News: 2022

The Giant Magellan Telescope, the most powerful telescope ever engineered using the world’s largest mirrors, today announced it has secured a $205 million investment from its international consortium to accelerate construction. This investment marks one of the largest funding rounds for the telescope since its founding and includes leading commitments from the University of Chicago, Carnegie Institution for Science, Harvard University, the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), The University of Texas at Austin, and University of Arizona. 

A $20M NSF award will establish the Institute for Data, Econometrics, Algorithms, and Learning, a multi-disciplinary effort led by the University of Illinois Chicago in collaboration with the University of Chicago and other area universities. It will focus on the foundations of machine learning, high-dimensional data analysis and inference, and data science and society.

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to use supercomputing simulations to reveal weaknesses in HIV-1 defense, share the scientific community's enthusiasm for the first full-color images of James Webb Space Telescope, and to invent a ‘quantum flute’ that can make particles of light move together.

With their latest results, the XENON collaboration broke their own record for the most sensitive direct detection dark matter experiment ever conducted. 

UChicago historian of science Jordan Bimm says Russia's departure from the International Space Station creates a constellation of uncertainties about maintaining its operation.

A study led by Prof. Gregory Voth, Dept. of Chemistry, ran the first realistic simulations of how the HIV capsid stabilizes and forms. "The vulnerabilities in the armor of the HIV-1 virus capsid were revealed by the simulations and analyses we did," said Voth. The realistic model could result in better understanding of the infection process and improved treatments.

A team of scientists led by physics professor Giulia Galli have utilized a new framework for understanding the electronic properties of amorphous carbon. Their findings let scientists better predict how the material conducts electricity and absorbs light.

Assoc. Prof. Jacob Bean of astronomy and astrophysics expresses to NPR his excitement at the James Webb Space Telescope's view of the planet GJ 1214b—“my favorite planet” of study for ten years.

The University of Chicago Data Science Institute launched its Industry Affiliates Program with four founding core members from the sectors of finance, insurance, and telecommunications: American Family Insurance, DRW Holdings LLC, Prudential Financial, and Verizon Communications.

UChicago Magazine profiles Kenneth Sembach, AB’88, the director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, the NASA-contracted nonprofit organization responsible for Webb’s flight and science operations.

What can the James Webb Space Telescope show us about exoplanets? Prof. Jacob Bean, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is co-leading a team of about 150 scientists thrilled to access new data to shed light on their composition, atmospheres, and habitability.

Nebulas and galaxy clusters are among the first batch of images from James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble. “These are some of the sharpest images of the universe ever taken by humanity,” said University of Chicago astrophysicist Michael Gladders.

Assistant Professor Bill Fefferman, Department of Computer Science, comments on the four new US standards to fight cyberattacks from quantum computers and the imperative that they be implemented quickly.

Emily Chen, SB’20 Chemistry and a researcher in the lab of Prof. Giulia Galli, has been selected for the inaugural Arley D. Cathey International Graduate Study Fellowships, which provide financial assistance to pursue a rigorous, research-oriented master's degree at an internationally renowned foreign research university.

Teaching award winners select books that explore climate change, colonialism and more—including physics professor David Schmitz recommending The Last Man Who Knew Everything: The Life and Times of Enrico Fermi, Father of the Nuclear Age by David Schwartz.