2015

Oregon State Spinoff Aims to Improve Residential Solar Panel Affordability

Solar power has been around for decades, but the high cost of solar panels has kept them out of reach for most homeowners. That could change thanks to technology developed at Oregon State University that’s being commercialized by Corvallis-based startup Beet Inc.

Chemist Receives DOE Early Career Award: Ohio State’s First

Robert Baker, assistant professor, chemistry and biochemistry; is one of 50 outstanding young researchers from around the country—and Ohio State’s first—receiving 2015 Department of Energy Early Career Research Awards

Physicists Advance Understanding of Electrical Vortices in Certain Materials

Computational physicists at the University of Arkansas have developed a novel method that accurately reveals how electrical vortices affect electronic properties of materials that are used in a wide range of applications, including cell phones and military sonar.

James Olsen: Perspective on the World's Biggest Particle Collider Coming Online Again

Olsen, who oversees all physics results produced by the CMS Collaboration, which consists of more than 2,500 physicists, discussed the discoveries that lay ahead at the LHC.

Nanoscale Solution to the Big Problem of Overheating in Microelectronic Devices

A research team led by Matthew Mecklenburg of University of Southern California (USC) and Chris Regan of University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), presented findings that are a major step forward in understanding temperatures in microelectronic devices.

Pitt Astronomers Exploring Dark Energy

Astronomers at the University of Pittsburgh have been working on developing a new project known as DESI, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument.

Rutgers-Led Research Team Makes Major Stride in Explaining 30-Year-Old ‘Hidden Order’ Physics Mystery

Findings may lead to new kinds of materials for electronics and superconducting magnets.

New Catalyst Uses Light to Convert Nitrogen to Ammonia

Method developed by Northwestern University scientists could lead to more environmentally friendly fertilizer production.

Penta-graphene, A New Structural Variant of Carbon, Discovered

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and universities in China and Japan have discovered a new structural variant of carbon called "penta-graphene" – a very thin sheet of pure carbon that has a unique structure inspired by a pentagonal pattern of tiles found paving the streets of Cairo.