University of Illinois College of LAS

Confetti filled the city’s skies when Rio de Janiero was named the host of the 2016 Olympics, breaking the hearts of Chicagoans and making Brazil the first South American country to host the games. But like so many things in Latin America, the Olympics raise both hopes and fears.

Papaya farmers can be a funny sort. Ask them if they’d rather have a boy or girl, and without hesitation every last one of them will say “hermaphrodite”—if they’re talking about papayas, of course. A plant biologist at U of I is working to grant them their wish.

Prior to 1989 you rarely saw photos of the Berlin Wall’s east face. There were plenty of pictures of the western side, what with all the graffiti and Pink Floyd lyrics splayed across it, but the opposite side rarely made the news. ...

There are many obstacles to success, but who would have thought that praise could be one of them? Psychologist Carol Dweck is so certain of it that she has devoted much of her career warning that a well-meant compliment could be dangerous to a child’s future.

One and one still make two, just like they did in the 1800s. The problem, say educators, is that some math classrooms still operate basically the same way they did in the 1800s, too.

Few buildings have served the University of Illinois as long and with as many purposes as the ever-evolving Lincoln Hall.

There are legends of different ghost stories around the University of Illinois campus, one of which revolves around the English building and the supposed suicide of one of the students.

Anyone alarmed by the disappearance of one of Lincoln Hall’s most endearing features need not worry. Abraham Lincoln may belong to the ages, but his bust still belongs to the University of Illinois.

Eleven University of Illinois students were nearing the end of a seven-mile hike around Ribbon Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Under a steady drizzle, they had trudged through grassland and a spruce/fir forest—the “Mud March” they called it. ...

Four LAS alums have each been recognized for his or her body of work—a full career of groundbreaking achievements. But in 2009, a common thread runs throughout these bodies of work—and that is the human body itself. ...

Among the many surprises associated with the discovery of the oldest known, nearly complete skeleton of a hominid is the finding that this species took its first steps toward bipedalism not on the open, ...

Between planning, producing, and buying advertising, most public health campaigns run out of cash long before organizers can evaluate whether they made a difference.