Physical Sciences, Math, and Engineering
Sewage power
WPSU-FM's Cynthia Berger visits Bruce Logan in his lab and gets the lowdown on his innovative fuel cell.
Future fuel?
The energy source of the future must be cheap, renewable, and environmentally clean. Is hydrogen the answer? Take a glimpse into the future-building activities of Penn State researchers, ranging from fundamental materials chemistry to collaborations with Pennsylvania's growing fuel-cell industry.
Nuclear history
Penn State's Breazeale Nuclear Reactor celebrates 50 years.
The Legacy of Three Mile Island
The anniversary of a disaster: Remembering the accident at Three Mile Island, more than a quarter-century later.
Was Einstein right?
Relativity celebrates 100 years of scrutiny.
Swift in Space (November 2004 - January 2005)
Every day, deep in space, a black hole is born. And now a new space observatory called Swift will help researchers track these phenomena. Join science writer Barbara Kennedy and Penn State scientists at Kennedy Space Center, while Dana Bauer reports from Mission Control in State College.
It's about time
An in-depth look at how time shapes our lives and the universe around us. Based on the 2004 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Inc., and Penn State's Eberly College of Science, and organized by Barbara K. Kennedy, coordinator of college relations.
What Flares May Tell
A solar flare is an enormous event on a star, says Mercedes Richards. And they may have significantly impacted the evolution of life on Earth.
Making Muscles
Engineer Qiming Zhang isn't a bodybuilder, but he spends a lot of time making muscles.
Frozen Telescope
Astrophysicist Doug Cowen is developing a telescope to map the far reaches of the universe.
Lock it in Rock
Important chemical reactions occur in nature, but they take time, sometimes hundreds of millions of years. This is the case of binding serpentine with carbon dioxide to lower the emissions from vehicles, factories, and power plants.
Sounds Cool
When the "music" starts, this refrigerator turns on. Steve Garret has discovered the thermal properties of sound.
Crystals within Crystals
Long-Qing Chen has looked to supercomputers to determine which metal mixture is required for the next generation of jet engines. His computer models crunch complex equations to generate images of crystals embedded with crystals.
Beyond Earth
Next stop: Mars? In an era of renewed discovery, experts in space exploration and planetary science are starting to look closely at the technological, social, and political hurdles that remain before humans can live on other worlds.
Clay into Plastic
For decades, researchers have worked at boosting the properties of plastic by adding "fillers." Now Evangelos Manias is working on a new type of additive: natural clays.
Spiraling out of Control
Vin Crespi, a Penn State physics professor, jumps from liquid crystals to rotini when he compares the spiral structure of a molecule to that of a delicious Italian dinner.
Surface Sensation
Craig Grimes and his team have come up with an etching method that turns a flat titanium surface into a densely packed forest of tubules, which could be used in supersensitive hydrogen detectors for diagnosing disease.
Model Stomach
Engineers James Brasseur and Anupam Pal have developed a sophisticated model to determine where in the stomach a tablet, such as those used for antihistamines and blood-pressure medications, is released and broken down.
On a Limb
Have you ever stepped on the scale and wondered just how much of that number was made up by the weight of your leg? Research in this area can be valuable to the study and restoration of movement in the elderly.
Thinking Like a Mathematician
On the Pinch-Off of a Pendant Drop
The Fractal Dances of Nature
