By Kelly Pflaum, Medill Reports

Nuclear energy continues to play an important role in meeting U.S. energy needs, the source of 20 percent of the country’s elelctricity.

Yet it will be 20 to 30 years before we can expect to see a major revival in the nuclear energy industry, according to Rober Rosner, director of the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago.

Current policy and the safety and cost of operations all present challenges to the future of nuclear energy, Rosner said at a recent nuclear energy program sponsored by the Chicago Council on Science and Technology.

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By Stephanie Novak and Brooke Workneh

Harvard-trained neuroscientist Lisa Genova broke into fiction after watching the progression of her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s disease. In a talk at Northwestern University Tuesday, Genova discussed Alzheimer’s and aging and the inspiration behind her bestselling novel, “Still Alice.” Before the program, we spoke with the author about the book she based on her grandmother’s illness. Genova continues to merge neuroscience and fiction in her novels, she said. Her lecture, followed by a panel discussion, was sponored by the Chicago Council on Science and Technology. Genova lives in Cape Cod with her husband and three children.

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By Steve Koppes, UChicago News

The University of Chicago’s new Science on the Screen series will begin with a showing of the Academy Award-winning movie, A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe, beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6 in Screening Room 201 of the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts.

Science on the Screen is sponsored by the UChicago Arts | Science Initiative, the Office of the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories, and the Chicago Council on Science and Technology. This new series will focus on the cinematic portrayal of science, technology, engineering and mathematics through screenings and discussions with leading UChicago experts.

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