Physical Sciences

The Arisian Lens
ESTABLISHING THE RESOLUTION OF THE ARISIAN LENS To determine the resolution limit of the Arisian Lens, the Mahadevan team used a standard created by the United States Air Force. Resolution is determined by the largest set of three bars that a system cannot distinguish. The Arisian Lens was able to distinguish even the smallest group of bars, suggesting that it has a resolution limit at, or below, 0.78μm. Credit: Arpita Roy, Mahadevan Lab
New $18M facility catalyzes synthesis and novel study of 2D materials
This sophisticated apparatus in Davey Lab will allow scientists to create new two-dimensional materials and study them, still in vacuum, at the atomic scale. Photo credit: Nate Follmer
New sodium-ion electrolyte may find use in solid-state batteries
An interdisciplinary team discovered a new structure of a material that may one day replace the materials used in rechargeable consumer electronics batteries. Credit: Penn State
Alumna Sylvia Biscoveanu awarded Soros Fellowship
Sylvia Biscoveanu
Nobel Laureate Rainer Weiss presents “Probing the Universe with Gravitational Waves” on April 18, 2018
Rainer Weiss / credit Bryce Vickmark
Chemistry 2018 Graduate Student Awards
Nova-like explosion of spinning live bacteria explained
Image: iStock Photo / gremlin
NASA scientist to present Friedman Lecture in Astronomy on April 10, 2018
Joseph Masiero
Penn State to participate in consortium to demonstrate remote monitoring of nuclear reactors
Boulby potash, polyhalite and salt mine on the northeast coast of England is Great Britain's deepest mine and the home of the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Boulby Underground Laboratory. The mine, operated by ICL-UK /Cleveland Potash Ltd, is expected to be the site of the Advanced Instrumentation Testbed project, a new international multi-laboratory and university collaboration for nonproliferation research.
NASA set to launch Penn State led experiment
Randall McEntaffer, professor of astronomy and astrophysics and of physics at Penn State and principal investigator of WRX, works on the instrument during integration at the NASA Flight Facility. Credit NASA/Berit Bland
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