blog posts

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  UIUC researchers growing crops underneath solar panels to use land twice

  Jul 19, 2024 2:15 pm

  Researchers at Solar Farm 2.0 are investigating how crops such as grains and soybeans grow with solar panels obstructing their full view of the sun. This counterintuitive practice is called agrivoltaics, a nascent industry that partners solar developers looking for large plots of land and farmers looking to make additional income.

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  UIUC storm chasers measure 300 mph winds in recent tornado

  Jul 1, 2024 11:15 am

  In a chase straight out of a movie, the Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences' Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets (FARM) team intercepted the deadly Greenfield, Iowa tornado to deploy instruments and radar that measured wind speeds over 300 mph. 

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  NCSA team develops phone app to teach users to spot online scams

  Jun 17, 2024 2:15 pm

  DeepCover is a phone game application in which users play games like Match 3, word finding, and other popular games, particularly among older adults. As the game starts, you create an agent and start a mission to help stop a scam. As you work through puzzles and prizes allowing you to customize your character, you’re given short tips about how to identify scam behavior. 

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  UIC CUPPA students develop climate action plan for suburb

  Jun 3, 2024 2:00 pm

  With the assistance of two groups of graduate students from the University of Illinois Chicago, River Forest officials have started work on creating a climate action plan for the village. Village President Cathy Adduci said she attended the April 30 presentation, which she called “great” and said she was “quite impressed with our collaboration and partnership with UIC.”

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  UIC researchers advance technologies to power unmanned vehicles

  May 13, 2024 10:15 am

  A new $6 million collaborative agreement between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and engineers from the University of Illinois Chicago will develop fuels and technologies for sustainable aviation and autonomous vehicles. These innovations could help commercial aviation transition to sustainable fuels and improve the use of drones for package delivery and rescue operations.

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  Extension program educates farmers about job-specific hearing loss risks

  Apr 30, 2024 4:15 pm

  University of Illinois Extension's Josie Rudolphi works to educate the farming community on the prevalence of hearing loss within its ranks, and to encourage both testing and preventive measures such as the use of noise-canceling headphones or ear plugs.

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  UIC, Rush join forces to prevent food waste

  Apr 15, 2024 10:00 am

  As part of the Sustainability at UIC program, the Food Recovery Program diverts otherwise-wasted food to communities in need on the city's West Side.

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  UIC doctoral student designs Moon app, team wins NASA competition

  Apr 1, 2024 1:45 pm

  A University of Illinois Chicago Earth and Environmental Sciences doctoral student's Moon-mapping app won big at the 2023 NASA International Space Apps Challenge. Juan Manuel Losarcos will be honored at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. this summer. 

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  UIC urban studies students seek rider feedback to improve CTA stations

  Mar 11, 2024 3:30 pm

  If you could improve one CTA "L" stop, how would you do it? That's the question at the core of a project helmed by UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs students. Their survey focuses on three of the busiest stations in the transit system, on the Blue and Red lines.

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  UIC, UIUC scientists use AI to identify new materials for carbon capture

  Feb 26, 2024 10:30 am

  Carbon capture is a critical technology in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities. However, a suitable material for effective carbon capture at low cost has yet to be found. The research teams are using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to dream up previously unknown building block candidate materials.

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  UICOMR program that helps Rockford child abuse survivors receives grant

  Feb 12, 2024 2:00 pm

  The Medical Evaluation Response Initiative Team (MERIT) is the only program in the Rockford area that provides specialized, pediatric expert medical exams in a child-friendly atmosphere to suspected victims of child abuse and neglect. The Department of Child and Family Services, Children’s Advocacy Centers, law enforcement and physicians in Northern Illinois rely on MERIT to provide objective, balanced and defensible diagnoses and offer insight into children’s experiences and treatment needs.

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  Extension using grants to improve food resilience, infrastructure in 2024

  Jan 31, 2024 10:45 am

  In 2023, the University of Illinois Extension, in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, conducted statewide listening sessions in rural and urban areas to gain an in-depth understanding of experiences, barriers and opportunities within the Illinois food system.

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  UIUC professor gives tips on reducing, reusing, refusing plastics

  Jan 16, 2024 1:00 pm

  Cutting boards, non-stick pans, mixing bowls, even tea bags: in the kitchen, plastics can be hidden in plain sight. It’s something that Jessica Brinkworth, an anthropology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, realized once she began looking for ways to cut down on plastic use in her own kitchen after her workplace started doing the same.

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  State Climatologist Ford: Managing Illinois' changing plant hardiness zones

  Jan 3, 2024 3:15 pm

  Trent Ford is the Illinois State Climatologist for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The latest USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Maps (released in November 2023) show a drastic change in a warming of average temperatures.

  
  
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  Real Impact: Innovation, compassion feed southern Illinois communities

  Dec 1, 2023 4:00 pm

  State funding helps make Dixon Springs Agricultural Center a magnet for research, information, and interaction. Funding also supports innovative and environment-friendly tactics like high tunnels that benefit the region.  

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  Real Impact: Partnering to bridge the digital divide reaps rural benefits

  Dec 1, 2023 3:45 pm

  “When farmers succeed, their communities prosper,” said Jay Walsh, who oversees the University of Illinois System-led Illinois Innovation Network, which is helping unite key partners in the broadband mission. 

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  Engineering students build solar refrigerator for Chicago nonprofit

  Dec 1, 2023 3:45 pm

  The UIC student organization Engineers for a Sustainable World recently designed, built and installed a solar refrigerator for The Love Fridge Chicago at its Chicago Patchwork Farms location. 

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  2023 statewide tour activates new partnerships, builds on those in motion

  Dec 1, 2023 3:30 pm

  From workforce development to enhancing rural healthcare, expanding broadband internet access to recruiting more underrepresented students, the University of Illinois System addresses real-world challenges to further bolster the state’s social, cultural and economic viability.

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  A cooler Chicagoland: DPI, ComEd partner on precision planting to help urban areas

  Dec 1, 2023 3:15 pm

  DPI uses sophisticated analytical techniques to evaluate how tree canopy coverage reduces temperature and energy demand amid our world’s changing climate. For example, on a typical day the temperature within a block can vary as much as 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit with quality tree shade compared to open sidewalks.