University of Chicago

A fascinating new study from scientists at the University of Chicago is offering the very first placebo-controlled clinical research testing the mood-altering, physiological and behavioral effects of tiny LSD microdoses.

Cell division is one of the most fundamental biological functions, but there’s still so much about it that we don’t understand. In an attempt to find out more, researchers have now managed to recreate cell division outside of a cell for the first time, surprising even themselves.

A new study has examined the riverbeds on Mars in close detail and found they were far thicker and dried out far later than previously thought, suggesting that for billions of years, Mars was home to gushing waterways even wider than those on Earth today.​

A novel form of treatment could help cut back on a person’s desire for cocaine and reduce its damaging effect in the body. The method involves removing a small patch of skin, introducing genes that produce cocaine-degrading enzymes, and then grafting it back onto the patient.

The universe as we know it is made up of three spatial dimensions, right? But some physics models suggest the existence of extra dimensions that we can’t perceive. In an effort to find evidence of these dimensions, researchers have studied gravitational waves and come up empty.

The Sun was far more active in its early years, but we only really know this from studying other similar stars. Now, researchers have found the fingerprints of this active young Sun in tiny, bright blue crystals preserved in meteorites from a collection at Chicago’s Field Museum.

​There are already portable breathalyzers that let people put a number to their inebriation. However, what's a person to do if they want to receive a score on how high they are? Well, in the not-too-distant future, they could use the University of Chicago's "Am I Stoned" app.

The first intriguing findings have been released from the Dark Energy Survey, a project studying the mysterious force that seems to be accelerating the expansion of the universe. The study has discovered 11 new stellar streams, the remains of other galaxies that our own Milky Way has torn to shreds.

A team at the University of Chicago recently developed a process to deliver CRISPR-based gene therapy to mice via skin transplants. The technique was effective in treating diabetes, but potentially can be utilized for a wide variety of diseases.

The blue whale may be the largest animal ever, but new research has found it only claimed the title relatively recently. By comparing the bones of modern whales to fossils, a team of scientists has traced the growth spurt to about 4.5 million years ago, when climate change increased the food supply.

​Back in February, NASA announced seven Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the red dwarf TRAPPIST-1. The system is one of our best bets for finding life beyond Earth, and new research suggests that life could jump between the tightly-packed planets in a matter of decades.

Sufferers of celiac disease have an intolerance to the dietary protein gluten, but what causes the condition isn’t fully understood. Researchers have found that a common virus could set the stage for the disease – and vaccinating against that virus could help prevent it from ever taking hold.