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WSU Tri‑Cities student combining social sciences with military service

For National Guardsman Peter Nolan, a degree combining psychology, English, and sociology is the perfect complement to his military training.

Nolan spent four years post-high school serving in the military police through the U.S. Army.

Peter Nolan.But as his enlisted contract came to a close, he decided to leave active duty to pursue college full-time because he knew an education would provide him with not only the background and know-how to succeed in a future job but  also greater career advancement options.

Finding and attending Washington State University Tri-Cities, he said, has allowed him to continue pursuing a rewarding military career part time through the National Guard while studying at a top research university on a small campus.

“I wanted to go to a good school in a small, tight-knit community because that is truly the type of school environment where I thrive,” he said. “I decided to visit WSU Tri-Cities and thought, ‘this would be great.’”

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WSU Insider

Dr. Universe: How do earthquakes happen?

We’ve had a lot of earthquakes on our planet this year. Maybe you’ve learned about them from the news or felt one shaking up your own neighborhood. Earthquakes can happen in a few different ways.

Sean Long.First, it is important to know a bit about the Earth’s outer layer, or crust. The crust is made of seven big pieces called “plates.” They are about 60 miles thick and sort of float on the molten rock beneath them. That’s what I found out from my friend Sean Long, a geology professor at Washington State University who knows a lot about earthquakes.

These massive plates move very, very slowly—about one or two inches a year. But when plates slip over or under each other, collide or break away, an earthquake happens. Usually, they last just a few seconds but really big quakes can often last anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds.

After a big earthquake, we often feel a bunch of small earthquakes, or aftershocks. They happen as the crust adjusts to its new location, or settles into its new spot on the Earth’s surface. If one of the plates is under the ocean, sometimes an earthquake will trigger a wave called a tsunami. Depending on the earthquake strength, the wave can be massive or even just a few centimeters high.

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Dr. Universe

New federal grants support energy research

Kelvin Lynn.
Lynn

Kelvin Lynn, Regents Professor of Physics and faculty member in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, has received a $200,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office to advance solar research and development.

Lynn, Boeing Chair for Advanced Materials, and his group are working to improve cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar technology. Silicon solar cells represent 90 percent of the solar cell market, but CdTe solar cells offer a low‑cost alternative. They have the lowest carbon footprint in solar technology and perform better than silicon in real world conditions, including in hot, humid weather and under low light.

Researchers have been working to improve the efficiency of the technology but have been unable to reach its predicted limits. Two years ago, Lynn’s group made a key improvement in the technology by carefully adding a small number of phosphorus atoms during the manufacturing process, improving its open‑circuit voltage, or the maximum voltage available from the solar cell. The researchers are leaders in crystal growth research and technology and their crystal growth and doping methods have led to higher quality materials for detectors and photovoltaics.

The project is part of the Energy Department’s FY2018 Solar Energy Technologies Office funding program, which invests in new projects to lower solar electricity costs and to support a growing solar workforce.

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WSU Insider

More than half of marijuana users think it is safe to drive high

Carrie Cuttler.
Cuttler

Driving high is both illegal and dangerous but more than half of marijuana users think it is safe, according to research by Carrie Cuttler, assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University.

Cuttler and colleagues at the University of California and Bastyr University Research Institute conducted an anonymous survey of marijuana users from all 50 states to determine their beliefs about the safety of driving shortly after consuming some form of cannabis.

Slightly more than half of the survey’s nearly 2,000 respondents (52.4 percent) reported believing that driving under the influence of cannabis is safe.

Over half of those surveyed (52.1 percent) also admitted to driving within one hour of cannabis use.

“Driving while under the influence of cannabis does increase the risk of being in a car accident, especially when it is combined with alcohol,” Cuttler said. “As the trend towards the legalization of recreational cannabis continues across the country, we need to do a better job of communicating these risks without blowing them out of proportion. The scientific community also really needs to renew its efforts on developing reliable and accurate ways to detect acute cannabis intoxication because these currently don’t exist.”

In addition to surveying marijuana users from across the country about their feelings on driving under the influence of cannabis, the researchers surveyed marijuana users before and after the legalization of recreational cannabis in Washington State.

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WSU Insider
Science Blog

Climate change affects breeding birds

The breeding seasons of wild house finches are shifting due to climate change, a Washington State University researcher has found.

Heather Watts.
Watts

The effect of climate change on the breeding season of birds has been documented before, but in a limited context. Heather Watts, an avian physiologist, reported her finding in Ibis, the International Journal of Avian Science.

“We know that many birds are breeding earlier as temperatures get warmer,” Watts said. “Almost all of those studies are on birds that eat insects or other animals. What we don’t know is if seed-eating birds are shifting the timing of breeding too.”

Until now.

Studying seed-eaters is important because it can help clarify how temperature is affecting breeding habits. It is still uncertain if temperature is having a direct effect on the animals or if it causes indirect effects like shifts in the timing of plant growth. Previous studies suggest that plant-eating animals are likely to experience stronger effects due to climate change compared to those that eat other foods because of these indirect influences.

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