PAGE 11 SYDNEY LAPUT THE DAILY ILLINI September 21, 2022 THEDI
Joseph Lyding, professor in Engineering, and Brendan Wolan, graduate student studying electrical and computer engineering, hold a piece of 3D printed carbon nanotube film. Read more on
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A vandalized section of the first floor in Scott Hall on Thursday. Students reported torn down cameras, ripped posters and missing ceiling tiles.
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2 The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 NEWS Facebook The Daily Illini ILLINIDAILYTHE
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Student arrested in Scott Hall vandalism
Residents of Scott Hall woke up to the first three floors of the dorm in disarray on Thursday after someone vandalized the building during earlymorningVihanghours.Thakkar, freshman in Busi ness and Scott Hall resident, said cam eras were torn down, posters were ripped and ceiling tiles laid on the ground.“Isaw it this morning when I woke up — I was going to the bathroom,” Thakker said. “You don’t expect that.”
William Turk, an 18-year-old Univer sity student and Scott Hall resident, was arrested for criminal damage to state-supported property in connec tion with the incident, according to Pat Wade, director of strategic communi cations for the University of Illinois Police Department. Wade said miss
After reviewing security camera footage, UIPD determined that the damage was caused by a single offend er between 5 and 6 a.m. on Thursday, according to Wade.
“I thought we were better than this, you know?” said Nathan Hutherson, freshman in Engineering and Scott Hall resident.
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ing and damaged property was found in Turk’s Accordingroom.to Wade, UIPD officers arrived at Scott Hall at 8:46 a.m. after University Housing staff “reported extensive criminal damage.” Housing staff estimated the value of the dam age to be between $5,000 and $10,000.
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“Officers observed that as many as 23 exit signs had been pulled from the ceiling, exposing wires and damaging ceiling tiles,” Wade said. “Additional ly, six fire extinguishers were missing from their designated locations.”
THEDI
Victor Jiao, senior in Engineering, came to the distribution on the Main Quad after seeing Zhao’s posts on the r/UIUC subreddit. According to Jiao, Zhao’s posts and blåhaj distribution made the blue shark a viral topic on campus.“I’veseen (blåhajar) around for a
Student’s blåhaj distribution makes a splash
In recent years, the blåhaj has amassed a dedicated internet following. Videos with the tag #blåhaj have gar nered over 3 million views on TikTok, and a subreddit dedicated to the stuffed animal has over 45,000 subscribers. A brief search of the word blåhaj on Twitter returns image after image of users sharing their plush sharks, with many of these images being unsafe to view in a college library.
Stuffed sharks from IKEA, called “blåhaj,” are piled in a car ready to be distributed by Yuyang Zhao, senior in Engineering. They spent over $3,000 on approximately 140 blåhajar to distribute during the week of Sept. 12. The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 3LIFE & CULTURE
Users lamented in Zhao’s post that they weren’t able to acquire a blåhaj — the nearest IKEA to the University is 126 miles away in a Chicago suburb, with another nearly an equal distance away in Indianapolis.
Yuyang Zhao, senior in Engineering, was running the distribution, and said they were eager to give a new home to these fish out of water. Zhao had been distributing the sharks for over a week and said they plan to continue until their stock of blåhajar is fully distributed.Theword blåhaj (pronounced blowhai) derives from Swedish, meaning “blue shark.” IKEA began distribut ing an earlier iteration of the stuffed animal in 2010 named “Klappar Haj,” which roughly translates to “petta ble shark.” The stuffed animal was renamed to blåhaj in 2013 and has grown in popularity ever since.
By Matt Troher Assistant Features Editor
A few weeks before the distribu tion, Zhao bought a blåhaj from IKEA and had it in tow when they attended one of their classes, CS 421: Programming Languages and Compilers class. Another student in Zhao’s class post ed on the r/UIUC subreddit that they saw someone attending their class with a “dolphin.” Zhao posted a picture of their new shark the following day and received substantial attention.
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These stuffed sharks, an IKEA prod uct known as blåhaj (plural, blåhajar), were waiting to be distributed. A gag gle of roughly 30 students stood around the heap of sharks, craving to take one home with them.
About 140 ‘meme sharks’ given out to interested Reddit users
popularity.“It’safunny meme shark,” Xu said. “I just saw it, and I wanted one. It’s also apparently a bigger thing for the LGBT community, which I think is really cool.”
On the evening of Sept. 12, a mass of fuzzy blue plush sharks in vary ing sizes laid strewn across the con crete bench that lines the north edge of the Main Quad. The angular mass of stuffed sharks contrasted against the grass’s smooth background.
Some students like Charles Xu, senior in Engineering, were drawn to the shark because of its internet
According to Zhao, they spent over $3,000 on around 140 blåhajar and had been distributing them at the Illini Union throughout the week. Due to the large number of blåhajar, Zhao moved Monday’s distribution outdoors.
PHOTO COURTESY OF YUYANG ZHAO
For owners of the stuffed shark, look ing at a blåhaj is a stimulating experi ence, and holding one is even more so. There is something aesthetically pleas ing about the shark’s form. It’s fuzzy yet sleek and oblong yet lopsided. One becomes overwhelmed with the urge to chuckle and squeeze it.
