Researchers Ruchi Bhanot and Jasna Jovanovic found that girls are less confident in their math ability when their parents give intrusive support. The study, published in the journal Sex Roles, suggests that parents' endorsement of gender stereotypes can undermine girls' confidence in math and science. By being more sensitive to how hel...
Researchers have developed porous support materials that can withstand the rigors of high-temperature reforming of hydrocarbon fuels. The new materials satisfy all three key requirements for a catalyst support: high surface area, stability at high temperatures, and low pressure drop.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's arts program offers expressive-arts classes for HIV/AIDS patients, providing a supportive community for them to express themselves. The program's facilitator-researcher, Dr. Kellman, aims to enable and facilitate healing through art-making.
Researchers found accelerated chromosomal evolution since dinosaurs disappeared, with rates of change increasing 2-5 fold. The study identified segmental duplication around breakpoint sites, potentially linked to human diseases like cancer.
A team of researchers developed a microreactor that continuously regenerates essential cofactors through enzyme-catalyzed reactions, driving favorable reaction equilibria. This innovation enables the efficient biocatalytic synthesis of chiral fine chemicals in larger quantities.
A study by University of Illinois researchers found that bicultural participants who viewed Chinese or American cultural icons showed distinct cooperation patterns in a prisoner's dilemma scenario. Chinese icons led to higher levels of cooperation and confidence among friends, while American icons had little impact.
Illinois chemists have discovered a way to produce a highly porous network of molybdenum disulfide that preferentially exposes catalytic edges, improving sulfur removal efficiency. The new method uses ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and can be scaled up for industrial applications.
The space shuttle Columbia's exhaust plume caused a significant increase in polar mesospheric cloud activity over Antarctica, forcing scientists to rethink their role in monitoring global climate change. The clouds formed at an altitude of about 52 miles due to the high concentrations of water vapor released into the atmosphere.
Researchers used a new microarray technology to analyze the genes of healthy and diseased dogs, identifying 167 genes that may play a role in canine dilated cardiomyopathy. The study sheds light on the heart's response to disease and offers hope for future treatments.
Researchers control RNA structure by attaching DNA strands, allowing precise folding and manipulation of RNAs. The technique also enables reversible or irreversible changes to molecular shapes, offering programmability and potential applications in biological and non-biological systems.
Researchers at the University of Illinois discovered that macromolecules on the surface can modify the mobility of underlying lipids in phospholipid bilayers. The adsorption of larger polymers slows down lipid movement, while smaller ones have a minimal effect.
Researchers use intense beam of polarized electrons to study proton structure, discovering strange quarks that pop in and out of existence. The results provide a clearer picture of how protons are held together, shedding light on the strong nuclear interaction.
Researchers at the University of Illinois have fabricated superconducting nanowires to measure magnetic fields. The devices exhibit periodic oscillations in resistance when a magnetic field is applied, reflecting wave nature of matter and quantum mechanics.
A study by researchers at the University of Illinois found that intense selective logging changed the ecological balance for three primate species, leading to increased parasitic infections in red-tailed guenons. The monkeys experienced behavioral changes and reduced protein and vital mineral intake due to decreased food availability.
Scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a method to create flexible silicon nanotubes using nanoparticles. These nanotubes exhibit a unique combination of properties, including elasticity similar to rubber, making them suitable for various applications such as catalysis and guided laser cavities.
Researchers found that subjects following a frozen-entree diet lost more weight and experienced greater satiety due to automatic portion control. In contrast, those following the food pyramid diet struggled with estimating daily calorie intake, leading to less effective weight loss.
A new study found that children who watch more TV are less able to provide sound nutritional reasons for their food choices. Excessive TV viewing can lead to confusion about which foods are healthy and help them grow strong and healthy.
Artificial tactile sensors are being developed to mimic human fingers, providing detailed information on object shape and texture. The new technology could enable robots to handle delicate objects with increased precision and force control.
A study by University of Illinois researchers found that USDA corn production forecasts were more accurate than private forecasts during most periods, but had limited impact on prices. Private market forecasts improved significantly since the mid-1980s, outperforming USDA forecasts in August and other months.
Researchers develop method to modify existing proteins by adding intermediate functions followed by stepwise directed evolution, creating new protein functions in a couple of months. The approach has potential applications in therapeutics and other fields.
A study published in Science found that infants as young as 15 months can reason about what others believe, challenging the long-held view of when children develop this cognitive skill. The research involved a non-verbal experiment where babies looked longer when they expected an actor to search for a toy in a different box.
The new device achieves a speed of 604 gigahertz, faster than previously thought possible with traditional transistor structures. The researchers' design improves current density and signal charging time by lowering the bandgap in selected areas.
Researchers found that public school students from similar social and economic backgrounds outperformed their peers in private schools on national math achievement tests. The study's findings call into question common assumptions about public and private school effects.
The Midwest Technology Assistance Center is funding research to optimize iron addition and track arsenic concentration variability in relation to time and pumping procedures. The center also evaluates water quality at surface water intakes with watershed modeling to improve small systems' technical, managerial, and financial capacity.
Researchers have discovered that molecular motors dynein and kinesin do not compete for control when moving cellular cargo, but instead cooperate to produce more than 10 times the speed of individual motors. This cooperative behavior allows the cargo to move faster and with greater precision inside the cell.
