Front Page News

From published papers and national awards to student success stories and alumni Q&A's, we're sharing the latest, greatest news from School of Physical Science faculty, researchers, students, alumni and staff. Scroll to the bottom to access the news archives.

	The Two Faces of Liquid Water Scientists from UC San Diego have uncovered a key finding to one of water's unique properties: at high pressure and low temperature, liquid water separates into two distinct liquid phases — one high-density and one low-density.
	Seeing Yourself in the Stars UC San Diego undergraduates Julian Jackson, Peera Serumaga and Lauren Cadle share their thoughts on attending the National Society for Black Physicists conference, their passion for astronomy and why representation matters.
	8 Trailblazing Women Educators Throughout UC San Diego’s 65-year history, women -- including Margaret Burbidge and Maria Goeppert Mayer -- have been at the forefront of education and mentorship. Their contributions have sparked innovation, nurtured minds and inspired generations of Tritons.
	Max di Ventra Elected to National Academy of Inventors Professor of Physics Massimiliano di Ventra has been elected a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) in recognition of his innovative research and technology development.
	Eyes in the Sky UC San Diego faculty visit the Lick Observatory regularly to conduct experiments, collect data and provide students with hands-on learning experiences. Here’s an inside look at how we look at the stars.
	A New Way to Observe Electrons in Motion Electrons are incredibly fast. Because of their ultrafast motions, directly observing their behavior has been challenging. Researchers from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have suggested a new method to make visualizing electron motion a reality.
	Astronomy and Astrophysics Embraces a New Year of Discovery UC San Diego is positioning itself as a leader in astronomical research as its new Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics is building a world-class program for faculty-scholars and students.
	Follow the Water We know there is water on the moon, but how do we find it? Knowing where to look gives astronauts the best chance at successfully living on the moon. Mark Thiemens and his son, alumnus Max Thiemens, have determined the likely origin of lunar water, which may help guide future space missions.
	Using Infrared Heat Transfer to Modify Chemical Reactions In a joint experimental-theoretical work, a team of researchers, including theorists from UC San Diego, have shown for the first time that heat transfer in the form of infrared radiation can influence chemical reactions more strongly than traditional convection and conduction methods.
	Itay Budin and Christopher Obara Named Allen Distinguished Investigators The pair, who discuss their work in this Q&A, will receive $1.5 million over three years to develop visualization and tracking techniques to observe key cellular functions in unprecedented detail.
	Uncovering Clues to a Natural Gene-Editing Technique Diversity-generating retroelements are found in the genomes of microorganisms across the globe, and are able to accelerate evolution to help microorganisms adapt to changing environments. Using cryoEM, chemistry professor Partho Ghosh has figured out the first steps of this evolution by visualizing the relevant proteins and RNA.
	Uncovering a Key Step in How Diazotrophs “Fix” Nitrogen Chemistry professors Akif Tezcan and Mark Herzik took a multi-pronged approach to better understand how diazotrophs "fix" nitrogen — a critical process to life on Earth — while also protecting themselves from oxygen exposure.
	Visualizing a Key Step in How an Enzyme Produces an Antibiotic NRPS enzymes are essential in creating medications like penicillin. Notoriously difficult to study, Professor of Chemistry Michael Burkart has developed crosslinking tools that make the enzymes easier to visualize.
	The Future of Computing is Physics Since its founding, UC San Diego has been at the forefront of physics research. Ivan Schuller and Oleg Shpyrko talk about artificial intelligence, the future of computing and why physics researchers play the long game.
	On the Origin of Life: How the First Cell Membranes Came to Exist Few questions have captivated humankind more than the origin of life on Earth. New research from Professor of Chemistry Neal Devaraj has uncovered a plausible explanation involving a simple chemical reaction.
	Explaining Science Through Dance Professor of Chemistry Joel Yuen-Zhou and graduate student Matthew Du orchestrated a dance with high school students as a way to explain topological insulators.
	New Model Brings Insight to Cell Organelle’s Structure and Function Phyiscs Professor Elena Koslover's group has helped build a new model to investigate the unique structure of the cell's endoplasmic reticulum and how this structure supports its function.
	Fan Chung Graham Receives 2024 Revelle Medal Distinguished Professor Emerita of Mathematics and Computer Science & Engineering Fan Chung Graham holds the Paul Erdös Chair in Combinatorics at UC San Diego. She received this year's Revelle Medal for her distinguished and extraordinary service to campus.
	Meet Shelley Wright, UC San Diego Astrophysicist Astronomy Professor Shelley Wright has spent her career building telescopes and astronomical instruments to study of supermassive black holes, distant galaxies and even the search for other life. Learn more about her work in this Q&A.
	Wei Xiong Recognized with Two National Awards Wei Xiong has been named a Brown Investigator and a Blavatnik Award finalist. He and his team of researchers study novel light-matter interactions as a way to control and understand how the structure and dynamics of materials change when they interact with photons.
