusive particles known as neutrinos at higher energies than ever before. Deaconu, a senior researcher with Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, spoke to Science from Greenland’s Summit Station: “It’s a discovery machine, looking for the first neutrinos at these energies.”
Duality quantum accelerator accepts six startups into inaugural cohort
July 14, 2021
Duality, a first-of-its-kind accelerator for quantum companies, has accepted into its inaugural cohort six startups from across the United States and abroad. The 12-month program will provide training from the University of Chicago, as well as opportunities from Duality’s other founding partners. Read more about the six startups who join with UChicago to unlock the potential of quantum technology.