Science

The University of Chicago

University of Chicago Magazine

  • The Goldilocks zone (web exclusive): Planets originally thought too hot to sustain life might be just right.
  • White coat, Greek oath (web exclusive): First-year medical students receive the symbol of the alliance between science and personal care.
  • On the dark side: Astrophysicist Josh Frieman, PhD’89, works on the dark side, studying the night sky for insight into the accelerating expansion of the universe.
  • Scinema (web exclusive): Science on film—educational, beautiful, creepy.
  • Bare bones (web exclusive): A photographic tour through Paul Sereno’s Fossil Lab.
  • About-face: Turned back toward Earth, a new telescope in space will search for the origin of high-energy cosmic rays.
  • STEM study (web exclusive): Advancing science, technology, engineering, and math education through research and evaluation.
  • Hologram reflection: UChicago astrophysicist Craig Hogan tests the digital nature of space.
  • Small universe, big glass: Leading cosmologist Wendy Freedman trains a telescopic lens on the biggest questions in the universe.
  • A singular discovery: Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves a century ago. Daniel Holz was part of the team of scientists that finally found them last fall.
  • Proof of concept: Three mathematicians team up to advance Zimmer’s conjecture. Yes, that Zimmer. (A more general audience take on Burden of Proof.)
  • Nighttime at noon: UChicago astronomers and astrophysicists prepare for a total eclipse of the sun.
  • Let sleeping dogs lie: µChicago asks if itʼs ok to share your bed with your dog.
  • By the dozens: Microbiologist Maurice Hilleman, PhD’44, and his feathered friends.

 

Inquiry

  • Testing ground: Benson Farb imagines mathematics transformation through collaboration.
  • Envision: the future of PSD: The Physical Sciences Division looks to the future.
  • Chemistry switches: Yamuna Krishnan builds chemical tools with nucleic acids.
  • A fuzzy concept: Scientists turned to nature to solve a high-tech problem.
  • Early exposure: A precursor to the liquid argon time projection chamber shows particles in motion.
  • Fabric of the universe: Art and science join forces to imagine the unknown.
  • Statistically speaking: Professor Matthew Stephens discusses statistical variation and repetition.
  • Star witness: Wendy Freedman calculated when the universe began. Now she wants to see it happen.
  • Smashing pumpkins: Physics professor Henry Frisch shares a piece of atomic history.
  • Rosetta’s stone: Scientist Thomas Stephan catches up with a comet.
  • A fleeting force of physics: Colleagues and friends say goodbye to Yoichiro Nambu.
  • Making a mark: Chuan He breaks new ground in RNA and DNA epigenetics.
  • Groundwork: PSD facilities keep up with an ever-progressing scientific landscape.
  • Reliable source: Women in computer science, a three-part story: Shan Lu’s research on software bugs, efforts to increase gender diversity in the Department of Computer Science, and Grace Hopper’s “first” computer bug.
  • Science nonfiction: We asked recently appointed computer scientists what fantastical, futuristic technology they’d like to see invented. Turns out some of their foresights aren’t so far off.
  • Juggling act: Mathematician David Eisenbud answers Inquiry’s questions.
  • 125 years of PSD discovery: The Division of the Physical Sciences celebrates UChicago’s 125th anniversary.
  • Mission: Improbable: Planetary scientists fact-check The Martian.
  • Lonely planets: Astronomers and planetary scientists debate if and when we’ll find extraterrestrial life.
  • Mirror image: Jonathan Simon blurs the line between matter and light.
  • A pattern of progress: How an automated loom inspired the earliest computer inventors.
  • Change of state: Former Argonne director; UChicago VP of research, trustee, and now representative on the Giant Magellan Telescope board; physicist; and retiring art school president Walter E. Massey enters a new phase.
  • A unified theory: The Physics Research Center will unite theorists and experimentalists for the first time in half a century.
  • Scaling up: New computer science chair Michael Franklin discusses the past, present, and future of computation.
  • Cosmic cuisine: Professor Wendy Freedman applies astrophysics expertise to the Latke-Hamantash Debate.
  • Burden of proof: Three mathematicians team up to advance Zimmer’s conjecture. Yes, that Zimmer.
  • Manhattan’s critical moment: The University marks the 75th anniversary of Chicago Pile-1, the world’s first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear reaction.
  • A wider scope: Nancy Grace Roman, PhD’49, didn’t get tenure. She changed the course of astronomy instead.
  • Strength in numbers: Physics offers an example of how the division can support women in science.
  • Uncharted: From dark matter to gravitational waves to a balloon-born telescope, scientists discuss how they handle setbacks.
  • Eclipsed: UChicago astronomers and astrophysicists brought family and friends to the path of totality to watch the solar eclipse on August 21.
  • Cluster and synthesize: Whether finding neutrinos, improving solar energy storage, or programming quantum computers, the Physical Sciences Division’s Eckhardt Scholars collaborate, create, and communicate.
  • Shifting sands: Associate professor Charles Smart summits the Abelian sandpile.
  • Data mind: Computer scientists Heather Zheng, Ben Zhao, and Blase Ur mine data to study behavior and expose security flaws.
  • Distortion: Astrophysicist Brian Nord looks for lenses through AI eyes.
  • Origins: Angela Olinto brings high energy to the deanʼs office.
  • Seeing spots: Rumor has it that artificial intelligence image recognition sees giraffes everywhere—but that might be a stretch.
  • Science fare: Physicist David McCowan, SM’08, PhD’14, explains food science to lay readers in the Takeout.
  • Instrumental: Computer scientist Pedro Lopes integrates technology with anatomy to reimagine the role of “human” in human-computer interaction.
  • Light hearted: Chemist Bozhi Tian illuminates pacemaker technology.

 

The Core

  • Taking wing: A closer look at a common campus sight.
  • Symbolic scavengers: Please don’t make assumptions about these nonheteronormative turkey vultures.
  • The other one: Twins Laurie and Lynne Butler—one a UChicago chemistry professor, the other a double alumna—discuss math, horses, and a college boyfriend who never got them confused.
  • Lost and foundry: D. Allan Drummond resurrects trilobites using modern and ancient techniques.

 

Northwestern University

Northwestern Research Magazine

Helix Magazine