Physical Sciences

Planet Orbiting a Giant Red Star Discovered with Hobby-Eberly Telescope
The Hobby-Eberly Telescope, one of the largest and most powerful telescopes in the world, photographed at dusk by Penn State Astronomer Lawrence W. Ramsey, a leader in the conception, design, construction, and operation of the telescope. Credit: Lawrence W. Ramsey, Penn State
What Happened Before the Big Bang?
Credit: Martin Bojawald, Penn State Spreading through a bounce: A state that initially has small fluctuations (left) bounces and develops larger fluctuations (right). Time proceeds along the horizontal axis, with the volume plotted vertically.
Richards Named Shapley Lecturer by American Astronomical Society
Schneider Receives C.I. Noll Award in Excellence in Teaching
Gamma-Ray Bursts Active Longer than Previously Thought
The X-ray Telescope on NASA's Swift satellite captured the intensity of a bright X-flare from GRB 060714. The elongated blue and gray regions are an artifact of the image processing (left). After the flare, (right) the GRB's X-ray emission faded considerably, revealing a faint afterglow. Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA / Swift / XRT Science Team.
New Method to Directly Probe the Quantum Collisions of Individual Atoms
Credit: James Collins Kurt Gibble pictured with an atomic clock.
Samarth Receives 2007 Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching
Gamma-Ray Birth Cries Suggest Massive Magnetic Engines
The core of a massive star in a distant galaxy collapses, ending its life — though there is little effect visible at the surface. Deep inside, twin beams of matter and energy begin to blast their way outward. (Image Credit: NASA/Swift/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet)
Discovery Reveals that Distant Quasars Live in Massive Dark-Matter Halos
The illustration shows the distribution of dark matter, massive halos, and luminous quasars in a simulation of the early universe, shown 1.6 billion years after the Big Bang. Credit: Paul Bode and Yue Shen, Princeton University
High-Quality Helium Crystals Show Supersolid Behavior
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