News: Research

2026

Quantum computers outperform classical ones, with results you can trust

August 10, 2026

Image of a mechanical device.

Three approaches to the issue of quantum results that can’t be verified classically.


IBM claims new era of ‘quantum advantage’

August 10, 2026

IBM Quantum System Two in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna has offered an optimistic take on the company’s future, arguing quantum computing will begin to power its growth in a matter of years.

Big Blue is racing to show that its quantum computing business can be profitable following a historic stock tumble.


How much do you really need to know to control a complex system?

August 10, 2026

Image of a person standing among large pieces of paper.

UChicago chemists show that local, imperfect information can be enough to learn control protocols in several carefully defined systems. What might that mean for biology, and for how we think about AI models of cells?


How Trump’s “America first” administration could shut U.S. scientists out of the next Nobel-worthy discovery

August 10, 2026

A half circle with an atom partially showing.

A proposed White House rule would give political appointees unprecedented control over scientific funding. UChicago physicist David Miller, who helped discover the Higgs boson, explains how the rule would’ve stifled that breakthrough.


Forecasting once-in-a-millennium weather with the help of AI

August 6, 2026

City under blazing sun

UChicago researchers combine AI with statistics and physics to better estimate the odds of rare weather events.


First AI-driven telescope goes stargazing

August 5, 2026

Blanco 4-meter Telescope

New AI system successfully schedules observations on a major national telescope.


Could life exist on this nearby world? In a first, astronomers find an atmosphere on an Earth-like exoplanet in the habitable zone

August 3, 2026

An artistic rendering of LHS 1140 b and its host star, with another smaller exoplanet orbiting nearby.

While the celestial body seems to host three features that could make a livable environment—an atmosphere, a rocky composition and a temperature that could allow liquid water to sit on the surface—researchers have not currently detected any residents.


Terraforming Mars gets first scientific roadmap in decades, with one ethical prerequisite

August 3, 2026

Artistic rendition of Mars and growth soil.

A multi-institution team says warming Mars is feasible; finding out whether life exists there must come first.


Remotely operated, robotic lab receives $20 million National Science Foundation grant

August 3, 2026

Photo of the PoLARIS Project laboratory.

AI-powered PoLARIS Project will execute science experiments remotely, allowing underserved researchers across the nation access to create novel soft materials from afar.


Argonne marks 80 years of scientific discovery

August 3, 2026

Scientists at Chicago Pile-5, the last reactor in the historic

At the national laboratory, the first light bulbs lit by nuclear power have given way to supercomputers, quantum research and nanoscale engineering.


Distant exoplanets may be hiding water beyond Webb telescope’s reach, study finds

July 27, 2026

An artist’s concept of what the faraway planet TOI-270 d may look like. A new study suggests these types of planets may be hiding more water than they let on.

UChicago scientists offer new way to read atmospheric data on a vast class of 'sub-Neptune' worlds.


Chemists shrink gallium nitride, the material behind LED lighting, into nanocrystals

July 27, 2026

University of Chicago chemists have shown how to make nanocrystals from a useful class of materials known as metal nitrides—a previously impossible task. Above, an electron microscope image of the crystals, which are so small that billions could fit on

Molten-salt method from UChicago and Argonne could unlock durable materials for printed electronics, flexible devices.


Classical and quantum computing reveal molecular insights

July 27, 2026

To study molecules with complex structures, UChicago and IBM combined forces to develop a new method that takes advantage of today’s quantum computers.

To study molecules with complex structures, UChicago and IBM combined forces to develop a new method that takes advantage of today’s quantum computers.


Inside Argonne’s push toward autonomous scientific discovery

July 27, 2026

Photo of Ian T. Foster.

Artificial intelligence-powered robotics are reshaping how experiments are designed, run and refined.


University of Chicago scientists create “artificial leaf” that could be used for wireless implants

July 27, 2026

Former UChicago PME graduate student Pengju Li examines the surface structures of the

What University of Chicago scientists call an artificial leaf that mimics photosynthesis could be useful for wireless medical implants and other technologies.