News: 2019

By shaking electrons with lasers, researchers led by Assoc. Prof. Jonathan Simon were able to create electrons with 'doppelganger' features. Simon's published work could one day help create more powerful computers or virtually "unhackable" quantum communications.

The Chicago Tribune features Asst. Prof. Maureen Coleman's research, which seeks to better understand  what microbes are present in the Great Lakes and what role they play in the environment.

Assoc. Prof. of Computer Science Henry Hoffman and Assoc. Prof. of Physics Abigail Vieregg are among the winners of the 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. 

László Babai has been named the Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Computer Science, Mathematics, and the College. His work is centered on theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics. Nick Feamster, who joins UChicago this summer, has been named the Neubauer Professor in the Department of Computer Science and the College. His work focuses on experimental networked systems and security. 

Clemens C.J. Roothaan, Louis Block Professor Emeritus of Physics and Chemistry, died June 17 at age 100. Roothan's research focused on the electronic structure of atoms and molecules with some of his structure models still being used today. Prof. Emeritus R. Stephen Berry lauds Roothaan as "the person who most deserved, but never received the Nobel Prize."  

Cosmos Magazine features postdoctoral researcher, Stephanie Olson, who elaborates on what it takes for an exoplanet to be habitable and the possibility of finding a planet more habitable than Earth itself.  

This month, PSD researchers have been featured for their work building CRISPR for RNA, shaking up the sloth family tree, using X-rays to reveal the secrets of intergalactic plasma, and more. In case you missed it, review our news headlines from June 2019.

University of Chicago astrophysicist, Irina Zhuravleva, led a study that provides a brand-new glimpse of the small-scale physics of intergalactic plasma. Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists took a detailed look at the plasma in a distant galaxy cluster and discovered the flow of plasma is much less viscous than expected and, therefore, turbulence occurs on relatively small scales—an important finding for our numerical models of the largest objects in the universe. 

 

Our final spotlight of the academic year is Sandra Quarles, Project Assistant in the Department of Computer Science. Sandra hails from Chicago and has worked at the University for 29 years. She has been nominated for exemplifying the PSD core value of holding ourselves accountable and honoring commitments. 

A group of scientists from the University of Chicago has announced a breakthrough method to alter RNA—and instead of using a protein from bacteria, like CRISPR, the new system is built out of parts from the human genome. Announced June 20 in Cell, the discovery could open new pathways for treating diseases or injuries by temporarily altering how the genetic template is carried out in the cell. 

A team of physicists at the University of Chicago has built a quantum system to simulate the physics of Unruh radiation. The breakthrough advances our understanding of these complex physics—and could ultimately help us explain how the largest and smallest phenomena in the universe fit together. 

Quanta Magazine spoke with Wilkinson about the emotional dimensions of mathematical discovery, bizarre examples of dynamical systems that she’s found, and the idea of a “safe space” in mathematics.  

Nine students will be the first to graduate from the University of Chicago with a major in astrophysics on June 15.

Adel Rahman, a fourth-year student in the College, and Evan Angelico, a graduate student in the department of physics, have been honored by the Enrico Fermi Institute with Nathan Sugarman Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate and Graduate Research. 

 In a recent study, Prof. Slater from Geophysical Sciences, along with Samantha Presslee (University of York) and Ross MacPhee (American Museum of Natural History), utilized Paleoproteomics to point out differences between two and three-toed sloths—effectively rewriting sloth classification.