2021
Using chemistry to extract water from the air, even in the desert
November 3, 2021
Laura Gagliardi, the Richard and Kathy Leventhal Professor in chemistry, and a team of scientists developed a device to extract water out of air. The breakthrough can work even in dry climates like deserts, and could have implications for water shortages associated with climate change.
Scientists are one step closer to error-correcting quantum computers
November 2, 2021
Prof. David Schuster, Department of Physics, comments on why demonstrating quantum error correction is a necessity for building useful quantum computers.
Technique opens ‘new window’ to understanding planets in other solar systems
October 29, 2021
An international team of scientists using the Gemini Observatory telescope in Chile has found a way to measure the amount of both water and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere of a planet in another solar system, roughly 340 light years away.
PSD in the News - October 2021
October 28, 2021
This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to create materials that can move and block heat, use a massive accelerator to analyze dust from an asteroid, and build wearable devices for signing ASL and playing piano.
MicroBooNE’s new findings provide clues on longtime mystery in neutrino physics
October 27, 2021
Four complementary analyses released by the international MicroBooNE collaboration at Fermi National Laboratory show the same thing: no sign of the theoretical particle known as the sterile neutrino. Instead, the results align with the Standard Model of Particle Physics prediction: there are only three kinds of neutrinos.
Two PSD members honored in Spring 2022 APS Prizes and Awards
October 25, 2021
Two members of the Physical Sciences Division are among those who will be honored in the American Physical Society’s Spring 2022 Prizes and Awards. IMSI Director Phillip (Bo) Hammer was recognized as part of the TEAM-UP Task Force for the 2022 Excellence in Physics Education Award. Prof. Giulia Galli of molecular engineering and chemistry was recognized with the 2022 Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics.
Scientists find strange black ‘superionic ice’ that could exist inside other planets
October 25, 2021
Vitali Prakapenka, Research Professor with Center for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS), GSECARS, is among a group of beamline scientists who have seen a new state of matter at high temperature and pressure called superionic ice. With the help of several powerful tools, they have found a way to reliably create, sustain, and examine the ice, which will inform new understandings of planetary formation.
Quantum biosensing: medicine at the smallest scales
October 22, 2021
Chemistry professor and director of the new QuBBE initiative, Greg Engel, explains the convergence between the sensitivity that is possible with quantum measurement and the absolute need in biology to understand things on exactly these scales, a combination that makes quantum biosensing the frontier of biological measurements.
UChicago-led research team develops “blueprint” for quantum materials
October 21, 2021
Researchers at the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and institutions in Japan, Korea, and Hungary published a blueprint for a class of materials that is quickly emerging as an important player in quantum science: crystals with defects.
2-D room-temperature magnets could unlock quantum computing
October 21, 2021
Prof. David Awschalom of physics comments on the big obstacles to creating commercial spintronic devices or shrinking conventional data storage.
Ancient Martian ‘lake’ may have just been ephemeral puddles
October 20, 2021
Asst. Prof. Edwin Kite, Department of the Geophysical Sciences, responds to a new study on Martian terrain that suggests the ‘lake’ believed to be at the landing site of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover may have only been a series of smaller, transient puddles.
Bo Hammer, IMSI, awarded 2022 Excellence in Physics Education Award from APS
October 18, 2021
Philip (Bo) Hammer, Executive Director of IMSI, has been awarded the 2022 Excellence in Physics Education Award from APS. Hammer was cited for his work creating a national task force on the underrepresentation of African Americans in physics & astronomy.
Chemist Mark Levin named 2021 Packard Fellow
October 14, 2021
Assistant Prof. Mark Levin of the Dept. of Chemistry has received a 2021 Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering. Levin is one of 20 early-career scientists and engineers nationwide to receive the fellowship, providing $875,000 over five years to support his research into inventing a new chemical reaction that can “live-edit” molecules down to the level of single-atom precision.
To watch a comet form, a spacecraft could tag along for a journey toward the sun
October 14, 2021
Darryl Seligman, T.C. Chamberlin Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences, says ‘Centaurs’ near Jupiter could provide a unique opportunity to learn about the solar system.
Three UChicago scientists named 2021 fellows of American Physical Society
October 13, 2021
Prof. Yau W. Wah of the Dept. of Physics is among three UChicago professors to have been named 2021 fellows of the American Physical Society. Wah was recognized for “leadership in the experimental study of rare neutral kaon decays, in particular, the search for KL to pi0 nu nu-bar, the so-called ‘golden mode’ of rare kaon decays.” Prof. Liang Jiang and Prof. Aashish Clerk of Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering were also recognized.