Salmonella infections linked to poorer colon cancer outcomes

By Dilpreet Raju Medill Reports Salmonella could pose a much more long-term health risk than just upending weekend plans with food-poisoning symptoms. According to a study published late last year in in part done by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, salmonella infection is considered an environmental risk factor for colon cancer. Researchers at […]

Hands of Doomsday Clock now 90 seconds from midnight

The Doomsday clock shows the top left quadrant of a standard analog clock. The hour hand is at 11 hours and the minute hand is at 90 seconds from midnight. Below the clock, on the same poster display, reads "It is 90 seconds to midnight" in all capital letters.

By Dilpreet Raju Medill Reports Scientists and leaders of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock on Tuesday to their closest ever position to midnight, a metaphorical barometer for how close the planet is to human-forced annihilation. The hands now sit at 90 seconds to midnight. This is the […]

Will evaporation dry up water sources as climate change worsens?

An aerial photograph of Mono Lake in California

By Gabrielle Rancifer Medill Reports “If we didn’t have evaporation, we wouldn’t have water in the atmosphere,” said Thomas Lowell, a geology professor at the University of Cincinnati.  Researchers closely follow and evaluate both evaporation and precipitation because they are key components of the water cycle. Evaporation delivers water to the atmosphere, and precipitation delivers […]

Education in isolation: Create community over curriculum, educators say

The transition to remote learning has been rapid and demanding for parents, teachers and students alike. Over the past year, educators have reinvented and sometimes thrown out their traditional curricula in favor of new ones workable in a virtual space. Parents juggle work, home and school life simultaneously and under one roof. Students are adapting to a new educational landscape that requires more discipline, self-reliance and flexibility than many are used to in the classroom.

Community activists to prevent Mercy Hospital closing

“I am a proud member of the Black Leaders Building Together Coalition and the Chicago Health Equity Coalition that have come together to make sure that safety-net hospitals in the City of Chicago receive the support they need to thrive and that we actually achieve health care equity in the City of Chicago,” said Jitu Brown, national director of the Journey for Justice Alliance and former education organizer of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO)during a Wednesday afternoon press conference on 26th St. nearMercy Hospital. (Marc Monaghan/Hyde Park Herald)

By Kelly Milan Medill Reports Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., and community activists held a press conference outside Mercy Hospital in Bronzeville on Tuesday to call on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to save Mercy Hospital from closing amid the pandemic. “This is a life-or-death issue,” said Jackson, head of Chicago-based nonprofit organization […]

Chicago Botanic Garden’s “seedy” preservation project

Visitors to the Chicago Botanic Garden's seed library read about the seed saving process. (Robin J. Carlson/Chicago Botanic Garden)

By Claire Donnelly This library never worries about anything overdue.  But expect to  give back from what you borrow. This is a seed library established by Leora Siegel, director of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lenhardt Library. Visitors can “check out” different seed varieties like heirloom tomatoes, mesclun greens, peppers, peas and beans. The library, housed […]

Scan, cook and serve: Smart oven turns up the heat on home meals

The Tovala oven cooks salmon to perfection. (Courtesy of Tovala)

By Claire Donnelly Your microwave is about to get very jealous. Chicago startup company Tovala has designed a new smart oven that cooks meals to perfection by simply reading a barcode. The company launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign with a $100,000 goal Tuesday to help fund  production costs and raised $90,957 by 6:42 p.m. The […]

Spider-Man can’t do whatever a spider can, researchers say

Spider-Man

By Claire Donnelly What if instead of evading the evil Dr. Octopus by scaling the nearest wall, Spider-Man found himself stuck to every object he passed? According to some scientific researchers, that’s exactly what would happen if Spider-Man’s sticky pads were correctly proportioned to his body weight. In a study published in the January issue […]

The long and (very) short of bonsai

bonsai-web-1

By Claire Donnelly Chris Baker has 269 children. His children are green, grow leaves and live at the Chicago Botanic Garden. They’re bonsai trees.

New Malcolm X campus offers state-of-the-art healthcare training

Malcolm X Building Exterior

By Branden Hampton The state-of-the-art healthcare simulation labs at the new $251 million Malcolm X College campus will help better prepare students for careers in high-demand health science fields. The simulation emergency room, ambulatory and trauma labs will allow faculty to replicate the vital signs and other physical responses of a critically ill patient, using […]