The new technique improves specificity of human estrogen receptor alpha by 100 million times, allowing for targeted activation or deactivation of genes in living systems. This breakthrough could lead to advances in gene therapy, metabolic engineering, and animal disease model studies.
A massive Christmas week snowstorm broke records for snow intensity, size, and damages across the Ohio River valley. The storm dumped record snowfall, causing over $900 million in losses, including thousands of injuries and 17 deaths.
Participants who ate from refilling bowls consumed 73% more soup than those in normal bowls, despite rating themselves as full. The study highlights the dangers of relying on visual cues to gauge food intake and suggests repackaging snacks into small plastic bags to promote healthier eating habits.
Researchers discovered specific phytochemicals in grapes that work synergistically against human DNA topoisomerase II, a key enzyme in cancer cell proliferation. The findings support the argument for eating whole foods and may lead to the development of new anti-cancer strategies.
The new dielectric material has a high thermal stability, low moisture pick-up, and can withstand chemical-mechanical polishing. By adding porogens, the researchers lowered the dielectric constant to 1.85 while maintaining hardness and stiffness.
Researchers used point-contact spectroscopy to explore Andreev reflection between a normal metal and a heavy-fermion superconductor. The findings show that conventional theories cannot account for the data, indicating the need for new theoretical frameworks.
Researchers find high-temperature superconductors break Pauli principle due to linked high- and low-energy scales. Strong electron interactions cause mixing of energy levels, affecting renormalization and spectral features.
The researchers designed a microfluidic fuel cell that functions without a physical barrier to separate the fuel and oxidant, utilizing laminar flow instead. This design offers several advantages, including fewer parts and simpler design, as well as compatibility with alkaline chemistry.
Forecasts project Illinois water use to grow faster than population, with increased demand for energy production. The Midwest region will need almost 17 billion gallons of water per day by 2025, mostly for electricity generation.
Researchers at the University of Illinois found that controlling portion size through frozen entrees can lead to significant weight loss in overweight men. The study, published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, showed that participants who ate frozen meals lost an average of 4 pounds more than those who estimated serving sizes.
A study by University of Illinois researchers found that mothers' positive approach during homework-help sessions promotes persistence in children. Children who experienced positive interactions with their mothers were more motivated in school and valued the learning process.
The 2004 Midwest crop yields were record-breaking due to unique weather conditions, including an unusually high number of sunny days that aided photosynthesis. This anomaly in atmospheric circulation patterns contributed to the exceptional yields, which surpassed predictions and models.
Scientists at the University of Illinois discovered a collapsing bubble that reached temperatures of 20,000 degrees Kelvin, four times hotter than the surface of the sun. This result was achieved through sonoluminescence, which generates intense local heating when bubbles in a liquid collapse.
Researchers are drawing inspiration from honeybees' collaborative decision-making and ants' behavior to develop new collaboration frameworks for disaster relief efforts. The study aims to create flexible networks of responders who can act based on local information, mimicking the spread patterns of viruses and rumors.
QS-21A has been shown to significantly improve the body's immune response in vaccine therapies against aggressive diseases such as melanoma and HIV-1. By improving its potency, QS-21A could save patients money on expensive vaccines and stretch limited supplies.
Steve Granick and Zhiqun Lin found that patterns of high fidelity form spontaneously through evaporation of a droplet in a cylindrical mount. The process results in concentric rings with regular spacing, controlled by the material's size and surface properties.
High-intensity ultrasound is used to generate nanoparticles of molybdenum disulfide or oxide, which bind to tiny silica spheres. Hollow shells are then created by etching away the silica, resulting in nanospheres with increased edge-surface area for enhanced catalytic activity.
Researchers analyzed six mushroom varieties and plum/prune products for their carbohydrate profiles, revealing high levels of dietary fibers, oligosaccharides, and nutrients. Cooking increased starch, total dietary fibers, and fat content in mushrooms, while raw forms retained higher levels of chitin and beta-glucan.
Researchers found four distinct regions in the human progesterone receptor gene that influence hormone responsiveness. These findings challenge the long-held model of estrogen receptor binding and transcription regulation, suggesting a more complex and tissue-specific process.
Researchers created high-quality superconducting wires with molecular dimensions, showing that theories apply to molecular-scale superconductors. The nanowires showed a remarkably weak effect on magnetic fields, contradicting previous expectations.
Researchers found situations of profound neglect, abuse, and physical danger due to drug production at home. The study also highlighted the positive response of rural communities, who stepped up to provide support and care for affected children.
Researchers analyzed satellite data from four years of MISR observations to find a concentrated pool of particles over Bihar, largely due to inefficient biofuel burning. The pollution affects human health and local climate, with altered temperature and precipitation patterns.
According to psychologist Roese, regrets serve a necessary psychological purpose and provide benchmarks for reality. He suggests that acknowledging counterfactuals and their impact on human cognition can lead to hope for the future and corrective action.
Scientists have successfully reached a critical size regime, demonstrating reliable patterning at the 2 nanometer scale. The work explores the fundamental resolution limits of polymer nanoimprint lithography and its potential applications in fields such as semiconductor device manufacturing and biotechnology.
A trio of massive young star clusters embedded in a cloud of stars offers clues about the birth of super-star clusters. The discovery suggests that these large groups could be formed by the merger of smaller clusters. By studying this phenomenon, scientists can better understand the formation and evolution of super-star clusters.