Science & Technology

Understanding how a cell commits resources to building new parts — and eventually divides into two cells — is the focus of a new grant for Shankar Mukherji, assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences. The research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Michael J. Krawczynski, assistant professor in Arts & Sciences, received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to research the evolution of super-hydrous magmas in the Earth’s crust. Krawczynski will explore how volcanoes work, especially how water affects the evolution of volcanoes and their behavior.

Li Yang, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, received a three-year $375,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Doping Effects on Excited-State Properties of Two-Dimensional Moiré Crystals.”

The remains of microscopic plankton blooms in near-shore ocean environments slowly sink to the seafloor, setting off processes that forever alter an important record of Earth’s history, according to research from geoscientists, including David Fike in Arts & Sciences.

With NASA’s latest balloon technology, Johanna Nagy in Arts & Sciences is looking 13 billion years into the past, using the oldest light in the universe, to precisely measure the polarization of the microwave sky.

Brian Rauch, research assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, co-authored a study in Physical Review Letters that suggests that certain cosmic rays move through the galaxy differently. The research addresses fundamental questions about how matter is generated and distributed across the universe.

James H. Buckley, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, received a $4.9 million award from NASA to build a demonstration version of a large satellite experiment for gamma-ray astronomy research. Washington University leads the entire effort to develop the instrument, which is planned to launch on a scientific balloon in 2024.

Maia Cohen and Ellie Moreland, who graduated in May, each received named prizes in special recognition for their academic achievement.

Maria Piarulli, assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, was selected by the Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program for her research program, “From Atomic Nuclei to Infinite Nucleonic Matter within Chiral Dynamics.”

Michael W. Friedlander, professor emeritus of physics in Arts & Sciences, died April 29, 2021, in St. Louis. He was 92.