UChicago Division of the Physical Sciences

09/03/2026

Fermilab's Muon g-2 experiment just wrapped its most sensitive-ever search for the muon's electric dipole moment — a property so subtle the Standard Model says it shouldn't even be measurable.
https://news.fnal.gov/2026/08/muon-g-2-experiment-places-new-constraints-on-a-forbidden-property-of-muons/

09/02/2026

Congratulations to Nita Yack, Managing Director of UChicago Computer Science, on receiving a University of Chicago Staff Impact Award for Outstanding Service.

Nita was recognized for her leadership of departmental operations, proactive problem-solving, and dedication to creating an inclusive, supportive, and welcoming environment for faculty, staff, and students.

09/02/2026

A new UChicago-led study offers a faster way to forecast the odds of extremely rare weather events.

By combining AI with statistics and physics-based climate models, researchers developed a method called AI+RES that can estimate the likelihood of events like once-in-a-millennium heat waves using far fewer simulations. The advance could help improve planning for extreme weather and climate risk.

https://physicalsciences.uchicago.edu/news/article/forecasting-once-in-a-millennium-weather-ai/

08/27/2026

A new AI system developed by scientists in the National Science Foundation (NSF)-Simons Foundation AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI) has successfully scheduled observations on a major national telescope.

Tested on the Blanco Telescope in Chile, the tool generated observing plans and adjusted them in real time as conditions changed. The result is a major step toward more autonomous observatories and more efficient use of valuable telescope time.

https://physicalsciences.uchicago.edu/news/article/first-ai-driven-telescope-goes-stargazing/

08/26/2026

Climate change isn’t only about dramatic heat waves. UChicago geophysical sciences professor Elisabeth Moyer argues in USA Today that broader warming trends are already reshaping daily life—bringing warmer winters, heavier rainfall, drier soils, and greater wildfire risk.

Warmer winters, flash floods, wildfires are basic consequences of a century-old forecast. Now climate change is happening on a scale people can feel.

08/26/2026

Congratulations to Professor Mark Levin from the Department of Chemistry, who received the 2027 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award for Organic Synthesis.

The award recognizes his pioneering work in skeletal editing—the development of synthetic methods that enable chemists to add, remove, or exchange individual atoms within the frameworks of complex molecules.

https://physicalsciences.uchicago.edu/news/article/mark-levin-2027-tetrahedron-young-investigator-award/

08/25/2026

NSF has renewed its Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Sensing for Biophysics and Bioengineering (NSF QuBBE) at UChicago with a $37.5 million, five-year investment.

In its next phase, QuBBE will push quantum sensors from proof-of-concept to real tools for studying living systems: from protein-based qubits that can be expressed directly inside cells, to new approaches for in vivo measurement. The goal: change what scientists and physicians can actually see, understand, and control in biology and medicine.

https://physicalsciences.uchicago.edu/news/article/nsf-renews-quantum-leap-challenge-institute/

08/20/2026

A new UChicago study led by PSD and BSD researchers found that trans-vaccenic acid (TVA) in mice—a nutrient found in breast milk—may help boost immune system development.

The researchers showed that exposure to TVA during breastfeeding increased immune cell production early in life and improved responses to infection later on. The work offers new insight into how maternal diet and breast milk components may shape long-term immune health.

UChicago research sheds light on how a trans fatty acid increases production of immune cells

08/12/2026

Backed by a $20 million NSF grant, PoLARIS will bring together AI, robotics, cloud infrastructure, and advanced instrumentation to create a remotely accessible laboratory for soft materials research.

Led by teams at UChicago and Argonne, the project will allow researchers across the U.S. to design and run experiments from afar. Once fully operational, PoLARIS is expected to run 100–300 experiments a day, creating a powerful new platform for discovery.

Tomorrow’s clean energy, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and national defense rely on developing novel, next-generation soft materials – things like liquids, polymers, gels, colloids, foams, and granular materials. But creating these new materials is slow, expensive, and largely manual. A $2...

08/12/2026

A new UChicago study shows how a small edit to plants’ own genes could lead to bigger harvests and better stress tolerance.

Led by Prof. Chuan He, researchers raised rice yields by up to 25% in tests, with improved resistance to drought and heat. The findings suggest a promising path for strengthening future crops without introducing foreign genes.

UChicago tests lifted rice harvests up using plants’ own protein, with implications for other crops