Science & Technology
Bats offer clues to treating COVID-19
Bats carry many viruses, including the one behind COVID-19, without becoming ill. University of Rochester biologists are studying the immune system of bats to find potential ways to “mimic” that system in humans.
Is teleportation possible? Yes, in the quantum world
Rochester physicists are exploring new ways of creating quantum-mechanical interactions between distant electrons. The research marks an important advance in quantum computing.
Does intelligent life exist on other planets? Technosignatures may hold new clues
Adam Frank, professor of physics and astronomy, is searching for “technosignatures,” or the physical and chemical traces of advanced civilizations, among the 4,000 or so exoplanets scientists have found so far.
Society & Culture
Corporate money in politics threatens US democracy—or does it?
In a new book, Rochester political scientist David Primo and his coauthor argue that the influence of campaign financing is misunderstood by voters, policymakers, the media, and political analysts.
What will it take to restore the economy after COVID-19?
Narayana Kocherlakota, the Lionel W. McKenzie Professor of Economics, says the prospects for economic recovery depend on how effectively we can combat COVID-19.
Susan B. Anthony Center director selected for national fellowship
Psychiatry professor Catherine (Kate) Cerulli will work with national health and health policy leaders as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow.
The Arts
Memorial Art Gallery reopens as Finger Lakes region enters Phase Four
With masks, social distancing, and other safety measures in place, the University’s museum has reopened and is once again welcoming visitors.
This year’s Art of Science competition a welcome respite from COVID-19
A student’s dazzling image of recrystallized urea, viewed under a microscope and shot with an iPhone, takes the top prize in the annual Art of Science competition.
A lottery picks the cast each night in production of Everybody
This spring, the University of Rochester’s International Theatre Program dives into the work of Everybody, and it is certainly not your typical theatrical production, with student actors playing a different role each night.
In Photos
Instrument to detect dark energy is poised for debut
Members of a University of Rochester cosmology group who are a key part of a multi-institutional effort to create the most detailed 3-D map ever made of the universe are looking forward to the launch of the instrument later this year in Arizona.
The team—Regina Demina, professor of physics; Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, postdoctoral research associate; Segev BenZvi, assistant professor of physics; and Kelly Douglass, visiting assistant professor of physics and astronomy—are working on the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project, an initiative to provide a more comprehensive look at dark energy and how it’s influencing the expansion of the universe. The instrument—including the 5,000 robotic positioners of the telescope’s focal plane (above)—will capture data from 35 million galaxies, potentially providing insight about the life cycle of galaxies and about the cosmic web that connects matter in the universe.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the lead institution on the project, announced on June 1 that DESI was complete and was moving toward its startup.
Student Life
Greene Center helps students retain summer internships
Despite the pandemic, the Greene Center helps connects students with opportunities to pursue life and career interests.
Finding a job during a recession? We’ve been there
University of Rochester alumni who graduated during the Great Recession of 2008–09 offer tips for finding a job during a recession.
Nearly 4,000 students receive their degrees—in online style
Members of the Class of 2020 marked a traditional milestone in unusual times, with an online conferral of degrees and at-home celebrations with remote family and friends.
Voices & Opinion
Time to combat coronavirus disinformation in ethnic communities
In a New York Times op-ed, Adnan Hirad ’20M (MD/PhD) writes that the deliberate spreading of misleading information about COVID-19 “has metastasized among Somalis in the United States and abroad.”
Historian: US once saw World Health Organization as part of foreign policy
When the World Health Organization was founded, the United States saw it as an extension of US foreign policy, says a University of Rochester historian.
COVID-19 demands a reckoning with hospitals’ fee-for-service business model
A health care system that prioritizes volume over routine care is “structurally incapable” of responding to the challenges presented by COVID-19, writes Mical Raz in a Washington Post op-ed.
University News
Spring’s abrupt shift to remote learning offers lessons for the fall
University of Rochester faculty are using the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic to prepare for a better remote learning experience in fall 2020.
UHS floor expansion project is complete
A project to add a floor to the UHS building has been completed, adding more space for psychiatry, mental health, and other programs.
University leaders address staff questions in virtual town hall
President Sarah Mangelsdorf and other University leaders provided updates on key issues affecting employees during a virtual panel discussion.