Physical Sciences

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
Microprinting Technique for Patterning Single Molecules
credit: Paul Weiss lab, Penn State Microcontact Insertion Printing Left: Single molecules are inserted into a preexisting layer in microscopic regions that are defined by a patterned elastomeric stamp. Right: Complex and overlapping chemical patterns can be fabricated employing multiple stamping steps. (scanning electron micrograph, field of view 90 µm x 90 µm)
Top High-Energy Astronomy Prize Awarded
Top High-Energy Astronomy Prize Awarded
Seven or Eight Dwarf Galaxies Discovered Orbiting the Milky Way
Researchers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II) announced the discovery of eight new dwarf galaxies, seven of them satellites orbiting the Milky Way.
Astronomers Discover New Kind of Black-Hole Explosion
Hubble Space Telescope image of the host galaxy of the "hybrid gamma-ray burst" GRB 060614 (centered in the small box).
Taking Nanolithography Beyond Semiconductors
A new technique of chemical patterning developed at Penn State combines conventional lithography with molecular self-assembly for the creation of multifunctional surfaces.
New Technique Studies How Plastic Solar Cells Turn Sunlight into Electricity
A plot of the wavelength of emitted infrared light vs. the time delay of the light emission provides information about the path of an electron within a plastic solar cell. This information about how the cell makes an electric current from light will lead to improvements in the efficiency and usable lifetime of solar cells.
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