Zhao offered to buy a blåhaj for each
The shark’s blue fuzz, white face and pink mouth mimic the colors of the transgender pride flag. Therefore, the online transgender community adopted the blåhaj as a symbol of trans pride. When searching “blåhaj” on google, the fourth most popular term is “blåhaj trans.”Zhao explained what makes a blåhaj so“It’sappealing.acute shark, obviously,” Zhao said. “More than that, it’s a meme and just happens to have the same color scheme as the trans flag. The trans community is also interested in it.”
As students picked up their blåhajar from Zhao’s distribution, many tightly embraced their new stuffed animals as they walked away. New owners offered passersby a chance to pet the blåhajar.
commenter, which in turn drove more users to comment and request blåha jar. Zhao began organizing requests through their blåhaj-themed Discord server and then traveled to the Chi cago IKEA to grab as many blåhajar as“(Interestpossible. in the blåhajar) has been exponential,” Zhao said.
while online, but it’s been popping up a lot more recently, especially in (Uni versity) circles and mostly because of this,” Jiao said.
Liquid biopsy used to detect microRNA 4 The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 OUR MISSION YOURMOMENTSCAN’T-MISS With expert support and guidance, a primary care provider can help you be there and at your best for those moments that make life so beautiful. And with convenient options for scheduling and receiving care, it has never been easier to take control of your health. Find a provider at os ealthcare.org/moments Your life – our Mission
hard to monitor. To solve this prob lem, Andrew Smith, professor in Engineering, applied quantum dots — tiny pieces of crystal — to count individual molecules.
“The earliest you can detect it, the better chance for people to stay alive,” she said. “That’s the first thing that we want to develop — something that can detect cancer at an early stage.”However, Cunningham said it is challenging to identify microRNA in the blood of early-stage cancer patients — the small number of can cer cells in their bodies leads to a low concentration of microRNA that is
Biosensing technique catches cancer early
Smith explained the dots as a blu ish emerald shrunk into a 10-nanome ter crystal semiconductor – a unique material that allows scientists to change all of its attributes, including colors and electrical conductivity.
By Yuzhu Liu Assistant Features Editor
Yanyu Xiong, a graduate student studying electrical and computer engineering and leading author of the research, said her mother was once diagnosed with cancer and lat er recovered. She said patients have to go through painful chemothera py and numerous other tests to see the effectiveness of their treatments. Xiong said it usually takes such a long time that some patients may not be able to live through it.
tum dots and photonic crystals fur ther improves the test outcomes. He compared a photonic crystal to a nar row-shaped lawn with plenty of ditch es where tiny quantum dots fit in. He said the two materials resonate and dramatically amplify signals that make microRNA easy to detect with low-cost instruments.
Xiong emphasized the signifi cance of photonic crystals. She lik ened quantum dots to blinking stars in the night sky. To obtain accurate data, Xiong said she used to spend hours capturing numerous images with fast shutter speeds. She said the application of photonic crystals successfully tackles this difficulty in this study.
When Brian Cunningham, profes sor in Engineering, was in his 30s, his parents passed away from cancer. He saw doctors struggle to diagnose can cer types and assess whether treat ments worked. He then decided to dedicate his engineering career to focusing on cancer research.
Cunningham said. “But in a liquid biopsy, we’re seeking to take a small volume of blood out of your arm or finger and then test for the presence of molecules whose concentration can tell the severity of cancer.”
a biopsy is used to remove tissue, like a tumor, and then to look at the cells by a pathologist,”
Now, years later, Cunningham and his colleagues invented a new way to help clinicians diagnose cancer at an early stage and choose the most effective treatments for patients.
“We found in the photonic crystal, (quantum dots) do not blink anymore, and they’re less than before,” Xiong said. “All those findings help us to visualize single molecules using an objectiveAccordinglens.”to Smith, this study is a milestone of multi-year cancer research initiated by Manish Kohli, a cancer clinician and researcher at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah.
According to Cunningham, this new method features a liquid biopsy that detects individual microRNA in blood. He explained that microR NA are molecules that originate from cancer cells and reveal can cer“Ordinarily,mutations.
Smith said in this study, quantum dots were tuned to emit light. The research team attaches these lumi nous quantum dots to microRNA, captures them on a biosensor and measures these molecules by count ing the bright spots in the image.
“That digital counting is what makes them very, very useful for this application,” Smith said. “You can be very sure of exactly the num ber that’s present. That doesn’t really happen for other types of light-emit ting materials. It’s the fact that quan tum lights are very bright — we’ve engineered them to be emitting this very specific color range that we can measure.”Smithnoted that combining quan
yuzhul2@dailyillini.com
According to Cunningham, the team will be conducting trials on blood samples collected from 100 patients at Kohli’s clinic with vari ous stages of prostate cancer. Cun ningham said they will verify this new technique’s superiority by com paring it with other existing methods of identifying molecules.
