
CAREER awards spur junior researchers along varied paths
Four Rochester researchers from four different fields are 2019 recipients of the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious recognition for junior faculty members.

‘Optical tweezer’ takes Nobel concept in a new direction
Rochester researchers are trapping nanoparticle-sized silica beads in an “optical tweezer” in a series of experiments that could shed new light on the fundamental properties of lasers.

Study suggests how high blood pressure might contribute to Alzheimer’s
New Rochester research may help explain the connection between high blood pressure and Alzheimer’s disease, and it’s all to do with how the brain pumps away waste.

Collaborative ‘back and forth’ drives progress on freeform optics
With a second five years of funding from the National Science Foundation, the Center for Freeform Optics is a collaboration working to develop devices that are lighter, more compact, and more effective than ever before.

Group ‘cleaves’ oxygen from surface of metal oxide, enhancing reactivity
A new method of opening solid state materials to oxygenation, using metallic oxide clusters, can eliminate guesswork from discovery of new catalysts. The ultimate goal is to more efficiently convert greenhouse gases to useful fuels.

Ultimate vacuum chamber creates nothing
The concept of nothingness is the subject of everything from children’s books to philosophical debate. In the universe, however, is nothing ever possible? How have scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians thought about the concept of nothing throughout history and up to the present?

Researchers unravel more mysteries of metallic hydrogen
Liquid metallic hydrogen is not present naturally on Earth and has only been created in a handful of places, including the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics. LLE scientists are researching the properties of liquid metallic hyrdrogen to understand how planets both inside and outside our solar system form magnetic shields.

Measuring each point of a beam of light
A University of Rochester research team has devised a much simpler way to measure beams of light—even powerful, superfast pulsed laser beams that require very complicated devices to characterize their properties.

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.

Compound could transform energy storage for large grids
University of Rochester chemists are working on changes to existing batteries to provide clean energy when the sun isn’t shining and the wind doesn’t blow.