	Spinning Out a New Biomaterials Startup Is Harder Than You Think Spider silk, long prized for its strength and elasticity, has created something of a furor in the biomanufacturing world, but a comprehensive study conducted by a team of students shows that there are many challenges facing the spider silk industry.
	$21 Million from NIH to Study Sensory Input and Movement Physics professor David Kleinfeld will lead a global research team that will continue studying how the brain processes sensory input and the resulting movement of the facial organs and head.
	UC San Diego Scientists Lead the Way with NSF CAREER Awards Chemistry professor Fleur Ferguson has received a prestigious NSF CAREER award, which recognizes promising early career researchers. Her work on targeted protein degradation will help us learn more about the treatment and prevention of degenerative diseases.
	STEM Girl Summer Even today, women remain underrepresented in STEM careers, especially in male-dominated fields like physics, engineering and mathematics. Physics graduate student Robin Glefke hopes to change that with STEM Girl Summer.
	How a Picky Enzyme Helps Fight Infection Phospholipid enzymes play a crucial role in our body's inflammatory immune response. For the first time, researchers from chemistry professor Ed Dennis's lab have reported on the selectivity of these enzymes in macrophage cells, revealing new insights that may help treat disease.
	Dean's Undergraduate Excellence Awards (2024) The Dean's Undergraduate Excellence Awards recognize students in the School of Physical Sciences who have demonstrated academic excellence and promise as researchers. This year we recognize 30 outstanding students.
	How Comb Jellies Have Adapted to Life at the Bottom of the Ocean Chemistry Professor Itay Budin teamed up with researchers from around the country to study the cell membranes of comb jellies and found they had unique lipid structures that allow them to live under intense pressure.
	Tracking a Low-Mass Star as it Speeds Across the Milky Way Professor of Astronomy Adam Burgasser's lab helped identify a rare hypervelocity L subdwarf in the Milky Way. But why is it in such a hurry and where is it going?
	Brewing Coffee and Understanding Turbulence The key to a perfect cuppa? Directed percolation! Physics Professor Nigel Goldenfeld used this concept to solve a 150 year old physics problem of how turbulent fluids move through a pipe.
	Two Scientists Elected to Royal Society Congratulations to Professor of Physics Nigel Goldenfeld and Professor of Chemistry Mark Thiemens on being elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom’s national academy of sciences.
	A Change of Direction Assistant Professor of Physics Mattia Serra has developed a new method that can manipulate the movement of embryonic cells using short-time attractors — a concept Serra had previously developed and adopted to help search and rescue operations at sea.
	Meet Ph.D. Student Etienne Palos Etienne Palos is a graduate student in Francesco Paesani's lab. He's studying physical chemistry and heading to Europe as a Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings Fellow.
	A New Gene-Editing System Tackles Complex Diseases Alexis Komor's lab has developed new, efficient genome editing tools called multiplexed orthogonal base editors (MOBEs) that can help model complex polygenic diseases.
	Helping Transfer Students Thrive in Science T-REx is a four-week summer program designed to help incoming transfer students gain valuable research experience, meet peers and faculty, and build confidence before the school year starts.
	Hot and Cold: an Exo-Earth and Its Ultracool Star A team of scientists, including Astronomy Professor Adam Burgasser's lab, have discovered a hot exo-planet orbiting an ultracool star named SPECULOOS3-b. Sounds delicious but you wouldn't want to live there.
	Staff Spotlight: Sherry Seethaler Sherry Seethaler's latest book provides guidance on how to effectively communicate technical and scientific work to broader communities.
	Ken Intriligator Joins Prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences Ken Intriligator joins the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His groundbreaking work is revealing new ways to describe the entire universe within a single theory of elementary particles and fields.
	Five UC San Diego Scientists Elected AAAS Fellows School of Physical Sciences faculty members Peter Ebenfelt, Natalia Komarova and Wei Xiong were named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this year.
	What Is a Solar Eclipse? Eclipses are awe-inspiring to scientists and non-scientists alike. Quinn Konopacky gives a quick overview of what a solar eclipse is, why it's important and how to view it safely.
	Kimberly Prather in 99 Seconds Kim studies how aerosols, including pollutants and pathogens, impact the global climate and human health, even miles away from the ocean. Watch a quick video about her work.
	Student Spotlight: Bretton Simpson Bretton Simpson is a senior physics major specializing in astrophysics. He's been fascinated by astronomy his entire life. Learn more about his studies, his hopes for the future and why he thinks the cosmos is too beautiful to give up on.
	Say Hello to Biodegradable Microplastics An alternative to petroleum-based plastics whose microparticles biodegrade in less than a year can help make the environment cleaner and healthier for animals and humans. Michael Burkart and Skip Pomeroy have found a way.
	How Superconductors are Helping Computers “Remember” To advance neuromorphic computing, physicists look to advance not just software, but hardware too. Research from Robert Dynes and Q-MEEN-C shows a promising new way to store and transmit information using superconducting loops.
	The Spontaneous Nature of Turbulence Physics Professor Nigel Goldenfeld shows that even molecular motions can create large-scale patterns of turbulence over a finite period of time.

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