WSU physicists have a new laboratory in outer space. On May 20, the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), a remotely operated research platform, blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) where it will be used by researchers to probe quantum phenomena that would be impossible to observe on Earth.
Professor Peter Engels and graduate student Maren Mossman will use CAL remotely » More …
Early in the 20th century, a five-foot-tall golden microscope on the Washington State University campus was the most powerful imaging device on the continent. Despite its scientific significance, it has been largely lost from the pages of history.
“Europe’s first electron microscope earned its inventors a Nobel prize and is on display at the Deutsches Museum, the world’s largest museum of science and technology, while nobody really knows about our instrument.” said Michael Knoblauch, biology professor and director of WSU’s Franceschi Microscopy and Imaging Center. “Something of this significance should be in the Smithsonian.” » More …
From the health benefits of the Lucky Iron Fish to advances in detecting hydrogen polysufides to the cultural impact of a Brazilian composer’s work, 17 CAS students received top honors at the 2018 Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) competition in April. Hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research, SURCA features faculty-mentored research, scholarship, and creative activities by undergraduates from all majors, grades, and campuses.
“Each presentation evidences the new knowledge brought to one’s field and also reflects the personal and professional growth » More …
From rising inequality and declining Monarch butterfly populations to a particle with negative mass, news coverage about the College of Arts and Sciences research reached millions of people last year.
News outlets carrying the stories ran the gamut of the nation’s most popular media, including CNN, The Washington Post and National Public Radio, as well as specialty science publications like Science and all the region’s major news vehicles. » More …
You can try all kinds of fun experiments at home. It really all depends on what you are curious about. Lately, I’ve seen some really great sunsets and started wondering what gives them their colors.
I decided to ask my friend Tom Johnson, who leads fun physics demonstrations for kids visiting Washington State University. I asked him if he had any simple ideas for an experiment I could try out in my lab, or even the kitchen. One idea he had was to create a sunset in a cup. » More …
PULLMAN, Wash. – A group of WSU researchers has discovered a way to modify diamonds that opens up important applications in the field of quantum computing and in radiation detection.
Kelvin Lynn, professor of physics and of mechanical and materials engineering, and his team were using very thin strips of diamond inside a particle accelerator when they made an intriguing scientific discovery — by accident. » More …
Recipient of the WSU Crimson Spirit Award for October 2017 is Tom Busch, a fiscal analyst in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Nominators praised him for noteworthy extra efforts and consistently exceeding expectations, and commended his in-depth knowledge of policies and procedures. Busch is the “go-to” person for help and advice for grant proposal submission, grant reconciliation, and » More …
A new study by Washington State University researchers answers longstanding questions about the formation of a rare type of diamond during major meteorite strikes.
Hexagonal diamond or lonsdaleite is harder than the type of diamond worn on an engagement ring and is thought to be naturally made when large, graphite-bearing meteorites slam into Earth.
Scientists have puzzled over the exact pressure and other conditions needed to make hexagonal diamond since its discovery in an Arizona meteorite fragment half a century ago. » More …
Brian Collins, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, has received one of only 59 national Early Career Research awards from the U.S. Department of Energy for 2017. Around 700 scientists from across the country applied for the award.
The five-year, $750,000 grant will support Collins and his team of graduate and undergraduate students in their research developing and testing new resonant X-ray scattering techniques that reveal how organic, carbon-based molecules assemble, orient and conform into nanostructures. » More …
A new device being developed by Washington State University physicist Yi Gu could one day turn the heat generated by a wide array of electronics into a usable energy source.
A multi-component, multi-layered composite material called a van der Waals Schottky diode, the WSU device converts heat into electricity up to three times more efficiently than silicon, a semiconductor material widely used in the electronics industry. While still in an early stage of development, the new diode could eventually provide an extra source of power for everything from smartphones to automobiles. » More …