Latest University of Illinois Stories
Researchers have constructed a 226-year history of fire in southern Illinois by looking at fire scars in tree stumps. Their study, the most in-depth fire history reported for the upper Midwest, reveals that changes in the frequency of fires dating back to the time of early European settlement permanently altered the ecology of the region.The researchers took advantage of a 1996 timber harvest of old growth post oak trees in Hamilton County."I was just amazed at the fire scars in these...
By Liz Ahlberg, University of IllinoisThink picking all the top-seeded teams as the Final Four in your March Madness bracket is your best bet for winning the office pool? Think again.According to an operations research analysis model developed by Sheldon H. Jacobson, a professor of computer science and the director of the simulation and optimization laboratory at the University of Illinois, you're better off picking a combination of two top-seeded teams, a No. 2 seed and a No. 3...
New stretchable electronics device promises to make cardiac ablation therapy simplerIn an improvement over open-heart surgery, cardiologists now use catheters to eliminate damaged heart tissue in certain patients, such as those with arrhythmias. But this, too, can be a long and painful procedure as many catheters, with different functions, need to be inserted sequentially.Now an interdisciplinary team including researchers from Northwestern University has developed one catheter that can do it...
Liz Ahlberg, University of IllinoisIllinois researchers have combined two molecular imaging technologies to create an instrument with incredible sensitivity that provides new, detailed insight into dynamic molecular processes.Physics professors Taekjip Ha and Yann Chemla and combined their expertise in single-molecule biophysics "“ fluorescence microscopy and optical traps, respectively "“ to study binding and unbinding of individual DNA segments to a larger strand. They and their joint...
A farmer in Niger learns how to protect his crops from insects. A resident of Port-au-Prince or a rural Haitian village learns how to avoid exposure to cholera. An entrepreneur in Mali gets step-by-step instructions on extracting the oil from shea seeds to make shea butter she can sell at a local market.These people are benefiting from a new approach to sustainable development education that reaches a much larger audience than traditional methods "“ and at a fraction of the cost. The...
Researchers have developed a simple method of making short protein chains with spiral structures that can also dissolve in water, two desirable traits not often found together. Such structures could have applications as building blocks for self-assembling nanostructures and as agents for drug and gene delivery.Led by Jianjun Cheng, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois, the research team will publish its findings in the Feb. 22 edition of the journal...
A new study from the University of Illinois concludes that very high biomass prices would be needed in order to meet the ambitious goal of replacing 30 percent of petroleum consumption in the U.S. with biofuels by 2030.A team of researchers led by Madhu Khanna, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at Illinois, shows that between 600 and 900 million metric tons of biomass could be produced in 2030 at a price of $140 per metric ton (in 2007 dollars) while still meeting demand for...
In two new works, an anthropologist tackles a perplexing question relating to the enormously successful "Body Worlds" exhibits: How does society tolerate "“ and even celebrate "“ the public display of human corpses?"Body Worlds "“ The Original Exhibition of Real Human Bodies" is the most widely attended exhibit in the world, said Jane Desmond, a professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois and author of a paper and book chapter on the subject. While the...
Jennifer C. Greene, a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will serve as the 2011 president of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). Fairhaven, MA (PRWEB) January 26, 2011 Jennifer C. Greene, a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will serve as the 2011 president of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). AEA is a professional organization that...
It isn't quite the "Creature from the Black Lagoon," but a relatively large new species of crayfish has been found in a creek bed in Tennessee. The new species, called Barbicambarus simmonsi, is about 5 inches long and has antennae covered with a sensitive fringe of tiny, hair-like bristles, called setae. "More than half of the 600 known species of crayfish in the world are found in North America," University of Illinois aquatic biologist Chris Taylor told Reuters. "This thing had not been...
