News
Dark Energy Survey 5-year mission begins
The 5-year quest by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) team is underway (3 September 2013) to solve the cosmic detective puzzle of why the expansion of the universe is speeding up rather than slowing down. Penn physicists are playing integral roles on the team and on the mission. Prof. Bhuvnesh Jain is leader of the Penn contingent and co-coordinator of the gravitational lensing group. Prof. Gary Bernstein is co-leader of the Science Verification team that has been fine-tuning the DES camera. Assoc. Prof. Masao Sako is co-coordinator of the Supernovae group working with Prof.
Anshuman Pal selected as finalist for Apker Award
Penn undergraduate major Anshuman Pal has been chosen as a finalist for the American Physical Society's 2013 LeRoy Apker Award. Each year, this award recognizes outstanding achievements in physics by 2 undergraduate students (one from a PhD granting institution and one from a non-PhD institution) who have demonstrated great potential for future scientific accomplishment. Anshuman was nominated for his work with Prof. Gene Mele on understanding the electronic behavior for "twisted graphenes".
Charlie Johnson appointed as the new Director of NBIC http://www.nanotech.upenn.edu/
We are pleased to announce that Prof. A. T. Charlie Johnson has been appointed to the position of Director of the Nano/Bio Interface Center as of July 1. Charlie has been on the NBIC Executive Committee since its inception and has been instrumental in the growth of the Center. He brings a combination of leadership in collaborative research and a clear vision for the future of the Nano/Bio Center.
The Mysteries of Stuttering
Prof. Arjun Yodh's research indicates that stuttering may be caused by blood flow and hemodynamic changes in parts of the brain that control speech. Scientific American's blog describes the results from non-invasive imaging of the brain.
Nano-Noses: Cyborg Devices for Detecting Molecules
World Cafe Live will feature Charlie Johnson, Professor and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Affairs for Physics and Astronomy. On Tuesday, July 23, 2013 from 6-7pm at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut Street), Prof. Johnson will present his research on how biological structures attached to flat or rolled-up lattices of carbon atoms have enabled his team to build new kinds of sensors for detecting things like Lyme disease bacteria and sniffing out certain cancers.
Online, open-source Mechanics Textbook released
Emeritus Physics Prof. Michael Cohen has released an updated version of his free, open-source, online textbook on Mechanics. This is a supplemental text intended to give students in freshman first-semester physics course a different perspective from their existing course text. The online text is available in the Resources section of this website.
Nigel Lockyer named Fermilab Director
Penn Adjunct Professor of Physics Nigel Lockyer has been named the next Director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. A Fellow of the American Physical Society and 2006 winner of the APS Panofsky Prize, Nigel is the Director of Canada's TRIUMF laboratory for nuclear and particle physics and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of British Columbia. In early September he will assume the role of Fermilab Director where he will develop strategy for the nation's premier laboratory for particle physics and shepherd a new generation of experiments.
B-meson oscillations at CDF
An article in this month's Physics Today magazine describes the CDF collaboration's measurement of Bs oscillations. The plot shown in the article is derived from a published plot of Penn post-doc, Aart Heijboer, working in Prof. Joe Kroll's group at the time. This is one of the major results in hadron collider physics of the last 30 years.
Math/Physics/Astronomy Library CLOSED for renovation
Math/Physics/Astronomy Library CLOSED for renovation effective June 11 - Aug. 5, 2013. Please return books to Van Pelt Library, Engineering Library, or any other Penn Library. Questions? Call Van Pelt Circulation Desk: (215) 898-7566
TechConnect National Innovation Award
Graphene Frontiers, a company co-founded by Prof. Charlie Johnson, received a 2013 TechConnect Innovation Award at the TechConnect National Innovation Showcase May 14-15 in Washington, DC. These awards select the top early-stage innovations from around the world through an industry-review process based on the potential positive impact the technology will have on a specific sector of industry. The company also won the Best Materials Company and People's Choice Award at the New Jersey Council Venture Conference in March 2013.