News: Research

2022

Family Money Night helps families navigate financial concepts with their kids

March 29, 2022

Two cards, one with piggy banks illustrated on it, one with a question

A new pilot program from the UChicago Financial Education Initiative is facilitating conversations about money for local area families. Funded by the University of Chicago Women’s Board, Family Money Night brings parents, kids, and schools together in a uniquely research-based experience.
 


Four Master of Science in Analytics capstone projects recognized with Best in Show

March 29, 2022

Birds flying in the sky

With projects spanning an array of industries, data types, and methodological approaches, the Master of Science in Analytics (MScA) program’s autumn 2021 Capstone Showcase featured an impressive field of twenty-one teams, with four distinguished with Best in Show awards.


PSD alumna and students win ‘Science as Art’ contest

March 28, 2022

The winner of the 2022 UChicago Science as Art contest is “Chondrules in Meteorites #5,” above, by UChicago alum Nicole Xike Nie. This microscope photograph shows a thin section of a meteorite called a chondrite. The blue area in the center is what’

Physical Sciences Division members, including an alumna, a graduate student, and undergraduates, won the first inaugural 'Science as Art' contest run by University of Chicago Communications. See their winning photos.


Scientists shave ‘hairs’ off nanocrystals to improve their electronic properties

March 28, 2022

University of Chicago graduate student Josh Portner collects x-ray scattering data from tiny

A new study introduces a breakthrough in making nanocrystals function together electronically. The research led by Prof. Dmitri Talapin, Department of Chemistry, may open the doors to future devices with new abilities.


PSD in the News - March 2022

March 24, 2022

PSD against a white and turquoise background

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to catch and study neutrinos at a local nuclear reactor, treat cancer with nanodevices made out of DNA, conduct Great Lakes sampling efforts under winter conditions, and recreate conditions in giant galaxy clusters with lasers.


Levitating plastic beads mimic the physics of spinning asteroids

March 23, 2022

Acoustically levitated plastic beads are shown collecting and breaking up in ways that mimic the behavior of 'rubble pile' asteroids

‘Rubble pile’ asteroids are loose collections of material, which can split apart as they rotate. Science News covered physicist Melody Lim's March 15 presentation at the American Physical Society in Chicago on her experiment to understand the inner workings of such asteroids by levitating plastic beads that form collections, spin and break up.


With the arrival of spring temps, ice coverage on Lake Michigan is likely to end up just below average this season

March 21, 2022

Person walking in melting ice at Lake Michigan shoreline to show arrival of spring temps

Great Lakes scientists, including some from the University of Chicago, recently took part in the first coordinated sampling effort of the lakes in winter to understand what disappearing ice might mean for one of the largest freshwater systems on the planet.


Bringing personal finance to the classroom for Generation Z

March 21, 2022

An illustration of a man placing a coin into his baseball cap, to suggest learning about saving money

Rebecca Maxcy, director of The Financial Education Initiative at UChicago, comments on access and quality in personal finance instruction in high schools. Her group’s tool kit for evaluation of instructional materials and classroom advocacy is recommended.


New Data & Democracy Research Initiative launched at University of Chicago

March 17, 2022

illustration of someone submitting to a ballot box that is coming out of a computer

A new research initiative at the University of Chicago called the Data & Democracy Initiative aims to ignite interdisciplinary research on the digital challenges facing democracies around the world.


Women’s History Month spotlight: Meteorologist Bernice Ackerman

March 14, 2022

Bernice Ackerman

For Women’s History Month, The Washington Post profiles prominent women in atmospheric science history and includes Bernice Ackerman who received a bachelor's, master's, and PhD from UChicago between 1948 and 1965.


196 lasers help scientists recreate the conditions inside gigantic galaxy clusters

March 11, 2022

A technician works at the National Ignition Facility.

Astrophysicist Prof. Emeritus Don Lamb is co-author on a new paper that may solve a decades-long mystery—why is gas in galaxy clusters still hot even after billions of years? Focusing 196 lasers on a target the size of a dime, scientists simulated conditions in a galaxy cluster and found solid evidence that hot and cold spots come from the impact of magnetic fields on the cooling of the hot gas.


Giant Magellan Telescope awards IDOM final design of its telescope enclosure

March 8, 2022

GMT Enclosure and Mount Cross Section

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) today announced they have awarded IDOM, a renowned engineering and architecture firm based in Spain, a contract to complete the telescope enclosure design by 2024. UChicago is a founding member of GMT.


James Webb Space Telescope will help assess atmospheres of strange ‘sub-Neptunes’

March 4, 2022

Illustration of planets slightly smaller than Neptune

Jacob Bean, associate professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is co-leading a team that plans to use James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to look at sub-Neptune planets and better model atmosphere composition and circulation.


Could tiny devices made out of DNA treat cancer?

March 3, 2022

Pencil illustration of gears and DNA strands

A team of University of Chicago chemists and biologists including Prof. Yamuna Krishnan developed a tiny device made out of DNA intended to locate tumor cells and force them to reveal themselves to patrolling immune cells.


Scratching the surface: Regional research groups explore winter conditions of Green Bay, Great Lakes

March 1, 2022

Researchers lugging equipment on frozen Green Bay

Students and researchers in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences participated in the recently launched “Winter Grab,” a first of its kind, week-long collection event for regional researchers studying Great Lakes’ winter conditions.