Physical Sciences

"How to Hunt for Signs of Alien Life," a free public lecture on February 24
Lisa Kaltenegger higher res
Squire Booker selected as Holder of the Eberly Distinguished Chair in Science
Squire Booker
Big black holes outpace their galaxies in growth
An image from the Chandra Deep Field-South (blue, the deepest ever obtained in X-rays) combined with an optical and infrared image from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST; red, green, and blue). Each Chandra source is produced by hot gas falling towards a supermassive black hole in the center of the host galaxy, as depicted in the artist’s illustration.
"What makes a planet habitable?" is a free public lecture on February 17
james-kasting-higher-res
"The Birth of Habitable Planets" is a free public lecture on February 10
Rebekah Dawson
Is there life on other planets? Learn the latest research on February 3: "Choose Your Own Adventure: Planet Edition"
Sarah Ballard
"New Tools for Finding the Closest Earth-Like Planets" -- a free public lecture on January 27, 2018
Suvrath Mahadev
Three types of extreme-energy space particles may have unified origin
This image illustrates the "multi-messenger'' emission from a gigantic reservoir of cosmic rays that are accelerated by powerful jets from a supermassive black hole. Credit: Kanoko Horio
New neuron-like cells allow investigation into synthesis of vital cellular components
The enzyme called FGAMS (red) is expressed in human neuron-like cells, which suggests its involvement in the synthesis of purines, a component of DNA involved in many other cellular and metabolic processes. Using a new method to create synthetic neurons from a readily available cell line, a new study explores the role of FGAMS in creating a multi-enzyme complex called the purinosome, which enables faster production of purines. Credit: Colleen Mangold, Penn State
"How to Look for a Liveable Planet" is a free public lecture in a series that begins on January 20
John Johnson
Subscribe to Physical Sciences