As many as 50,000 students, faculty and staff on the campuses of the University of Illinois are tested twice a week for the COVID-19 virus, and a multimodal approach that the University developed has dropped positivity rates to less than a quarter of one percentage point.
As far as science and technology topics go, the environment is a broad, multifaceted, and vitally important subject to explore. Over the last few years, C2ST has held numerous talks, discussions, and events built around a variety of environmental challenges and opportunities. Naturally, many of our discussions were focused on climate destabilization–its origins, its implications, and the methods by which humankind can turn back the tide of impending collapse.
Many people think of science as a process for inventing things in a laboratory. But science need not stop at the laboratory door. The scientific method can also be used to develop economically competitive processes for manufacturing inventions on a commercial scale. “Smarter” manufacturing processes are key to the success of US manufacturing in the twenty-first century. Continue reading “Science Can Help Revive US Manufacturing”
A non-partisan coalition of national and Illinois science policy organizations prepared a questionnaire for all Illinois Congressional candidates asking them to state their proposals for dealing with the pandemic, climate change, energy, environment, and other pressing issues of public concern.
Scientists at the U.S Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and University of Wisconsin are collaborating to develop customizable, “smart,” and energy-efficient windows for office buildings and residences. These windows, custom designed for particular geographic locations, contain transparent solar cells to generate electricity. Other layers of transparent materials in the window control how much of the light spectrum will pass through the window to heat and illuminate the interior and how much will be used to generate electricity. A mathematical model has been developed to determine for a specific location, based on, among other things, the angle of sunlight and other weather parameters, which materials should be used and in which geometric configuration to reduce energy consumption while providing adequate illumination. The design will be different for Chicago than for Miami, for example.