Former University of Illinois football player Michael Hopkins has realized a goal he set during his junior year in high school: to become an astronaut. After reviewing more than 3,500 applications, NASA selected nine people for the 2009 astronaut candidate class and the former Illini football standout made the cut. He’ll join several fellow Illini at NASA, including Scott Altman, Lee Archambault, Steve Nagel and Joe Tanner.
Find out how Michael Hopkins went from Illini defensive back to the Pentagon and, soon, will be traveling in space.
Extreme weather, drought, heavy rainfall and increasing temperatures are a fact of life in many parts of the U.S. as a result of human-induced climate change, researchers report in a new assessment. These and other changes will continue and likely increase in intensity into the future, the scientists found.
Illinois professor and contributor Don Wuebbles comments on the report, "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States."
Changes in the electromagnetic field, such as those experienced by a bird changing direction in flight, appear to alter a biochemical compass in the eye, allowing the bird to see how its direction corresponds to north or south.
Illinois professor Klaus Schulten explains how this discovery was made - by mistake.
The A Minute With™ feature on the Illinois home page connects campus experts with topics in the news and on your mind, giving you quick-reading, enlightening interviews. Two of the most recent entries:
Iranian protesters are no longer on the streets, but they have yet to be silenced.
Will President Obama's proposed changes to banking and financial market regulations prevent future financial meltdowns?
We swim in a sea of information, but filter out most of what we see or hear. A new analysis of data from dozens of studies sheds new light on how we choose what we do and do not hear. The study found that while people tend to avoid information that contradicts what they already think or believe, certain factors can cause them to seek out, or at least consider, other points of view.
"We wanted
to see exactly across the board to what extent people are willing to seek out the truth versus
just stay comfortable with what they know," said University of Illinois psychology professor
Dolores Albarracín. Discover what they learned…
Beginning this week, Fighting Illini fans will be able to chat online with Illinois coaches, players and administrators every Tuesday and Thursday during "Lunchtime Chats With ...".
Twice each week, the official Web site of Illinois Athletics will feature chats with members of the department at noon. Fans can submit questions in advance on fightingillini.com and tune in for live answers.
Get more information and check the schedule of guests.
