From The Michigan State University (US): “Spartan research addresses 5 big climate change questions”

From The Michigan State University (US)

Feb. 23, 2022
Emilie Lorditch

Credit: The Michigan State University.

As the planet experiences the effects of climate change, questions arise about the future of our planet and daily life in general. Many of the major challenges related to a changing climate and their impact on society have Michigan State University Spartans working on solutions.

A group of Michigan State University scientists and researchers studying critical areas explain how their research addresses five big questions about a changing climate.

If solar panels reduce our energy dependance on fossil fuels why doesn’t everyone have solar panels on their homes?

“We have a lot of solar potential in the U.S., but many people don’t have $15,000 to $20,000 to pay up front to install a solar panel on their roof,” says Annick Anctil, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, who studies the performance and environmental benefits of solar panels. “If people could see how much money they would save, I think that would help. But, being able to forecast the savings and value of solar energy is still missing.”

One researcher working to make solar panel technology more ubiquitous is Richard Lunt, the Johansen Crosby Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in the Michigan State University College of Engineering and College of Natural Science. Lunt has created transparent solar panels that look like ordinary windows but use ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths outside the visible spectrum to generate electricity. Some of these panels were installed last summer above the entrance to MSU’s Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building. The panels should generate enough electricity to help light the atrium inside the entrance.

While roof solar panels have the potential to power 40% of the country, Lunt’s transparent photovoltaic panels have the potential to double that. By combining both regular solar panels and Lunt’s panels, these technologies together could power the entire country’s electrical power needs.

“Living more sustainably is a topic that has been near and dear to me my entire life,” Lunt says. “Finding solutions that have the most potential to make the biggest impact. You can offset about two-thirds of the carbon dioxide generated from all the power we consume by using, or converting to, solar and battery power alone.”

If trees and plants can absorb the additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere then why don’t we just plant more? Aren’t increased temperatures and carbon dioxide good for plants?

Trees play an important role in Earth’s carbon cycle and estimating how much carbon dioxide trees are taking in is one of the biggest uncertainties in climate change research. Michigan State University’s Kyla Dahlin is using data collected from satellites and airplanes to estimate how much carbon dioxide gets absorbed by different types of trees.

These technologies are making data available that hadn’t been possible previously and could be a game changer for measuring the amount of carbon stored in forests across the globe.

“With climate change, there isn’t a perfect road map for what to plant now because what has grown in an area historically might not be the best choice now,” says Dahlin, an assistant professor in the College of Social Science. “I would recommend planting something that will be there in 100 years considering location, climate, potential disease and insects. The longer a tree can stay healthy, happy and appreciated, the more carbon it will take up.”

Gregg Howe, a professor in the College of Natural Science and with Michigan State University’s DOE Plant Research Laboratory, focuses on making plants healthier by boosting their natural defenses. He studies a plant defense hormone called jasmonate, which acts like our body’s immune system and helps defend plants against insects munching on their leaves.

”We found that as temperatures increase, insects become more voracious and ate almost all the leaves off tomato plants overnight,” Howe says. “Surprisingly, one negative effect of increased jasmonate levels inside plants is that it causes the plant to close their pores or stomata, causing the plants to overheat. We’re working to find a way to protect the plant from insects and keep it from overheating.”

One year there is a flood and the next year there is a drought. How big of a problem is water availability?

Yadu Pokhrel, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, uses climate and hydrological models to assess and predict how the total water available on land would change under different climate change scenarios (low, medium and high carbon emissions). After running 80 simulations, Pokhrel found by the end of the 21st century, two-thirds of the planet’s land will see a large decrease in water availability.

“This includes places that already deal with water availability issues, drought and places that have never experienced it before,” Pokhrel says. “Climate change will continue to increase the number of extreme weather events such as flooding and drought around the world. The level of concern should be high.”

How can coastal erosion be detected and prevented?

Michigan State University’s Ethan Theuerkauf is training residents in six Michigan’s coastal communities to be citizen scientists who can fly drones and capture images of coastal areas before and after significant storm events. The goal is to develop a historical record to help residents and city managers plan and prepare for the effects of future climate change in their area. Most areas have collected six to 12 months of data for the project and Theuerkauf and his team are already analyzing the differences in the lake levels and erosion in different areas. While Theuerkauf’s research is focused on Michigan, other scientists have been using drones to monitor the shorelines across the U.S. and in other countries.

“We want to know how the coastlines are changing but we can’t physically be at all of these places at once,” says Theuerkauf, an assistant professor in the College of Social Science. “With this project, we can document these changes and build a network of data that can be shared with other communities so that the residents and city managers can make the best decisions for their community.”

Can geoengineering cool the planet?

Phoebe Zarnetske, an associate professor in the College of Natural Science, is part of an international team of scientists in the Climate Intervention Biology working group, which looks at the potential consequences for ecology if geoengineering were to be implemented to temporarily cool Earth’s surface.

