When it rains, sometimes we can see oil on the street rise to the top of puddles and spread out into a rainbow of colors. One of the main reasons we see color is because of light, said my friend Cigdem Capan, a physics instructor at WSU.
Seasons can be quite different depending on where you live. But no matter where you live, the reason for the seasons has to do with the way the Earth rotates. I talked to my friend Vivienne Baldassare, a WSU physics and astronomy professor to find out exactly why we have seasons.
When we look around our world, we can find all kinds of shadows. One way we can explore the answer to your shadow question is with a little experiment. My friend Anya Rasmussen, a WSU physics professor, told me all about it.
After finishing up an Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University, Vivienne Baldassare’s career options were as vast as the galaxies she studies. The supportive environment in WSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy won her over, and she joined the faculty as an assistant professor in August. “I wanted to be somewhere I could make a […]
Over the next decade or so, enormous breakthroughs in quantum theory and engineering are expected to deliver products that will boggle the mind. The revolution includes the work of visionary researchers at WSU like theoretical physicist Michael Forbes. Forbes, whose voice carries traces of his Canadian roots, studies the extreme properties of neutron stars. When […]
Experts in quantum computing, sensing, and simulation with cold atoms gathered on the WSU Pullman campus in February for a Northwest Quantum Nexus (NQN) workshop and to discuss the state of quantum physics research in the region. The workshop, held prior to the current meeting restrictions, focused particularly on the role of atomic systems in […]
With 2020 being a Leap Year—a once-every-four-years manifestation created to deal with our imprecise notion of a year being 365 days—WSU experts looked back on the development of the modern calendar. Ancient civilizations depended on the cosmos above to guide their decisions, said Michael Allen, a senior instructor in physics and astronomy. “We know from […]
When you look up at the night sky, it can feel like the universe is a big blanket of stars above you. But unlike a blanket, the universe doesn’t have corners and edges. Far beyond what humans can see, the universe keeps going. As far as humans know, it never stops. To learn more, I […]
WSU physicist Brian Collins explores the nano structures of polymers—large molecules with many repeating units. Most of us know polymers from everyday life as plastics. Because they’re flexible, polymers can be used to make all sorts of electronic devices, such as phones—or solar panels. Primarily made of carbon, one of the first big success stories […]
If you are anything like me, you probably like watching for shooting stars in the night sky. A shooting star, or a meteor, is usually a small rock that falls into Earth’s atmosphere. When I went to visit my friend Michael Allen, a senior instructor of astronomy and physics at WSU, he told me a […]