“You want to be able to decide if this therapy given to this patient is responding or not,” Smith said. “But you don’t know until they recur, and that stage is almost too late. So, you want some rapid tests that within a couple of days of treatment so you could tell if it’s the right treatment for a Kohlipatient.”expected that the new liquid biopsy could replace pathologic com plete response, or PCR, the tradition al technique to identify microRNA. He said PCR is highly laborious and time consuming, as clinicians must ship plenty of blood samples to lab oratories with high-end, expensive instruments.Withthisnew technique, Kohli said clinics can assess a cancer patient’s condition with one or two drops of blood from a pinprick on their fin ger. He envisioned a device that can upload the microRNA counts onto the cloud and send the information to doctors hundreds of miles away.
Kohli recalled that it took time for the research team to understand each other when they first met. He said each member’s expertise in medi cine and bioengineering was once isolated, but he knew the more their specialties get united, the better research products they will offer patients.“Otherwise, the application of these sciences will fall short of their poten tial,” Kolhi said. “There are 1000 questions to ask cancer research ers, and we don’t have great tech nology being applied. We’ve success fully done many projects together, and we are going to build on that as we keep moving forward.”
“That’s something revolutionary in many ways,” Kohli said.
Smith said he has worked with Kohli and Cunningham since 2016 on cas tration-resistant prostate cancer, which leaves patients only a year to live and is considered incurable.
Yanyu Xiong, a graduate student studying electrical and computer engineering, holds the photonic crystal biosensors that retain droplets of liquid to perform tests.
The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 5 U n i t i n g P r i d e o f C h a m p a i g n C o u n t y S e p t e m b e r 2 4 t h O c t o b e r 2 n d J o i n u s f o r t h e C U P r i d e P a r a d e & F a i r , y o u t h & f a m i l y p r o g r a m m i n g , e d u c a t i o n , e n t e r t a i n m e n t , a n d m o r e ! L e a r n m o r e a t u n i t i n g p r i d e . o r g
Smith added that the research team aims to make the liquid biopsy a sim ple, regular test that can be done fre quently during cancer treatments.
SYDNEY LAPUT THE DAILY ILLINI
Smith said the team has been attempting to fill the clinical care gaps by using technology to help doc tors quickly determine treatments.
Althoughanalysis.the number of backlogged cases is up 24% from the previous year, there were more submissions and also new procedures. As of Aug. 31, there were about 5,200 total cases in the backlog.CrisHughes, clinical associate pro fessor in LAS, is the only academic rep resentative on the commission.
“Honestly, there’s so much work to be done, and I’m excited that our state has implemented the commission to assist, and I am proud to be a part of it,” she said.
vla2@dailyillini.com 6 The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022
The commission began meeting this past March at the University’s Carle R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.
One of its main goals is to reduce the backlog of forensic cases in labs across the state. A backlog happens when the number of cases is greater than what the lab staff can process at a time.
“Genomics has increasingly been playing a role in both sides of the equa tion — guilt and innocence — and tech nologies are getting better all the time,” Robinson said. “The criminal justice system is a system that everyone wants to see improved equity in.”
Forensic ethics,researchersscientists,tohandleDNAanalysis
A group of Illinois scientists, law yers, State Police leaders and victim advocates want to improve the state’s forensic crime labs to better serve communities.Knownasthe Illinois Forensic Sci ence Commission, the committee wants to address issues like staff shortages, how to better handle evidence from sexual assault cases and exploring the ethics of DNA databases.
“We just wanted to make sure that we don’t, as a part of any system, do things that further harm survivors as opposed to helping them,” Ward said.
Hughes is also the deputy foren sic anthropologist for the Champaign County coroner’s office, working with human DNA to help in cases that involve unidentified persons.
“Genetics can be used in terrible ways and has been used in terrible ways to create inequities and horrible situa tions,” Robinson said. “If you’re work ing in this field, one has to be aware of the past and then use that to create a better future.”
Gov. JB Pritzker signed the commis sion into law in August 2021. Prior to this, the state’s Forensic Science Task Force reduced the state backlog by 33% and recommended a permanent group be created to further improve theWard,system.who is on the commission cur rently, also served on the task force. As an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, she said her perspective can be different from the law enforcement or
Gene Robinson, director of the Insti tute, said that society is in the mid dle of a “genomics revolution,” which requires careful consideration of how scientists can gain the trust of the pub lic as well as fix past mistakes.
concerning DNA privacy. These days, it’s possible to track down a murder suspect through a distant relative who used an ancestry testing service, for example.Hughes said this approach has to be looked at from all angles — the commis sion discusses genomic privacy, public opinion and existing inequities.
“How do we make sure that (cases) can move through the system so that ultimately, people who commit crimes are held accountable for it?” said Carrie Ward, a victim advocate on the commis sion and executive director of the Illi nois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
The diversity in experts involved makes this commission different from other groups Ward said she has been a part of.
Commission to improve Illinois crime labs
SEBASTIAN HOLT THE DAILY ILLINI
scientists.Sexualassault is different from rob bery or murder in that it continues to affect someone’s bodily autonomy, Ward“Forsaid.survivors who have to wait a long time after they’ve already come forward with the experience of sexu al violence, and then perhaps be giv en incomplete or uninformed answers about the status of their case — it is doubly traumatizing,” she said.
The commission will meet four times a year at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. Subcommittees on public policy, career development and technology also meet throughout the year.