Geoengineering consists of multiple methods for either reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere or the amount of solar radiation that is reflected off the Earth’s surface into the atmosphere. One idea is Stratospheric Aerosol Intervention, or SAI, where sulfates would be injected into the atmosphere to block some of the sun’s solar radiation similar to the way volcanic eruptions cool the planet.

“SAI could cool Earth’s surface if we continue to reduce our emissions, but there are many unintended consequences that would have large impacts on ecology and ecosystem services, including uneven cooling, changes in precipitation, reductions in ozone and associated increases in surface UV and continued ocean acidification,” Zarnetske says. “Although climate scientists have been researching geoengineering scenarios for decades, the potential impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems are unknown.”

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

The Michigan State University (US) is a public research university located in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. Michigan State University (US) was founded in 1855 and became the nation’s first land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862, serving as a model for future land-grant universities.

The university was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the country’s first institutions of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. After the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, Michigan State University (US) is one of the largest universities in the United States (in terms of enrollment) and has approximately 634,300 living alumni worldwide.

U.S. News & World Report ranks its graduate programs the best in the U.S. in elementary teacher’s education, secondary teacher’s education, industrial and organizational psychology, rehabilitation counseling, African history (tied), supply chain logistics and nuclear physics in 2019. Michigan State University pioneered the studies of packaging, hospitality business, supply chain management, and communication sciences. Michigan State University is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity”. The university’s campus houses the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, the Abrams Planetarium, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, and the country’s largest residence hall system.

Research

Michigan State University has a long history of academic research and innovation. In 1877, botany professor William J. Beal performed the first documented genetic crosses to produce hybrid corn, which led to increased yields. Michigan State University dairy professor G. Malcolm Trout improved the process for the homogenization of milk in the 1930s, making it more commercially viable. In the 1960s, Michigan State University scientists developed cisplatin, a leading cancer fighting drug, and followed that work with the derivative, carboplatin. Albert Fert, an Adjunct professor at Michigan State University, was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Peter Grünberg.

Today Michigan State University continues its research with facilities such as the Department of Energy (US)-sponsored Plant Research Laboratory and a particle accelerator called the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory [below]. The Department of Energy (US) Office of Science named Michigan State University as the site for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). The $730 million facility will attract top researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in basic nuclear science, astrophysics, and applications of isotopes to other fields.

Michigan State University FRIB [Facility for Rare Isotope Beams].

In 2004, scientists at the Cyclotron produced and observed a new isotope of the element germanium, called Ge-60 In that same year, Michigan State University, in consortium with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the government of Brazil, broke ground on the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) in the Andes Mountains of Chile.

The National Science Foundation (US) National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (US) National Optical Astronomy Observatory (US) Southern Astrophysical Research [SOAR] telescope situated on Cerro Pachón, just to the southeast of Cerro Tololo on the NOIRLab NOAO AURA site at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,775 feet) above sea level.

The consortium telescope will allow the Physics & Astronomy department to study galaxy formation and origins. Since 1999, Michigan State University has been part of a consortium called the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, which aims to develop biotechnology research in the State of Michigan. Finally, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences’ Quello Center researches issues of information and communication management.

The Michigan State University Spartans compete in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference. Michigan State Spartans football won the Rose Bowl Game in 1954, 1956, 1988 and 2014, and the university claims a total of six national football championships. Spartans men’s basketball won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000 and has attained the Final Four eight times since the 1998–1999 season. Spartans ice hockey won NCAA national titles in 1966, 1986 and 2007. The women’s cross country team was named Big Ten champions in 2019. In the fall of 2019, MSU student-athletes posted all-time highs for graduation success rates and federal graduation rates, according to NCAA statistics.

From The Michigan State University (US): “Michigan State University researchers part of team investigating winter stresses of turfgrass in northern climates”

From The Michigan State University (US)

January 24, 2022
Cameron Rudolph

Led by The University of Minnesota (US), the group received an $8M USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant.

When temperatures plunge, several turfgrass species deal with a multitude of threats that can lead to injury or death, known as winterkill. These include freeze and thaw events caused by fluctuating temperatures in late fall and early spring, prolonged exposure to cold air with no snow insulation, diseases and ice encasement.

Ice encasement damage to an annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass putting green at the MSU Hancock Turfgrass Research Center in East Lansing, Michigan, in winter 2014. Photo courtesy of Kevin Laskowski.

Three Michigan State University scientists are part of a multi-institutional team studying winter stresses on turfgrass in northern climates. The group received an $8 million grant from The Department of Agriculture’s (US) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), with $740,000 coming to MSU. The grant is funded by NIFA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative.

All three MSU researchers involved in the project are in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences. Kevin Frank is a professor and turf extension specialist, Joe Vargas is a professor of plant pathology, and Emily Merewitz-Holm is an assistant professor and expert in plant physiology. The project is led by Eric Watkins, a professor at the University of Minnesota.

