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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

Finding could improve nuclear reactors, detectors

Cigdem Capan
Cigdem Capan

A Washington State University physics instructor and undergraduate have taken part in a study aimed at getting a better understanding of plutonium, a complex element with far-ranging applications in the fields of energy, security and the environment.

WSU Tri-Cities physics instructor Cigdem Capan and undergraduate Richard Dempsey worked with a team of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists that found plutonium does not share electrons when it bonds with fluoride atoms. They have published their findings in the journal Physical Review B.

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PNNL

New capability supports U.S. energy, security needs

Yogendra Gupta
Yogendra Gupta

The Dynamic Compression Sector, a first-of-its-kind-worldwide research capability, will help unravel the mysteries of material behavior at extreme conditions and short time scales.

The National Nuclear Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Washington State University  will dedicate the DCS in a ceremony hosted by WSU this week at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source near Chicago.

The DCS will help address challenges related to the nation’s energy and national security needs, understand the structure of planetary interiors and make new, lightweight materials for industrial, aerospace and automotive applications.

“DCS supports a broad range of multidisciplinary research and will allow scientists to observe material behaviors and the underlying microscopic mechanisms using techniques that have not been possible before,” said Yogendra Gupta, director of the WSU Institute for Shock Physics.

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WSU News

 

Researchers ‘watch’ crystal structure change in real time

Yogendra Gupta
Yogendra Gupta

Washington State University researchers have met the long-standing scientific challenge of watching a material change its crystal structure in real time.

Their discovery is a dramatic proof of concept for a new way of discerning the makeups of various materials, from impacted meteors to body armor to iron in the center of the Earth.

Until now, researchers have had to rely on computer simulations to follow the atomic-level changes of a structural transformation under pressure, said Yogendra Gupta, Regents professor and director of the WSU Institute of Shock Physics. The new method provides a way to actually measure the physical changes and to see if the simulations are valid.

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WSU News

Moons of ‘Alien Jupiters’ – “Best Bets for Life Beyond Our Solar System”

Recently published research in astrophysics suggests that some moons of exoplanets — planets beyond our solar system — are the right size, in the right position and have sufficient water to support life.

Dirk Schulze-Makuch
Dirk Schulze-Makuch

WSU astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch responded to the research findings, saying: “Everyone right away tends to categorically exclude the possibility of life on Io.” Conditions on Io might have made it a friendlier habitat in the distant past. If life did ever develop on Io, there is a chance it might have survived to the present day, Schulze-Makuch suggested. » More …

Student research supports LIGO, flight, bone development

Three undergraduate students were awarded $3,000 research grants from Washington River Protection Solutions as part of the Chancellor’s Summer Scholars Program at WSU Tri-Cities.

The students will conduct research collaboratively with faculty mentors, developing skills to prepare them for careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) or a related field. Two of the three mentors are members of CAS faculty. » More …