Science & Technology

The Department of Physics in Arts & Sciences is offering a series of free public lectures in advance of the 2024 total solar eclipse. The first one, taking place Saturday, Feb 10, is titled: “Cosmic coincidence: The science of eclipses.”

Ramesh Agarwal, the William Palm Professor of Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering, has been awarded the SAE International Award for Aerospace Innovation.

Eighteen years after NASA’s Stardust mission returned to Earth with the first samples from a known comet, the true nature of that icy object is coming into focus, according to physicist Ryan Ogliore in Arts & Sciences.

Manel Errando, an assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded a $375,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct studies of active galactic nuclei.

WashU engineers visited Kennedy Space Center to report research progress and to understand testing capabilities for alternative feedstocks in biomanufacturing.

Artificial light at night is making it more difficult to see the stars, especially in urban areas. The observatory at Tyson Research Center makes the most of its secluded location, offering a unique viewing experience.

Alex Chen and Yajie Yuan, both assistant professors of physics in Arts & Sciences, have received a $447,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create a unified model of pulsars, rapidly rotating neutron stars that release mysterious pulses of electromagnetic radiation.

Yajie Yuan, an assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, will lead a study of plasmas in neutron star magnetospheres, as part of a new collaboration funded by the Simons Foundation.

NASA and the European Space Agency chose Ryan Ogliore and Kun Wang, both in Arts & Sciences, for the Mars Sample Return Measurement Definition Team. This group will help realize the science potential of the first samples ever to be returned from another planet.

Bradley Jolliff in Arts & Sciences is part of the team that will develop the surface science plan for Artemis III, the first crewed lunar landing mission in more than 50 years.