The commission is bringing science to society by working with scientists, policy makers and researchers at the University, he said.
“DNA can often be one of the major sources of evidence to produce a pos itive identification,” Hughes said. “Delays in the evidence mean a delay in identifying the individual, leav ing loved ones waiting to know what happened.”Thecommission is also interested in finding ways to tackle ethical issues
By Vivian La Assistant News Editor
According to a report from the Illi nois State Police in July, the backlog for fiscal year 2022 was about 4,500 cases. These cases require DNA analy sis and use more resources than other cases like toxicology reports or fire arms
An open letter to women in tech
This exhibit presents the fate of the victims of the largest German concentration and extermination camp, AuschwitzBirkenau, through the artwork of twelve survivors.
But for now, I encourage you to per sist. I am proud of you and of myself for persevering against the odds, for facing extra challenges head on.
women.Myown
Despite my extensive knowledge of topics covered in class, I qualified my well-formed ideas with “But I could be totally wrong” or “I’m not sure what I’m talking about though.”
For women and other underrepresent ed groups in tech, there is often a loom ing feeling of imposter syndrome — a feeling of otherness or fraud regard less of ability.
Despite working hard in my STEMrelated classes, I always attributed my successes to luck.
You deserve to take up space, and regardless of the doubts others or imposter syndrome may cast on you, if you think you might have an interest in tech, you are in your rightful place.
A report by the National Science Foundation found that women only accounted for 26% of computer and
The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 7OPINIONS
Despite being in the gifted math pro gram from elementary school through high school and achieving straight A’s, I convinced myself I was bad at math.
Despite my passion for STEM, I repeatedly told myself and others “No, I’m not really a STEM person.”
We are repeatedly told either implic itly or explicitly that we don’t belong. A combination of stereotypes and existing social structures create additional bar riers to involvement in technology-relat ed fields. What’s worse is these experi ences often start early.
The 24-panel exhibit consists of 60 pieces that depict the experiences the survivors had during the Holocaust. This exhibit is on loan from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim, Poland.
mathematical scientists in 2019. With women making up nearly half of the labor force, such a number is dismal.
The numbers found in higher educa tion are even worse. According to the National Center of Women and Informa tion Technology, in 2019, while 57% of bachelor’s degree recipients were wom en, only 21% of computer and informa tion science bachelor’s recipients were
A study done by the University of Washington traced the lower sense of belonging that girls face to lower feel ings of fitting in with computer science stereotypes. Before college, I had never even considered entering the tech field.
As I feel more secure in tech, I strive to push other young women to do and feel the same.
Your presence should not be ques tioned or viewed as an exception to the rule. Tech culture itself needs to shift to promote inclusivity.
Rayna is a junior in rwuh2@dailyillini.comLAS.
major, as of Spring 2022, was 71% male. In such a male-dominated field, it can be difficult to remember to be loud and assert myself in the face of doubt. Yet every day, I show up to my classes and campus involvements. I take up space.
ANGIE ORDONEZ THE DAILY ILLINI
It has been an ongoing process to real ize that I not only belong in tech, but I also have the potential to excel and make a difference in the field.
RAYNA WUH ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR
Time and time again, I undermined my interests and abilities. I received external support from my parents and others to pursue whatever made me happy, but it took a long time to real ize that this could be remotely related to Ittechnology.wasnotuntil my first semester of college that the thought even crossed my mind. With hard work and patience, I earned my place in the Computer Sci ence + Philosophy program at the Uni versity and transferred from political science in my fourth semester.
“It’s only been in the last few years that people have really started to imag ine that it could be done,” she said. “I mean it’s a lot to take a modern, stateof-the-art analytical chemical labora tory and bring it out to a field site like that.”Druhan said she and the team go out to the lab around twice a week, barring any emergencies. There, they make sure that all of the equipment and tech
PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNY DRUHAN
Jenny Druhan, associate professor in LAS
that we’re making, they’re really not absurd. And I think we’re getting a lot out of them. So, I would really like to see this network expand.”
The University of Illinois RiverLab sits on the bank of the Sangamon River in Monticello.
Jenny Druhan, associate professor in LAS and the research team leader of RiverLab, explained how the lab works.
Features Editor
finally able to understand how storms and different events that cause the riv er to fill up and flow faster are moving nutrients and elements off of the land scape and into the rivers,” Druhan said.
Druhan said RiverLab provides unique insight into this information because it is unexplored.
“Now that we have that really highresolution chemistry record to go along with the water record, we’re actually
nology are in working order. She added that between students and researchers, there are “five to seven” people regu larly working in the lab.
“It’s like my version of putting a satellite up in the space.”
“They’re expensive, no doubt,” Druhan said. “It takes a lot to develop this kind of infrastructure, but com pared to a lot of other investments
RiverLab was produced in France and shipped here to be installed. Druhan said she was lucky enough to have connections in France that allowed a lab to be set up here. In addi tion to this RiverLab, there are three labs in France, and there are plans for two labs in Canada and one in China.
“We pump water out of the river, we filter it, and we send it automatically into a whole bunch of different chemi cal analytical machines that give us water quality in real time,” Druhan said.She said that while information about the amount of water in rivers is exten sive, information about rivers’ chemi cal composition and nutrient levels is scarce due to the required effort.
