News from

Physics

Reset All Filters
177 Results
Scientists observe composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time
Artist's impression of spherical binary nanocrystal superlattices featuring semiconductor (emissive) and magnetic/plasmonic (non-emissive) nanocrystals.

A collaborative team of researchers led by PIK Professor Christopher B. Murray has observed for the first time composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time. The discovery could enable engineers to more reliably manufacture next-generation materials by combining different nanocrystals. Shown here is an artist's impression of spherical binary nanocrystal superlattices featuring semiconductor (emissive) and magnetic/plasmonic (non-emissive) nanocrystals.

(Image: Courtesy of Emanuele Marino)

Scientists observe composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time

The findings could enable engineers to more reliably manufacture next-generation materials by combining different nanocrystals.
Decoding acoustic objects
Photo of Lily Wei.

Mentored by Vijay Balasubramanian of the School of Arts & Sciences, third-year Lily Wei spent the summer deciphering how the brain recognizes auditory objects.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

Decoding acoustic objects

Third-year student Lily Wei spent the summer conducting research in the lab of Vijay Balasubramanian using algorithms to propose how the brain may recognize acoustic objects.
Biophysics summer school in Crete
Photograph of Cretian landscape overlooking a body of water.

This summer, Eleni Katifori and Arnold Mathijssen of the School of Arts & Sciences organized a weeklong summer program in Crete where students from Penn and other institutions could network about topics and ideas in active biophysics research.

(image: Courtesy of Eleni Katifori)

Biophysics summer school in Crete

Eleni Katifori and Arnold Mathijssen spent a week in Crete, introducing students from Penn and other institutes to various topics and ideas in active biophysics research.
Russia aims to restore prestige in race to moon’s south pole
The Wall Street Journal

Russia aims to restore prestige in race to moon’s south pole

Benjamin L. Schmitt of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Weitzman School of Design says that sentiment in the scientific and astronaut communities has begun to shift toward a future in which NASA and Roscosmos are no longer close partners.

Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest?
Thousands of small galaxies appear across this view. Their colors vary. Some are shades of orange, while others are white. Most appear as fuzzy ovals, but a few have distinct spiral arms. In front of the galaxies are several foreground stars. Most appear blue, and the bright stars have diffraction spikes, forming an eight-pointed star shape. There are also many thin, long, orange arcs that curve around the center of the image.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is rich with detail.

Thousands of galaxies—including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared—have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it.

Webb’s Near-Infra Red Cam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus—they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features.

(Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest?

Penn Professors Vijay Balasubramanian and Mark Devlin offer a broader understanding of a recent paper’s claim that the universe could be 26.7 billion years old.
Euclid Space Telescope launches exciting new possibilities
Shot of Falcon 9 Rocket launching from Cape Canaveral at Kennedy Space Center

The European Space Agency’s latest astrophysics mission, Euclid, lifted off on a Space X Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, at 17:12 CEST on 1 July 2023. Euclid has now started its month-long journey to Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2, located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, in the opposite direction from the Sun.

(Image: iStock / Robert Michaud)

Euclid Space Telescope launches exciting new possibilities

Professors of physics and astronomy Bhuvnesh Jain, Mark Trodden, and Gary Bernstein discuss the coming research findings from the European Space Agency’s Euclid Space Telescope.
Exploring the relationship between cooking and scientific discovery
Laser tomography of champagne glasses.

Laser tomography of champagne glasses: (left and right) counter-rotating convection cells self-organize at the air-champagne interface, and (center) stabilized eddies in a surface-treated glass.

(Image: Fabien Beaumont, Gérard Liger-Belair, and Guillaume Polidori)

Exploring the relationship between cooking and scientific discovery

Penn physicist Arnold Mathijssen and colleagues have authored a review article discussing the history of food innovations and the current scientific breakthroughs that are changing the way we eat.
On a different wavelength, Nader Engheta leads a community in light
nader engheta in his lab

nocred

On a different wavelength, Nader Engheta leads a community in light

2023 Franklin Medal winner Engheta is one of the world’s biggest names in wave physics. The Penn Engineering professor is renowned for his unique approach to science, combining technical brilliance, creativity, and care.

Devorah Fischler

Nine women who changed science are featured in a new Philly exhibit
Philadelphia Inquirer

Nine women who changed science are featured in a new Philly exhibit

A new exhibit at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia celebrates the late Mildred Cohn, a biochemist at the Perelman School of Medicine who fought to reduce discrimination in academia.