News

A team of UChicago undergraduates is building a communications satellite smaller than a paper towel roll that will be launched into orbit courtesy of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. 

PULSE-A was designed and will be built by a group of 53 University of Chicago undergraduates from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, the Physics Department, the Computer Science Department, and the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics. 

In the US, the University of Chicago has built one of the country's longest quantum networks. It is almost 200km (124 miles) long and growing. BBC article cites physicist David Awschalom's work.

Three long-running satellites will soon be switched off, forcing scientists to figure out how to adjust their views of our changing planet. GS Assoc. Prof. Elisabeth Moyer is cited in the NYT article.

Domain walls, long a divisive topic in physics, may be ideal explanations for some bizarre cosmic quirks. Physicist Cheng Chin's research is referenced in this Scientific American article.

"My colleagues call me a supervillain for trying to destroy the cosmos, but this kind of imaginative thinking isn't so far from what scientists do," says space reporter Leah Crane. A New Scientist article quotes Wendy Freedman about how "we need wacky ideas."

A generation of physicists has referred to the dark energy that permeates the universe as “the cosmological constant.” Now the largest map of the cosmos to date hints that this mysterious energy has been changing over billions of years. Quanta article quotes UChicago astrophysicist Joshua Frieman.

For over a century, we’ve turned to technology in an attempt to control the weather. Are today’s geoengineering proposals any better? A Popular Science article references research by GS Prof. David Keith.

The Department of Chemistry has hired renowned chemical biologist Hening Lin as a Professor in the Department of Chemistry. He will serve a primary, tenured appointment with the Biological Sciences Division in the Department of Medicine, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Chemistry as a Professor of Chemistry.

Researchers from the University of Chicago have developed a new method to use machine learning to turn static snapshots of cells into better pictures of how cells and genes change dynamically over time.

Groundbreaking report by leading energy researchers, including UChicago computer scientist Rick Stevens, provides ambitious framework for accelerating clean energy deployment while minimizing risks and costs in the face of climate change.

The Szostak lab's latest research highlights RNA replication dynamics, revealing competition between primers and competitors that challenges assumptions about genetic fidelity. This exploration not only aids our understanding of life's origins but also holds promise for applications in gene regulation and genetic stability.

UChicago scholars, including geochemist Nicolas Dauphas and physicists David DeMille and Bonnie Fleming, have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, joining other scientists and researchers chosen in “recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”

New certificate program will give recent UChicago graduates a competitive edge in medical school admissions.

Different types of solar geoengineering are seeing a push for more research. ABC News quotes GS professor David Keith, founding faculty director of the Climate Systems Engineering Initiative.

Partnering across fields of study can lead to advances from medicine to climate change. Chuan He, the John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, frequently collaborates with scientists across the University of Chicago to expand the reach of his work.