LOGAN HODSON THE DAILY ILLINI
RiverLab has already made new sci entific discoveries. Druhan said that while most chemicals in the river get diluted when there is more water, potassium seemingly does not, even as the water levels increase. She added that she hopes this information can be used in a meaningful way, and said she would like to see more technology like this implemented in the future.
RiverLab, installed last June in Mon ticello, is the only one of its kind in the country. It is the size of a shipping con tainer and is a “lab in the field” that collects water samples and analyzes them at the same site. The lab runs constantly and automatically, produc ing high-resolution chemical records every 30 minutes.
The University of Illinois RiverLab, which collects data about the chemical makeup of the Sangamon River, isn’t a typical laboratory. It’s not in a build ing, but rather on the bank of the river.
8 The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 UI
Jinyu Wang, a graduate student studying geology, is one of those stu dents. Wang said since the Sangamon River is impacted by agriculture, Riv erLab helps to understand exactly how the river’s composition is affected.
“We’ve never really had a data record like this before; nobody has,” she said. “Maybe it’s not the most hypothesisdriven study in the entire world, but we’re gonna learn just by virtue of see ing something that we’ve never seen before.”According to Druhan, the reason something like RiverLab hasn’t exist ed in the country before is because it didn’t seem possible until recently.
“We have tons of data to analyze and to understand because the Sangam on River is impacted by agriculture,” Wang said. “So, we also want to know how agriculture impacts the chemistry in the river water.”
“How much water is in the river is really only part of the story,” Druhan said. “There’s also what’s in that water, what’s the chemical nature of that water, are there nutrients in the water, are there other dissolved solutes in the water, are there contaminants in the water? … We’ve had very little in terms of the information for chemi calDruhanquality.”said that other labs have to send researchers out to collect water in containers and then bring the samples back to the lab for analysis. She added that this has limited the data that can be collected, especially regarding data about rivers during storms.
ByinRiverLaboperatingpremiereopensnationCeciliaMilmoe
RiverLab is part of the larger Criti cal Interface Network, or CINet – a project that spans multiple universities with a focus on agricultural production and environmental quality. Praveen Kumar, professor in Engineering at the University, serves as the lead princi pal investigator of CINet. Kumar said he sees the data collected by River Lab as important for the future of the environment.“Ifweare to develop strategies for improving our environment and develop sustainable methods for man aging agriculture, this understand ing is important because then we can trace back as to what are the factors upstream or on the land or at the farm scale that are contributing,” Kumar said.Druhan said that getting RiverLab operational was extremely exciting for“It’sher.like my version of putting a sat ellite up in the space,” Druhan said.
cecilia@dailyillini.com
Soumyo Dutta, an aerospace engi neer from NASA Langley Research Center, is currently working on a probe that will launch in 2029 with the goal of analyzing the atmosphere of Venus. Aboard the probe is a sensor designed
He added that reducing cost is some thing he cares a lot about, hoping that one day, it will be feasible for smaller groups to perform scientifically signifi cant surface missions on other planets.
Putnam’s research on novel control schemes is centered around making it easier to control spacecraft as they return to Earth. Putnam said he is excited by the potential effects of hav ing better controls for returning spacecraft, and he described the desired out comes of his research.
Also weighing in on the possibility of university space missions is Brian Woodard, professor in aerospace engi neering. Woodard said he believes a standardized way to conduct missions could dramatically lower costs, relat ing the idea to how affordable it has become to put small satellites, namely CubeSats, into orbit.
Soumyo Dutta, NASA aerospace engineer
“It’s kinda like the same idea as the CubeSats,” Woodard said. “Everyone who does small satellites research has kind of agreed on this basic structure of what a CubeSat launch is going to be and so now getting them launched, which used to be a huge challenge, NASA launches some of them for free or you pay just $10,000 which in a research budget is nothing … I think it is kind of analogous to that. So, I agree withSimilarly,(Putnam).”Negar Mehr, assistant pro fessor in Engineering, said she is excit ed at the prospect of space missions at the University. Mehr’s research spe cializes in robotics, but with how inter disciplinary technology has become, she said she believes her research will most certainly have a place in future space exploration, particularly affordable missions like the ones Putnam proposes.“Whatexcites me the most is that, as someone who works on robotics, I feel like the more exploration we do in space, the more we can leverage robots for exploration purposes,” Mehr said. “So, on the aerospace side of things, the way that I see it, I would love to bring in the intelligence that robots offer to explore more and learn more about the universe.”
Whileeveryday.moststudents are aware of the Illinois alumni who helped create You Tube and PayPal, some of the lesserknown discoveries by Illinois research ers are just as noteworthy. Whether it be Donald Bitzer creating the first com puter-assisted-instruction system or Carl Woese defining the third domain of life, many aspects of everyday life have been altered by research conduct ed at ConsideringIllinois. what has been achieved in the past, it is worth considering what may come from Illinois researchers in theZacharyfuture.Putnam, assistant professor in Engineering, is one of many whose research might lead to something big. Specializing in the “space” side of aero space, Putnam has previously worked on exciting projects such as NASA’s Orion Spacecraft, focusing his work on improving the landing process for spacecraft.“Ourspecialty really is planetary landing systems,” Putnam said. “We call that Entry, Descent and Landing, or EDL. That really is my main area of expertise, and in recent years I’ve had graduate students working on … we’ll say novel control schemes.”
