Physical Sciences

Effectiveness of tool is demonstrated on recent super-Earth discovery at Barnard’s star

UCI’s Frederick Reines Hall is home to happy astronomers after this week’s announcement of NASA’s selection of the new Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer mission. The two-year, $242 million SPHEREx is targeted to launch in 2023. Asantha Cooray, UCI professor of physics & astronomy, will head one […]

Scientists at UCI and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have shown that synthetic nanopores can possess the same ion-transporting and differentiation capabilities as living tissue. They detail their discovery in a study published today in Science Advances. “Biological systems use ion selectivity to chemically store and exchange energy, making it available for use when needed,” said […]

Data science will help identify best practices to preserve California’s forests, wildlands

Interdisciplinary experts convened on campus for two-day public conference on looming existential threat

A study by scientists from UCI and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has revealed a gigantic cavity on the underside of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. The hole is reportedly two-thirds the area of Manhattan, about 1,000 feet tall and expanding. The findings were published today in Science Advances. The researchers expected to find gaps between […]

Scientists at UCI’s Irvine Materials Research Institute have made a breakthrough in directly imaging a platinum precursor compound and its dynamic transformation into nanocrystals. The observation was made in real space and time in IMRI’s state-of-the-art transmission electron microscope facility. The research team’s results were published today in Science Advances. Knowing the dynamics and kinetics of materials […]

Soroosh Sorooshian, director of UCI’s Center for Hydrometeorology & Remote Sensing and Distinguished Professor of civil & environmental engineering and Earth system science, has been elected a fellow of the International Union of Geodesy & Geophysics. A renowned expert in water resources engineering, Sorooshian has vast experience working with global organizations and looking at the […]

EVENT:  On Sunday evening, the moon will turn an eerie blood-red, the effect of a total lunar eclipse as Earth’s shadow passes over its surface. UCI’s Department of Physics & Astronomy invites the public to campus for a viewing party and educational event to commemorate this rare astronomical phenomenon. The gathering will feature an informative lecture […]

The ammonia you use to clean and disinfect your kitchen floor starts off as nitrogen, a gas that makes up almost 80 percent of Earth’s atmosphere. But the conversion requires the breaking of a strong triple-chemical bond in a high-heat, high-pressure industrial process. UCI physicist Huolin Xin worked with his colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory […]