Physics

Grad Student Discovers, Patents Process to Create “Nanofoams” in Liquid Crystals

February 25, 2019

A women in a blue lab coat wearing a blue latex glove holds a microscope slide up to the camera.

It sounds like an easy-to-follow recipe from the world of molecular gastronomy: Dissolve nanoparticles in liquid crystals and cool to form frothy nanofoams, tiny tubes and hollow microspheres. But what fifth-year doctoral student Sheida Riahinasab and physics Professor Linda Hirst actually...

New Consortium Seeks to Expose Students to a Galaxy of Opportunities

Imagine exploring the cores of stars to understand — and ultimately control — the type of fusion that’s taking place. High-energy density (HED) science is the study of properties and behavior of matter and radiation in extreme...

Jonathan Daniel, who is working on a doctorate degree in Physics, is part of the Cal-Bridge program funded by NSF.

$5 Million Cal-Bridge Grant Aims to Boost Physics, Astronomy Ph.D. Diversity

UC Merced is part of a concerted effort to dramatically increase diversity in physics and astronomy over the next five years. The campus is one of nine University of California campuses and 15 California State University campuses awarded a $5 million...

Frustration and Compromise in Flocking Cells Produce New Migration Patterns

Even if some members of a goal-driven group don’t seem to work well with others — even if the whole group is extremely frustrated — the group can still compromise and find new ways to produce a successful outcome. This sounds like a...

UC Solar Awarded $1.1M Grant to Build Solar-Powered Water Purification Systems

UC Solar received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to develop solar-thermal desalination technologies that reduce the cost of creating fresh water from otherwise unusable waters such as...