“I certainly think that right now, students from universities like (Illinois) can do instruments on missions.”
While University-led space missions may initially seem like the distant future, space research is becoming more and more accessible every day.
more and more cool stuff we’ll, learn that much more,” Putnam said. “We’ll have a much bigger community, and it’ll get that much easier. Eventually, that will help us do more significant things with larger vehicles.”
Grainger research reaches for the skies
Consideringexperiment.thework he has seen from undergraduate and graduate stu dents on advanced projects like his own, Dutta said he is optimistic about Putnam’s hope of University-led space missions. With the accelerating rate of technological change, it’s not unthink able that small-scale student-led space missions will be possible within the next 10 years, let alone 20.
cblount3@dailyillini.com Scientists missionUniversity-leddetailspacepotential The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 9
convince people that their risks are manageable, I think we could see small scale and relatively low cost but still scientifically significant missions to Mars and other places,” Putnam said. “Small enough and low enough cost that someone besides NASA can do it, say smaller labs, universities and oth erAsidecountries.”frombeing an impressive feat, Putnam believes making surface mis sions more accessible will be very ben eficial for the aerospace and scientific community.“Ifwecan start sending more and more missions to these places and do
By attending one of the most premier research institutions in the nation, Illi nois students are surrounded by toptier researchers from all around the world
By Conor Blount Staff Writer
“If we can do a better job of steering these vehicles, we can do a better job of doing precision landings to hit a tar get, we can fly bigger vehicles or maybe we can reduce the cost,” Putnam said.
by undergraduate and graduate stu dents as part of NASA’s student col laboration
“If you were asking me that ques tion 10 years ago, I would’ve said ‘Ehhh maybe not,’” Dutta said. “I certainly think that right now, students from uni versities like (Illinois) can do instru ments on missions. Can they do their own missions in the future? I think in 10 or 20 years, maybe so.”
SEBASTIAN HOLT THE DAILY ILLINI
“I think there are some technolo gies that if we can mature them and
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3D
SYDNEY LAPUT THE DAILY ILLINI
“We have an agent that allows the carbon nanotubes to be converted into an ink that we can 3D print,” Lyding said. “We can get rid of (the agent) com pletely after the printing, so we are just left with pure carbon nanotubes.”
nanotubes.“Byeliminating the use of a poly meric tightening agent to hold the nanotubes together, we get closer to the intrinsic properties that carbon nanotubes have,” said Joseph W. Lyd ing, professor in Engineering and lead er of Lyding Group. “We still have a ways to go, but we made a big step in improving the properties.”
Scan the QR code to read the rest of the story online.
printing enhances nanotube production
By Aditya Sayal Assistant Investigative News & Longform Editor
Lyding also detailed another develop ment that improves carbon nanotubes further: 3D printing.
skinny, there is a fluidic force exerted upon them. That makes the particles all want to line up within the syringe because of lower resistance to the flow. All the carbon nanotubes lined up in the syringe eventually lie down and align with the direction of printing.
“It’s really tricky to find ways to manipulate countless amounts of these (nanotube) particles in a really con sistent manner,” Wolan said. “So what we did is we dispersed it back into a solution.”According to Wolan, because the tubes’ particles are very long but very
Wolan explained that with the 3D printer, one could program it to do whatever shape they want, which includes the film associated with the carbon nanotubes. According to Wolan, this method allows for “radi cal improvements in terms of tensile strength, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity.”
Brendan Wolan, a graduate student studying electrical and computer engi neering and co-author of the Lyding Group study, mentioned that in the study’s paper, they were able to dem onstrate a way that gives a significant amount of direction to these tubes with out much effort. Wolan noted that this is done by injecting the carbon nano tubes into a clotting bath through a long syringe needle.
University researchers have been developing carbon nanotubes — a cyl inder-shaped form of carbon measured in nanometers that has many applicable uses. They are only one-to-two nano meters in size but have great strength, thermal conductivity, strong electro magnetic shielding performance, solid water-repellant properties and estab lished multi-functionality.
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Researchers from the Lyding Group, Joseph Lyding and Brandan Wolan, show their 3D printed carbon nanotube film.
