Northwestern Media Relations
With no shortage of news to cover in 2020 — a global pandemic, protests around racial justice and a contentious presidential election — you might have missed some of the insightful research, breakthroughs and discoveries Northwestern University scholars across disciplines made in 2020.
This year, Northwestern experts found a new way to clean up oil spills, uncovered the limits of free market capitalism in a society with significant inequality and revealed that inside every human is a small amount of star dust.
Below are some of our biggest discoveries of the year in the areas of elections and misinformation; artificial intelligence; energy and sustainability; equity and opportunity; and events in the universe.
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Swarm robots model driverless cars
Lead researcher: Michael Rubenstein
An experiment involving 100 swarm robots brought driverless cars one step closer to reality. Engineer Michael Rubenstein developed an algorithm that allows the robots to safely navigate around one another without crashing or getting caught in a traffic jam.
AI used for early autism diagnosis
Lead researcher: Yuan Luo
Medical professor Yuan Luo developed an artificial intelligence model that can detect a subtype of autism before the patient presents any symptoms. Use of this tool could allow for early intervention during a period of critical brain development.
Astrophysicists detect intermediate mass black hole
Lead researcher: Christopher Berry
Astrophysicists discovered an object in the universe they previously thought didn’t exist – an intermediate mass black hole with a mass 142 times that of the sun. Vicky Kalogera, Christopher Berry and Chase Kimball contributed to the detection, made using gravitational waves.
Calcium in our bones comes from stars
Lead researcher: Raffaella Margutti
Astronomers learned that all of us have a bit of stardust in our composition. Raffaella Margutti led a team that uncovered the source of calcium in the universe, including in our teeth and bones. It comes from the last gasp of dying stars.
The unintentional implications of "breaking news" labels
Lead researcher: Stephanie Edgerly
The dominance of social media and data analytics changed the way we view news and elections. This year, researcher Stephanie Edgerly discovered why journalists might want to reconsider their use of the term “breaking news” if they want to hold their audiences’ trust.
Betting markets predict election outcomes
Lead researcher: Thomas Miller
Data scientist Thomas Miller developed a novel election forecasting platform that can determine the extent to which an event as small as a single tweet will impact the election results. His platform will be used to forecast results in the Georgia Senate runoff elections in January.
Magnetic sponge cleans up oil spills in water
Lead researcher: Vinayak Dravid
Engineers developed a new way to clean up oil spills without harming marine life. Vinayak Dravid’s magnetic sponge selectively absorbs oil in water. It can hold up to 30 times its own weight and can be reused dozens of times without losing its effectiveness.
Game Boy uses button presses for power
Lead researcher: Josiah Hester
No more worrying about dead batteries. Engineer Josiah Hester developed a Game Boy that’s powered by pushing buttons to play. The adapted gaming system represents an important step in reducing our reliance on environmentally hazardous batteries for consumer electronics.
White Americans overestimate racial progress
Lead researcher: Ivy Onyeador
Researcher Ivy Onyeador found that white Americans vastly overestimate the amount of progress that has been made on racial income inequality since the 1960s, which could have major policy implications when addressing racial injustice.
Free markets don't work in unequal societies
Lead researcher: Piotr Dworczak
Economist Piotr Dworczak discovered the limits of free market prosperity, finding that, in contrast to classic economic theory, sometimes price controls achieve a more optimal outcome than competitive markets – especially when there is significant societal inequality.