News: Research

The Giant Magellan Telescope announced that Northwestern University has joined its international consortium to construct the $2.54 billion observatory.

As a new partner, Northwestern joins a distinguished group of American institutions driving one of the largest public-private partnerships in science, which includes the University of Chicago, the University of Arizona, Carnegie Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, and Arizona State University. 

Image courtesy of GMTO

Coating the interior of superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities with a Nb3Sn film can drastically enhance the efficiency and performance of particle accelerator infrastructure. However, imperfections in the deposited Nb3Sn coating limit its implementation as a next-generation SRF material. A study by the Sibener group, in collaboration with Cornell University and Brigham Young University, explores how imperfections form and how they can affect SRF performance. 

A new study uses data collected by the South Pole Telescope to deepen our understanding of how the universe was born and evolved.

Thanks to a new investment, researchers will leverage the Aurora exascale supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory to discover new targets for cancer therapies. Bryan Dickinson, a UChicago chemist, is part of the team behind the project.

New observations of distant galaxies have intensified a debate that scientists call the Hubble Tension. A UChicago study led by Prof. Wendy Freedman produced new estimates for the Hubble Constant, challenging previous work. 

Researchers led by chemist Stuart Rowan developed a method that uses charred plant material to produce high-quality graphite. 

The University of Chicago announces the launch of a groundbreaking research center, the NSF Center for Multimodal Observations for Single Atom Imaging of Chemistry (MOSAIC), set to revolutionize our comprehension of chemical reactions. University president Paul Alivisatos will serve as the Principal Investigator and Center Director, where his pioneering work with inorganic nanocrystals, coupled with the expertise of Professor Jiwoong Park in 2D materials, will be instrumental in developing the MOSAIC platform.

Created by UChicago scientists in the SAND Lab, the tools Glaze and Nightshade are helping artists fight back against exploitative generative AI practices. As the project continues, the team has faced backlash from sectors of the AI community but has also received encouragement from the broader scientific and artistic community. 
 

AI tools are proliferating, leading to more people and industries adopting this technology. At UChicago, scientists explored the possibility that an AI model could help predict extreme weather events. However, the results demonstrated that AI climate models are still in need of more advanced strategies if they are to provide warnings for the most extreme weather scenarios.

A landmark study published in Science Advances by the Ray Moellering lab has introduced a novel method for analyzing enzyme activity in individual cells within breast cancers.

In a new study published in Physical Review Research, Carlos Floyd, a postdoctoral fellow working with the Suri Vaikuntanathan group, investigates non-equilibrium materials, shedding light on their unique properties and potential implications for understanding biological systems.

In a new interview, postdoctoral scholar Aman Agrawal discusses his work in the Jack Szostak lab exploring the origins of life on Earth, focusing on early cellular structures and examining the potential impact of rainwater in stabilizing these primitive forms of life.

Graduate student Sam Marsden is working on creating a new form of polymer that will be as strong as polyethylene but as recyclable as PET. Mardsen is currently part of the Rowan Group, which focuses on supramolecular chemistry research.

UChicago’s Talapin Lab has developed a landmark technique that replaces organic solvents with molten salt, allowing researchers to grow “previously unimaginable nanocrystals.” 

For a while, a range of events in the distant future of the universe have been accepted with varying degrees of certainty. In a new study, UChicago researchers have proposed a crucial update to the universe's timeline.