News
Two Physics graduate students selected as finalists in the Natural Sciences division for the 2020 Grad Ben Talks
Congratulations to Pedro Bernardinelli, "Hunting for Icy Bodies in the Outer Solar System" and Võ Tiến Phong, "An Electron Wave Conspiracy" who were selected as finalists in the Natural Sciences division for the 2020 Grad Ben Talks.
Penn Science Cafe: "Physics of Mechanical Metamaterials Design" - Professor Andrea Liu
Andrea Liu and her lab have discovered new principles that allow them to easily design mechanical metamaterials. These include some with a negative Poisson ratio, which stretch in the horizontal direction when you stretch them vertically. (Most materials have a positive Poisson ratio, so that if you stretch them vertically they contract in the horizontal direction, like a rubber band). They are also working with systems that have even more complex responses inspired by biology, like allostery, which underlies nearly every biochemical process in our bodies.
Eleni Katifori describes how biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient
How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient - Physicists describe how vascular networks, collections of vessels that move fluid, nutrients, and waste, balance robustness with “cost” to create a diverse array of structures and designs.
Cullen Blake works on a new astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets
New astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets - A state-of-the-art instrument called NEID, from the Tohono O’odham word meaning “to see,” collected its “first light” and is poised to look for new planets outside the solar system.
From the Yodh Group: Drops of liquid crystal molecules branch out into strange structures
Shaped by surface tension and elasticity, spherical drops of chain-like liquid crystal molecules transform upon cooling into complex shapes with long-reaching tendrils.
Mirjam Cvetic awarded the Alexander von Humbolt Prize
Congratulations to Professor Mirjam Cvetic, who has been elected the recipient of a Carl Friedrich von Siemens Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This award has been granted in recognition of Mirjam's accomplishments in research and teaching.
Postponed Exam
Physics and Astronomy
Postponed Exam
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
DRL A1
Professor Mark Trodden at the Penn Science Café: Embracing the Dark Side: In Search of the Missing Pieces of the Cosmic Puzzle
WHO: Mark Trodden
Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of
Physics and Department Chair
Penn Researchers create better light-trapping devices
A new study shows how the performance of optical resonators can be improved using topological physics, which can lead to more efficient lasers, sensors, and telecommunication devices.