By Dawn Turner Trice, Chicago Tribune

Dirk Morr came of age in Germany in the 1970s watching the television show “Star Trek,” which was dubbed in German. Imagine Capt. James Kirk’s often parodied, halting speech pattern delivered in a foreign language.

The show and its idea to boldly go “where no man has gone before” sparked in Morr a deep curiosity and love for science. Today, Morr, 47, is a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Continue reading “Trice: UIC professor sets phasers to fun in ‘Star Trek’ Q&A”

By Cheryl V. Jackson, Special to Blue Sky, Chicago Tribune

Originally published at: http://bluesky.chicagotribune.com/originals/chi-dirk-morr-star-trek-bsi-not-20140403,0,0.story

Communicator devices from “Star Trek”? We’ve already got ‘em in our cell phones.

But it probably won’t soon be possible to be beamed up by “Scotty” or anybody else, according to a physicist extolling the technological legacy of the science fiction franchise.

“Star Trek has fascinated us for the last 50 years,” University of Illinois at Chicago physics professor Dirk Morr said Wednesday during a Chicago Council on Science and Technology program at the university. It was part of a series of events surrounding Gov. Pat Quinn’s designation of Illinois Innovation Day Thursday.

Continue reading “How ‘Star Trek’ predicted the technological world we live in today”

By Kristen Thometz Producer, WTTW’s Chicago Tonight

Originally published at: https://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2014/04/01/real-physics-behind-star-trek

For the last 50 years, Star Trek has captivated audiences as the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explored the galaxy using technological advances – warp drive, wormholes, beaming technology, holodecks – in order to do so. Dirk K. Morr, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, joins us to discuss the scientific ideas behind Star Trek technologies. Morr will present his findings at 6:00 pm on Wednesday at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Behavioral Science Building.

Continue reading “The Real Physics Behind Star Trek”

By Zara Zhuang, Medill Reports

Originally published at: http://newsarchive.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news-229533.html

By Paul Caine Producer, WTTW’s Chicago Tonight

Originally published at: https://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2014/03/10/food-safety

The Centers for Disease Control says there may be as many as 48 million cases of foodborne illnesses every year in the United States, costing the economy more than $150 billion and resulting in around 3,000 deaths. We talk with two food safety experts about the impact new technologies are having in keeping our food safe. Joining us is Robert Brackett, director of Illinois Institute for Technology’s Institute for Food Safety and Health, and Eric Larson, president of Safe Food International Holdings and a board member of the Nutrition Roundtable at the School of Public Health.

Continue reading “Food Safety”