Tag: Physics
The NIU community is mourning the loss of two prominent retired faculty members, each of whom left an indelible mark on the university. Rodney Angotti, former chair of computer science, died June 6, in DeKalb. Clyde Kimball, a distinguished research professor of physics, died June 3, in Corvallis, Ore. “Rod and Clyde were powerful forces,...
Take a closer look, and America’s favorite summer sport becomes a field of intriguing physics questions. Can a rising fastball really rise? How much do curveballs actually curve? And do knuckleballs really flutter as they make their way toward the batter’s box? Particle physicist, baseball fan and knuckleball enthusiast Jahred Adelman will explore these questions...
NIU will award an honorary doctoral degree Friday, May 8, to acclaimed physicist Nigel Lockyer, director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Lockyer will earn his honorary doctorate during the NIU Graduate School commencement ceremony scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. “Fermilab is America’s premier laboratory for particle physics research,” said NIU President Doug...
Over the weekend, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator began its second act. After two years of upgrades and repairs, proton beams once again circulated around the Large Hadron Collider, located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. It’s an important and exciting project for scientists and students in the Northern Illinois University physics department...
A new book by a Northern Illinois University professor sheds light on X-rays. Michel van Veenendaal, distinguished research professor in the NIU Department of Physics and physicist at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, is the author of the book titled, “Theory of Inelastic Scattering and Absorption of X-rays” (Cambridge University Press). “The book...
What does physics have to do with football? Find out Tuesday, Oct. 28, when STEM Café presents “Even More Physics of Football.” This encore presentation of the crowd-pleasing “Physics of Football” presentation will provide a thought-provoking look into the science behind one of our country’s most popular and physical sports. Armchair quarterbacks and science geeks...
The natural scientist is constantly in search of truth, characterized by the ideal of an uncompromising intolerance for mistakes. However, everyone makes them. Recognizing mistakes is an indispensable part of the learning process. Indeed, mistakes – by both student and teacher – can be systematically built into classroom strategies. The collision with, and defeat of, carefully...
Lasers are cool, except when they're clunky, expensive and delicate.
Everyone knows that football is a physical game, but few people stop to think about the actual physics behind it. Newton’s laws describe football players on the field just as well as carts on a track or balls rolling down ramps. And what better way to gain an understanding of bodies in motion than to...
For NIU senior Octavio Escalante-Aguirre, life is beautiful, as the Italians like to say. His life has been a series of journeys, beginning at age 3 when his family moved from his birth home of Monterrey, Mexico, to Aurora, Ill. During high school, he made the trek on Saturday mornings to nearby Fermilab for lectures...
First, the good news: Five NIU professors this summer snagged three prestigious grants that total nearly $1 million. Now for the better news: the funding also provides cutting-edge research opportunities for NIU students, allowing them to work alongside top scientists in their disciplines. “These are impressive research projects by an extraordinary group of faculty scientists...
When the Industrial Physics Forum (IPF) begins Sept. 28 in Brazil, NIU students and faculty will join in the conversation – that is, if Anna Quider has anything to say about it. Quider, NIU’s new director of federal relations, is spreading the word about the conference that aims to scientifically drive economic development in Latin...