The issue is that nanometers aren’t available in bulk and used to be expen sive. However, the Lyding Group has found that there are ways to solve the problem.Whentrying to make the nanotubes stick together and retain the proper ties of an individual tube, the Lyding Group found that if they mixed nano tubes with a different polymeric mate rial, (a class of substances made of large molecules) the exquisite prop erties were watered down. However, the group’s study found a way to make pure, straight nanotubes without the polymeric materials, which result ed in a dramatic enhancement of the
“GAME DAY” - BY LYNNACROSSLEMPEL 1 Interpretation 5 Left on board? 9 arraySmartphone 13 Church reading 18 Falafel bread 19 Civil leaderrightsMedgar 21 Vault 22 Submit for judging 23 Bind with a cord 24 Piece of history 25 Gumbo pod 26 Lines on GPS displays 27 Vague amount 28 Prompt to a Twister player? 31 Over the speed limit 33 Glove material 34 Half-baked, as a plan 37 Impulse 38 Bursts 40 Former NBA star Ming 42 Figs. 43 Correspond 45 player?toEncouragementaYahtzee 50 One in a dory 51 prepositionBiblical 52 Dory’s companion 53 “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-star 54 Psychology 101 subject 55 Brief brieflytimes, 57 Coarse 59 Heavenly octet 61 Benchmark 63 “Salt Fat __ cookbookSaminHeat”:Nosrat 65 “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-star 67 D’backs, on a sports ticker 68 Actor Alan who hosts podcast“Clear+Vivid”the 69 Sad request to one’s Hangman opponent? 72 Microwaves 76 LanaSadness”“Summertimesinger__Rey 78 Equally matched 79 Climate change sci. 80 slam,industryEntertainmentgrandforshort 81 Diminished 85 calculationVegas 87 Arborist’s patient 89 Atmosphere 90 One way to think 91 Prosecco kin 93 Trim, perhaps 95 Originate 97 Advice to a player?checkers 100 tissueConnective 101 Sports drink suffix 102 Sculling need 103 Botanist Gray and Butterfieldactor 104 Crown array 105 __ opener 108 Like the ShannonRiver 111 Forced (on) 114 Prayer for a chess player? 118 Damage 119 surfaceGeometry 121 “A technicality!”__ 122 Real doozies 123 Globetrotter’s need 124 Knuckle or knee 125 Prune, before drying 126 Singer Ronstadt 127 Turn over __ leaf 128 Some TVs 129 Fed. IDs 130 Over 131 Spill the beans DOWN 1 soundthe-windshieldBug-hitting2 Yamaha with a bench seat 3 With assertion73-Down,to one’s Scrabble opponent? 4 “Not happen”gonna 5 Read 6 1980 Olympics track Stevemedalist 7 Count (on) 8 The Brothers,Jonase.g. 9 In flight 10 Black tea 11 Sudden burst of emotion 12 Quarrel 13 Woman on Argentina’s 100 peso note 14 Bamboozles 15 Slanted 16 Spearheaded 17 “__ movementabout2020America”:miniseriestheERA 20 Artist who works with a chisel 28 On-call devices 29 Impetuous 30 French fashion giant 32 Priceless? 35 Like two 2015 Max gamesScherzer 36 Will of Bloods”“Blue 38 Thoughtful 39 Classical pianist Alice Sara __ 41 Resting on 43 Sports stadium 44 Nikolai who wrote Overcoat”“The 45 Italian fashion giant 46 __ pale ale 47 Do a slow burn 48 Allowing access 49 Charge, in a way 56 NFLerPhiladelphia 58 Overturn 60 Chili scoop 62 Fabricated 64 Dedicate, as time 66 Strategic steps 70 dispenserFirst-aid 71 Opposite of sur 73 See 3-Down 74 Grace under fire 75 Spread around 77 collectionIcelandicMedieval 81 Hindu royalty 82 Give the slip 83 “Huh?” 84 Survey results, e.g. 86 prizeBeachcombing 88 Enter gingerly 92 Dries up 94 Strands in a lab 96 Wheel parts 98 Lots and lots 99 __ out: resolve 104 Attacks 106 RollinssaxophonistJazz 107 “Waiting for Lefty” Clifforddramatist 109 TV Land fare 110 Agenda entries 111 conflictsExtended 112 Stand something?for 113 Southern twang 115 Roadie’s vanload 116 Witticism 117 Pinkie-side arm bone 119 loungewearComfy 120 Lav 123 Napa Valley tub RELEASE DATE—Sunday, September 18, 2022 Los Angeles Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis 9/18/22 ©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. ANSWERTOTODAY’SPUZZLE 9/18/22 Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit sudoku.org/uk Answers to this week’s puzzles Los Angeles Times Sunday Crossword Sudoku 12 The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 PUZZLES ADVERTISE HERE! Get your message in front of our puzzle players! CALL advertise@illinimedia.com217-337-8382oremailformoreinformation!
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ILLINOIS ATHLETICS
Poglitsch (17:45.6) finished fifth and eighth,Seniorrespectively.MadisonMarasco (17:47.4)
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Illinois women’s cross country will travel next to Columbia, Miss., on Sept. 30 for the Gans Creek Classic.
“It feels really good to be back and
Now in her senior year, expectations are high for Howell. She’s had success in the past – there’s no question about that. The challenge is maintaining and building her accomplishments.
For the team, this was only the first of many challenges to come with the long“Theyseason.wanted to make sure that we went out there for each other,” How ell said. “Also that we let other schools know that we came here with high goals.”The
“I hope to come out at least the next two years with a national championship or a few,” Howell said. “It’s harder to maintain the titles at the Big Ten meets the following years, it’s harder to main tain than achieve.”
running cross (country),” Howell said. “I definitely miss the team atmosphere that you don’t really get in track. I’m excited to leave more of a mark in cross country, and I’ve accomplished so much in track. I want to do that, especially with my team.”
rest of the Illini were not far behind her. Senior Emma Milburn (17:30.5) finished third, while soph omores Halle Hill (17:33.8) and Sam
finished ninth and sophomore Maggie Gamboa (18:00.6) finished 14th.
shines in Indiana meet
Senior Olivia Howell leads the race during the John McNichols Invitational on Saturday. The Illini won the overall event, with Howell’s 17:17.8 finish being the highlight.
