U of I News Bureau – In a project partly led by Beckman Institute faculty member Emad Tajkhorshid, researchers at the University of Illinois were able to use supercomputer simulations and other methods to paint an atomistic picture of a chemical interaction critical to blood clotting, and answer for the first time questions about the process.
Researchers at the Beckman Institute have developed a new optical microscopy method called Spatial Light Interference Microscopy (SLIM) that can peer into the nanoscale world of live cells in ways unmatched by current techniques.
Medill Reports – The work of Beckman Institute faculty member Tim Bretl is highlighted in a story about research into brain-machine interfaces. Bretl is a member of Beckman's Artificial Intelligence group.
Researchers have demonstrated that simple line drawings can capture the essence of a beach or a mountain for viewers just as well as a photograph, they report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Beckman Institute researcher Diane Beck and graduate student Eamon Caddigan were co-authors of the paper, while former Beckman Fellow Dirk Bernhardt-Walther now of Ohio State University is lead author.
Mark Hasegawa-Johnson has been able to integrate his two interests – computer engineering and communications – into research that is leading the way in decoding human speech for technology applications.
The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology has chosen five outstanding graduate students at the University of Illinois as the Beckman Institute Graduate Fellows for 2011. The Graduate Fellows chosen are Sumit Ashtekar, Jessie Chin, Amy Maduram, Feng Xiong, and Yue Zhuo. For more on the Beckman Institute Graduate Fellows program, click here.
New York Times – Beckman Institute researcher Dan Simons comments on the potential dangers of a new phone app for drivers in San Francisco that displays information about available parking spaces.
Beckman Institute researcher Aleksei Aksimentiev is featured in EarthSky for his work developing inexpensive ways to sequence a person’s DNA. Aksimentiev is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and member of Beckman’s Nanoelectronics and Nanomaterials group.