As AI systems move into factories, hospitals, and other real-world physical environments, safety, reliability, and effective human-AI collaboration become increasingly important. Ismini Lourentzou, assistant professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award to develop the next generation of embodied AI agents, systems that can reason, explain, and adapt as they act in the physical world. Her project, "Shaping Embodied Intelligence Through Language-Guided Introspection," will be supported by a five-year, $600,000 grant from the NSF.

How do children learn math? It’s shaped by what they know as well as their motivation and engagement. Historically, research on children’s math learning has been focused on parents’ cognitive practices (such as math talk – informal conversations that involve math), however emerging evidence shows how parents’ motivational practices (encouraging independence and helping children enjoy math) may also play a critical role in their math abilities. Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the United States aimed to address the limited attention on the role of parental motivational practices in their children’s math learning experiences. 

In lab settings, ultraviolet light deteriorates plastic so microbes can break it down further. But, in nature, plastic often persists in waterways for decades despite direct sunlight. While lab experiments often use purified water or unrealistic water chemistry, engineers found salts and other chemical constituents in natural waters suppress sunlight-driven degradation. Organic matter further slows down plastic degradation in freshwater and seawater.

Researchers have demonstrated the ability to use van der Waals forces to tune the physical and electronic properties of ferroelectric thin films. The work opens the door to new techniques for engineering materials for use in smaller, more energy efficient electronic devices.