December 2022    
         
         
 
     
  Drawing on research  
     
  At first glance, you may see a snowcapped mountain or delicate petals on a winter-blooming tree. But look closer at UChicago professor of chemistry Bozhi Tian’s artwork and you’ll notice these images don’t quite capture the world as it is. They meld scenes of nature with hints of technology, much as Tian’s research merges biological and synthetic systems.  
     
  Tian’s research—like his lab’s solar-powered pacemaker—is inspired by the natural world: its shapes and textures and patterns. And that influence suffuses his artwork, which is often created in conjunction with his science.  
     
  This month µChicago presents a selection of Tian’s art. See more images and read their full stories in the Fall/22 issue of the University of Chicago Magazine.  
     
  Light excitement  
     
 
 
 
  Image: Imagine a snowy mountaintop with a gondola cable straddling the peak, but on a nanoscopic scale. This scanning electron microscope image shows a neuron with a silicon nanowire, which works like a solar cell, perched on top. When a light is shined on it, the wire converts photons into electric energy, stimulating—or exciting—the neuron.  
     
  Nano-neuro blossoms  
     
 
 
 
  Image: Highlighting recent breakthroughs in neural sensing and modulation, and the potential for biomaterials to treat neurological disorders, Tian illustrated a plum blossom tree (which blooms in winter). Its branches are neuron dendrites—treelike protrusions that carry signals from other neurons—as seen under an optical microscope.  
     
  Transformative stain  
     
 
 
 
  Image: The opalescent swirls on silicon membranes, as seen here under an optical microscope, aren’t created by dyes or pigments. The color comes from a process called stain etching, which eats through the surface of the silicon, leaving holes that scatter light, creating colored “stains.” But the process does more than cast psychedelic patterns—it creates nanoporous material that functions like a solar cell.  
     
 
 
  In case you missed it  
     
 
 
 
OB/GYN: Gynecology care and research still lag but are making gains.
 
 
Audible: The way sound exists in nature is complicated.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
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