Physics and Astronomy | CAS in the Media | Washington State University

^{CAS in the Media} _{Arts and Sciences Media Headlines}

Flyin’ high: WSU flag launched to record altitude in stratosphere

May 15, 2014

Ol' Crimson flying high — Ol’ Crimson flying high

The Washington State University flag has flown in many places around the world – from ESPN Game Day to the Great Wall of China – and now more than 18 miles into the stratosphere.

A Cougar flag attached to a weather balloon recently launched from the center of the Pullman campus reached nearly 100,000 feet, presumed to be a record-breaker for the WSU banner. The flight was part of a WSU Physics and Astronomy Club student project; now the flag is up for auction.

45 undergraduates named top researchers in SURCA competition

April 28, 2014

Thirty-nine awards were presented recently to 45 WSU students—many in the College of Arts and Sciences—at the third annual Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) 2014.

The work of 192 students University-wide was detailed in 11 oral and 145 poster presentations open to faculty, staff, students, and guests. More than 100 judges evaluated the presentations. The judges included WSU emeriti faculty and retirees, faculty, staff, and post-doctoral students as well as experts from companies outside of WSU.

While many students from urban campuses traveled to participate, SURCA was made available to two place-bound students thanks to web conferencing provided by the Global Campus. A Pullman student studying abroad in Mexico and a WSU Vancouver student who was unable to attend SURCA in person talked “live” to their judges who were in the senior ballroom of the Compton Union Building.

More about the competition and list of winners

Persistent photoconductivity discovery continues to make headlines around the world

December 6, 2013

News of a potential four hundred-fold conductivity increase in strontium titanate crystals by WSU researchers was reported in newspapers, on blogs, in academic circles and over the airwaves from Seattle to Toronto to Europe to the Philippines. (See original post on 11/14/2013.)

Read the published research paper

Listen to the KPLU-FM story

Other sources:

United Press International
ProEdgeWire
Science Blog
La Colmena
Ubergizmo
Gadgets & Tech
French Tribune
DotGizmo
Gizmodo
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Tech Today
AllVoices
Energy and the Environment
GMA News Online
Yahoo Philippines News
Spokesman-Review.com
Geek.com
The EDGE
LunaticOutPost
Innovation Toronto
Digital Journal

Light exposure improves conductivity

November 14, 2013

Quite by accident, Washington State University researchers have achieved a 400-fold increase in the electrical conductivity of a crystal simply by exposing it to light. The effect, which lasted for days after the light was turned off, could dramatically improve the performance of devices like computer chips.

WSU doctoral student Marianne Tarun chanced upon the discovery when she noticed that the conductivity of some strontium titanate shot up after it was left out one day. At first, she and her fellow researchers thought the sample was contaminated, but a series of experiments showed the effect was from light.

Other sources:
Nanowerk
Nanotechnology News
VRForums
innovations-report
someone somewhere
ScienceNewsline
Machines Like Us
ZME Science

Physics pumpkin drop featured on ESPN

October 15, 2013

The 9th Annual Pumpkin Drop, hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy every year during Dad’s Weekend, received national attention during ESPN coverage of the Oct. 12 football game.

Or watch the “splatacular” video on youtube