Illini leave John McNichols Invitational victorious
tgary3@dailyillini.com
By Theo Gary Contributing Writer
Illinois women’s cross country left the city of Terre Haute, Ind. as overall winners after competing in the John McNichols Invitational. Illini runners took first, third, fifth, eighth, ninth and 14th on the day, culminating to a firstplace finish – a full 17 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Universi ty of However,Toledo.the meet wasn’t a total blow out. Toledo kept pace with the Illini, covering every spot in the top-10 that was left unoccupied by Illinois. Toledo distance runners Faith Linga and Joy Chirchir took second and fourth respec tively, while Madeline Vining and Emily Vining rounded out at sixth and seventh. For Illinois, this first-place perfor mance is attributed to Olivia Howell, senior All-American from Solon, Ohio, who finished first Saturday morning with a time of 17:17.8.
Senior Olivia Howell
“The balloonists are kind of a tightly knit group,” he said. “It’s easy to get the word out within the organizations, and most states have their own associa tions, etc. So, we kind of work through theOutsidenetwork.”of balloon-related activi ties, the festival will feature carnival rides and games, food vendors and a kids’ game tent that will include face painting, games, balloon twisting and a magic show.
The Champaign County Balloon Fes tival will take place from Sept. 23 to 24 at Dodds Park in Champaign, featur ing hot air balloons from across Illi nois and other regions. Although it’s the first time the fair is coming to the community, organizer Chris Diana said the event was initially planned to hap pen before the pandemic hit.
“2019 was the year we were shoot ing for, and we had some added logis tic delays, and then 2020 and 2021 were through COVID-19,” Diana said.
Diana said he and the other organiz ers have past experience working with children’s organizations and charities, which is how they choose this year’s donation recipients.
For those interested in learning more about the Champaign County Balloon Festival, visit underteensloonfestival.com.champaigncountybalTicketsforadultsandcost$10,andchildrenages12andcanenterfreewithapaidadult.
“Thesesaid.are specially equipped bal loon baskets that can anchor wheel chairs, for instance, and they have a Plexiglass door so that even if kids are in the chairs, they can see well,” Diana said.Diana said the weather played a role in the decision to hold the festival in September since it’s one of the “best months for lack of rain and pretty bal anced winds.” He said the time of day matters too, which is why the festival’s balloon events occur in the morning and“Weatherevening.balloons can only fly in a limited wind,” he said. “A lot of bal looning is either early in the morning or late in the day, which is why we’ve also incorporated the other things, like the carnival … for people to do during the day while they’re waiting for the balloons to take off.”
Chris Diana, Director of Champaign County Balloon Festival
This year’s proceeds will bene fit Crisis Nursery, Champaign-Urba na Special Recreation, Cunningham Children’s Home and AMBUCS, a membership organization that aims to help people with disabilities improve their mobility and independence.
“It’s amazing how many people are willing to step up and do things for free or do things at a vastly reduced rate,” he said. “This has always been a great community for that sort of thing.”
By Sydney Wood buzz Editor
He said the balloonists will also have a race during the balloon launch, where balloons will take to the air and attempt to drop a marker close to a tar get placed a few miles away.
“So, it’ll kind of fill the air with the balloons taking off, which again is one
swood2@readbuzz.com
A first-of-a-kind festival will make its debut in Champaign, with proceeds going toward charities that serve chil dren with disabilities.
Balloonists are “adventurous folks,” Diana said, and even though many of the balloons at the festival will be from Illinois, some are coming from Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS DIANA
Hot air balloons will be available for tether rides at the first annual Champaign County Balloon Festival, which takes place Sept. 23 and 24.
“The Balloon Glow, which is right after dark, that’s where all the bal loons are anchored to the ground, but they are running,” Diana said. “They’re inflated, they run the burners and they glow like big light bulbs, which is pret ty fascinating to look at.”
The DI · Wednesday, September 21, 2022 15BUZZ
“A lot of good charitable work and good children’s health work goes on in this community, too,” he said. “We have a lot of supportive people in organiza tions here to draw on.”
Inaugural balloon festival lands in C-U
“The balloonists are kind of a tightly knit group. It’s easy to get out the word within the organizations. ”
Diana said the most rewarding part of planning the fair is working with the sponsors, local organizations and others who are helping prepare for the festival’s debut.
of the things people love the most about watching balloons,” Diana said.
He said the festival has multiple functions, but it’s primarily a chari table“Theevent.purpose of it is to be a fund raiser for children’s groups – primar ily children with disabilities – and to bring some family-oriented entertain ment to the Champaign-Urbana com munity,” Diana said.
He predicted that the hot air balloon launches, tethered balloon rides and the Balloon Glow will be the most pop ular events at the festival.
The rides will start around 5 p.m. on both days of the festival, but the first two or three hours will be dedicated to giving rides to children with disabili ties, he
