Skip to content

Posts Tagged Department of Physics and Astronomy

Posts Loop

illustration of a laser pulse on glass-like beads
Science & Technology
June 20, 2018 | 03:38 pm

Laser bursts generate electricity faster than any other method

A University researcher who predicted that laser pulses could generate ultrafast electrical currents in theory now believes he can explain exactly how and why actual experiments to create these currents have succeeded.

topics: Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ignacio Franco, Materials Science Program, nanotechnology, research finding, School of Arts and Sciences, URnano,
illustration of the head statues on Easter Island
Science & Technology
June 4, 2018 | 11:27 am

Alien apocalypse: Can any civilization make it through climate change?

Does the universe contain planets with truly sustainable civilizations? Or does every civilization that may have arisen in the cosmos last only a few centuries before it falls to the climate change it triggers? Rochester astrophysicist Adam Frank and his collaborators have developed a mathematical model to illustrate how a technologically advanced population and its planet might develop together, putting climate change in a cosmic context.

topics: Adam Frank, climate change, Department of Physics and Astronomy, featured-post-side, planets, research finding,
Rush Rhees Library
University News
May 23, 2018 | 04:21 pm

‘High-risk’ research receives University seed funding

University Research Awards for 2018-19 have been awarded to 15 projects ranging from an analysis of the roles of prisons in the Rochester region, to a new approach to genome editing, to new initiatives for advanced materials for powerful lasers.

topics: Center for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Anthropology, Department of Art and Art History, Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of English, Department of Neurology, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Psychology, Department of Religion and Classics, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Institute of Optics, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, research funding, School of Arts and Sciences,
six portraits
Campus Life
April 27, 2018 | 02:40 pm

Six Rochester students receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Four undergraduates and two graduate students have been selected to receive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, providing support for US students pursuing graduate degrees in STEM fields.

topics: awards, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Department of Linguistics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Psychology, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, National Science Foundation, School of Arts and Sciences,
drawing of dinosaurs in a city landscape
Science & Technology
April 16, 2018 | 11:21 am

We think we’re the first advanced earthlings—but how do we really know?

Imagine if, many millions of years ago, dinosaurs drove cars through cities of mile-high buildings. A preposterous idea, right? In a compelling thought experiment, professor of physics and astronomy Adam Frank and director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Gavin Schmidt wonder how we would truly know if there were a past civilization so advanced that it left little or no trace of its impact on the planet.

topics: Adam Frank, Department of Physics and Astronomy, featured-post-side, planets, School of Arts and Sciences,
the HAWC observatory
Science & Technology
November 16, 2017 | 02:19 pm

In the mystery of positrons, dark matter is leading suspect

Scientists at the HAWC Gamma Ray Observatory have ruled out two pulsars as the source of an unexpectedly large presence of positrons in our corner of the galaxy. Could they come from something more complex and exotic: dark matter?

topics: dark matter, Department of Physics and Astronomy, featured-post-side, research finding, School of Arts and Sciences, Segev BenZvi,
animation of one vall being shuffled under two cups and then revealed to be two balls, one under each cup
Science & Technology
November 8, 2017 | 12:14 pm

Quantum magic makes quick work of measuring frequency

Using the strange rules of quantum mechanics, researchers were able to put a quantum bit in a superposition of two different energy states at the same time in order to speed up the accurate measurement of frequencies.

topics: Department of Physics and Astronomy, featured-post, quantum science, research finding, School of Arts and Sciences,
field of stars
Science & Technology
September 7, 2017 | 02:35 pm

Rochester leads new multi-institutional effort to study ‘extreme matter’

Institutions including Cornell, Michigan, Princeton, and Stanford will join Rochester in developing an instrument to produce and study matter that exists under pressures far higher than either on or inside Earth.

topics: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Physics and Astronomy, high-energy-density physics, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, planets, research funding, School of Arts and Sciences,
rendering of a planet
Science & Technology
September 7, 2017 | 09:37 am

Climate change for aliens

For more than 50 years, the Kardashev scale has been the gold standard for classifying hypothetical “exo-civilizations” by their ability to harness energy. A team of researchers led by Rochester astrophysicist Adam Frank have devised a new system that takes into account the impacts of that energy use.

topics: Adam Frank, climate change, Department of Physics and Astronomy, exoplanets, planets, research finding, School of Arts and Sciences,