News

Solar wind is composed of charged particles and the sun’s magnetic field and is continually released from our star. Explore the phenomenon discovered by Professor Emeritus Eugene Parker, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation has released the first episode of a new podcast series, Carry the Two. Hosted by Sadie Witkowski and Ian Martin, episode one tackles using mathematical tools to examine STEM policy documents, specifically addressing EDI.

John Schiffer, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Chicago and former director of the Physics Division at Argonne, died on June 6. Over a career spanning nearly 70 years, Schiffer contributed to research on nuclear structure, crystalline beams, and neutrinoless double beta decay, and he played a key role in the development of a spectrometer concept that is now part of several radioactive ion beam facilities.

UChicago EPIC, co-founded by Prof. Bob Rosner, found that particulate air pollution takes 2.2 years off global average life expectancy. This impact on life expectancy is comparable to that of smoking, more than three times that of alcohol use and unsafe water, six times that of HIV/AIDS, and 89 times that of conflict and terrorism.

A new 35-mile extension has been built upon Argonne National Laboratory’s already 89-mile (144-kilometer) quantum loop, launched in 2020. The total network now connects to the South Side of Chicago, putting the city at the heart of one of the largest quantum networks in the country and further solidifying the region as a leading global hub for quantum research.

Asst. Prof Alex Ji, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is the co-author of the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey (S5) map that aims to probe the secrets of stellar streams, or shredded remains of neighbouring small galaxies and star clusters, that are being torn apart by the Milky Way. 

An inaugural cohort of a dozen students will join quantum research labs around the Midwest this June, planting the seeds for a diverse and inclusive quantum workforce.

Roland Winston, formerly chair of the UChicago Department of Physics, will be retiring from UC Merced this summer at age 86. Winston is a pioneer of efficiently harnessing solar radiation as an energy source. He was a student and faculty member in PSD from 1952 until 2003.

The standard model describes everything scientists have seen at particle colliders so far. Prof. Juan Collar comments on experimental particle physics and the uncertainty of the search beyond the standard model.

UChicago geochemists Nicolas Dauphas, Andrew Davis, and Reika Yokochi are part of a team assembled to help Japanese researchers analyze samples from asteroid Ryugu collected by Hayabusa2. The pristine rock is similar to a class of meteorites known as “Ivuna-type carbonaceous chondrites” and are thought to date back to the very beginnings of the solar system.

Physics graduate student Katrina Miller traces histories of Black women physicists and astrophysicists in the PSD, in a personal essay for Wired Magazine. She writes, “I just wanted to be a scientist, not a trailblazer. But in my field, people like me are anomalies—and we face constant scrutiny for our race and gender.”

UChicago scientists invented an entirely new way to make a solar cell: by etching holes in the top layer to make it porous. The innovation could form the basis for a less-invasive pacemaker, or similar medical devices.

Prof. Guangbin Dong has been named a 2022 Blavatnik National Awards Finalist in Chemistry. From the group of 31 finalists, three winners—in life sciences, chemistry, and physical sciences & engineering—will be named on June 29. The honorees were chosen from a highly competitive pool of 309 nominees from 150 leading universities and scientific institutions from 38 states across the United States.

The Physical Sciences Division has selected nine graduate students to receive a William Rainey Harper Dissertation Fellowship for the 2022-2023 academic year.  

UChicago Chancellor Robert Zimmer was awarded Harvard University’s 2022 Centennial Medal for his superlative leadership of one of the world’s finest universities, and for his principled advocacy for the core mission and values of higher education on the national and global stage.