News

October 11, 2012

Suntzeff Lives United Nations Dream as Jefferson Science Fellow

COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M University astronomer Nicholas B. Suntzeff has had his fair share of star moments, professional and otherwise. For starters, he played a key role in discovering three-quarters of the Universe, a mysterious substance known as dark energy that appears to be causing the Universe’s accelerated expansion — a breakthrough recognized with […]

October 2, 2012

FLIGHTS OF FANCY: Cynthia Woods Mitchell Garden Bursting with Butterflies

COLLEGE STATION — As hundreds of students take in another day’s lecture inside the main lecture hall of the George P. Mitchell ’40 Physics Building at Texas A&M University, the beauty of nature is quietly and unceremoniously unfolding above their heads. Within the vast foliage of the near-10,000-square-foot Cynthia Woods Mitchell Garden, the campus’ first […]

September 28, 2012

STAR POWER: Texas A&M Playing Instrumental Role in Observational Astronomy

COLLEGE STATION — When astronomer Darren DePoy came to Texas A&M University in 2008, he did so with an important global goal: to help establish Texas A&M as a worldwide leader in astronomical instrumentation. Four years later, DePoy is living his dream, reveling in the results of a big-time gamble that involved leaving an established […]

Zoomed-in image from the Dark Energy Camera

September 17, 2012

FOCAL POINTS: Dark Energy Camera Records First Light

COLLEGE STATION — Eight billion years ago, rays of light from distant galaxies began their long journey to Earth. That ancient starlight has now found its way to a mountaintop in Chile, where the newly constructed Dark Energy Camera, the most powerful sky-mapping machine ever created, has captured and recorded it for the first time. […]

August 13, 2012

Texas A&M Astronomy App Proves Popular Across the Globe

COLLEGE STATION — Necessity may be the mother of all invention, but curiosity may well be its double first cousin. Just ask Don Carona, manager of the Department of Physics and Astronomy Teaching Observatory at Texas A&M University. What started for Carona shortly after the turn of the 21st century as yet another personal learning […]

July 4, 2012

Higgs Boson Search Involving Texas A&M Physicists Reveals New Particle

COLLEGE STATION — Physicists at Texas A&M University are celebrating the biggest news out of CERN since the 2008 start-up of the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — observation of a new particle with boson-like appearances. After nearly a half-century of searching for the Higgs boson, known as the “God particle” because it is […]

June 25, 2012

FIRST CLASS: Texas A&M Mitchell Institute Teaching Teachers to Improve State of Physics Education

COLLEGE STATION — A select group of Texas teachers is taking the future of physics education into their own hands, returning to the classroom as students for a two-week summer stint as the first participants in a Texas A&M University program aimed at improving high school mathematics and science performance across the Lone Star State. […]

May 29, 2012

Texas A&M Physics & Astronomy to Host Transit of Venus Event June 5

COLLEGE STATION — Local star-gazers and skywatching enthusiasts are encouraged to join Texas A&M University astronomers and physicists next week for a rare celestial event, the transit of Venus. This phenomenon occurs when Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor passes in front of the Sun, traveling across its face like a speck, and is so rare that […]

May 9, 2012

To Infinity and Beyond: Daniel Freeman Wins Outstanding Thesis Award

COLLEGE STATION — Daniel Freeman’s curiosity about the world of physics started in high school, where two of his physics teachers sparked his interest in pursuing a degree in physics. Freeman, now a senior at Texas A&M University, decided to expand upon that interest with a double major in physics and mathematics to capture a […]

May 4, 2012

Two Physics Faculty Honored by Texas A&M Sigma Xi Chapter

COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M University physicists Dr. Olga Kocharovskaya and Dr. David Toback have been recognized by the Texas A&M chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, as the 2012 recipients of the chapter’s primary annual awards celebrating scientific excellence and advancement. Kocharovskaya, a distinguished professor of physics, has earned the Sigma Xi […]

Spring 2012 Addison Wesley/Benjamin Cummings Mechanics Scholars, flanked by Texas A&M physicists Dr. George Welch (back row, far left) and Dr. David Toback (back row, far right).

May 4, 2012

Spring 2012 Mechanics Scholars

(left to right) Dr. George Welch, freshman general studies major Matthew Krusleski (first), freshman petroleum engineering major Shangjie Yue (second-place tie), freshman general studies major Steven Skobel (second-place tie), and Dr. David Toback.

April 27, 2012

Aggie Star Party Set for Wednesday at Sbisa

COLLEGE STATION — Aggies and Brazos Valley area residents with an interest in the mysteries of the night sky are invited to wind down their reading day and enjoy one last break before final exams at the May Aggie Star Party, set for next Wednesday (May 2) on the Texas A&M University campus. The monthly […]

April 23, 2012

NEW DOMAIN: International Team Installs First of Three Telescopes in Antarctica

DOME ARGUS, Antartica — A team of scientists representing several international institutions, including Texas A&M University, has succeeded in installing the first of three Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3-1) at the Chinese Kunlun Station at Dome Argus, the highest point of the Antarctic Plateau. The telescope is the first of three, half-meter devices to be installed […]

April 9, 2012

Nobel Laureate to Present Lecture on Accelerating Universe

COLLEGE STATION — In 1998 two international research teams traced back the expansion of the universe over billions of years, only to discover it was accelerating — a revolutionary discovery that suggests 75 percent of the cosmos is filled with a mysterious dark energy which now controls the universe’s future. One of the key figures […]

April 5, 2012

Scully Recognized with Optical Society’s Highest Award

COLLEGE STATION — Dr. Marlan O. Scully, distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M University and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, has been selected to receive the 2012 Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus Quinn Prize, the highest award of the Optical Society (OSA) recognizing overall distinction in optics. Scully, a world-renowned […]

2019 Physics and Engineering Festival crowd

March 27, 2012

Physics and Engineering Festival Set for Saturday

COLLEGE STATION — Make a date for free family fun and get up-close and personal with the many wonders of science and technology this weekend at the 2012 Physics and Engineering Festival, scheduled for Saturday (March 31) on the Texas A&M University campus. No fees or tickets are required for the free annual event, which […]

March 22, 2012

BIG BANG ON EARTH: First Blasting of Las Campanas Peak a Success

(EDITOR’S NOTE: There were than 3,000 views of the live feed for FIRST BLAST, currently trending as the No. 3 story on MSNBC. A recap version of the release, complete with high-resolution images and quotes from GMTO officials. PASADENA, Calif. — On Friday, March 23, the First Blast (Big Bang Event) is scheduled to occur […]

March 6, 2012

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: A&M Astronomers Help Find Distant Galaxy Cluster to Shed Light on Early Universe

COLLEGE STATION — A decade ago, Houston businessman and philanthropist George P. Mitchell was so certain there were big discoveries to be made in physics and astronomy and that they should come out of Texas A&M University, he put money on it, endowing the George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and […]

March 5, 2012

Physicist Helmut Katzgraber Earns NSF CAREER Award

COLLEGE STATION — Dr. Helmut G. Katzgraber, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M University, has been selected to receive a 2012 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in support of his research on quantum computing and the study of disordered systems. Katzgraber’s project, “Designing Quantum Computers and Understanding […]

February 27, 2012

Physics & Engineering Festival Features Hands-On Fun, Nobel Ties

COLLEGE STATION — The Department of Physics and Astronomy and Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University invite audiences across Texas to get up-close and personal with science and technology next month at the 2012 Physics & Engineering Festival, an entertaining and informative weekend scientific extravaganza for all ages. No fees or tickets are […]