When temperatures plunge, several turfgrass species deal with a multitude of threats that can lead to injury or death, known as winterkill. These include freeze and thaw events caused by fluctuating temperatures in late fall and early spring, prolonged exposure to cold air with no snow insulation, diseases, and ice encasement.

Despite these annual challenges facing turfgrass managers, winter stresses are not well-understood.

For this project, researchers are seeking to define the mechanisms that cause winter injury and develop best practices to mitigate them using a variety of techniques.

“This project includes some of the world’s foremost experts on turfgrass management, and it’s collaborative efforts like this that lead to innovation,” said Frank, whose work is also supported by MSU AgBioResearch.

In collaboration with more than 200 stakeholders, the first objective is to monitor golf courses in cold climates to learn more about the conditions that lead to winter injury. Using this information, a new web-based application will be created to predict stresses more accurately.

Researchers are also looking to improve their understanding of how various turfgrass species cope with winter stresses, knowledge that can inform breeding strategies.

“We really do not yet have a clear picture of what several winterkill stresses are changing inside of the plant and why,” Merewitz-Holm said. “For example, one turf species is resilient under months of ice encasement while another can die after just a few weeks.”

Turfgrass pathogens such as snow molds will be a focus of research as well, to learn more about how they occur and test non-fungicidal treatments. Vargas said that this information could lead to the development of disease-resistant cultivars to prevent snow molds and reduce pesticide applications. Advancements in breeding can also make turfgrass more resilient to current and changing climates.

In addition to new prevention and recovery strategies, researchers are exploring the economic impact of winter injury.

“We know this is a significant problem in colder climates, and it’s important to understand the true scope of the problem,” Frank said. “We’ll engage with turf stakeholders through surveys that capture the toll it has taken on their operations.”

The surveys will collect data on the last five years of economic impact, such as the characteristics of the affected areas, cost of recovering damaged turf, the length of time it took to recover, and the backgrounds of the turf managers.

Finally, the group will pursue several outreach initiatives, targeting turf managers, homeowners, seed producers, golf course superintendents, departments of transportation and more.

“Each of the partner institutions is deeply invested in providing solutions that are implementable at all scales,” Frank said. “Ultimately, our job is to advance knowledge on this topic through research, and the outreach component thereafter will be essential.”

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

The Michigan State University (US) is a public research university located in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. Michigan State University (US) was founded in 1855 and became the nation’s first land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862, serving as a model for future land-grant universities.

The university was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the country’s first institutions of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. After the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, Michigan State University (US) is one of the largest universities in the United States (in terms of enrollment) and has approximately 634,300 living alumni worldwide.

U.S. News & World Report ranks its graduate programs the best in the U.S. in elementary teacher’s education, secondary teacher’s education, industrial and organizational psychology, rehabilitation counseling, African history (tied), supply chain logistics and nuclear physics in 2019. Michigan State University (US) pioneered the studies of packaging, hospitality business, supply chain management, and communication sciences. Michigan State University (US) is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity”. The university’s campus houses the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, the Abrams Planetarium, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, and the country’s largest residence hall system.

Research

The university has a long history of academic research and innovation. In 1877, botany professor William J. Beal performed the first documented genetic crosses to produce hybrid corn, which led to increased yields. Michigan State University (US) dairy professor G. Malcolm Trout improved the process for the homogenization of milk in the 1930s, making it more commercially viable. In the 1960s, Michigan State University (US) scientists developed cisplatin, a leading cancer fighting drug, and followed that work with the derivative, carboplatin. Albert Fert, an Adjunct professor at MSU, was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Peter Grünberg.

Today Michigan State University (US) continues its research with facilities such as the Department of Energy (US)-sponsored Plant Research Laboratory and a particle accelerator called the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory [below]. The Department of Energy (US) Office of Science named Michigan State University as the site for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).

Michigan State University FRIB [Facility for Rare Isotope Beams].

The $730 million facility will attract top researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in basic nuclear science, astrophysics, and applications of isotopes to other fields.

In 2004, scientists at the Cyclotron produced and observed a new isotope of the element germanium, called Ge-60 In that same year, Michigan State University (US), in consortium with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US) and the government of Brazil, broke ground on the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) in the Andes Mountains of Chile.

NSF NOIRLab NOAO Southern Astrophysical Research [SOAR ] telescope situated on Cerro Pachón, just to the southeast of Cerro Tololo on the NOIRLab NOAO AURA site at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,775 feet) above sea level.
The consortium telescope will allow the Physics & Astronomy department to study galaxy formation and origins. Since 1999, MSU has been part of a consortium called the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, which aims to develop biotechnology research in the State of Michigan. Finally, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences’ Quello Center researches issues of information and communication management.

The Michigan State University (US) Spartans compete in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference. Michigan State Spartans football won the Rose Bowl Game in 1954, 1956, 1988 and 2014, and the university claims a total of six national football championships. Spartans men’s basketball won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000 and has attained the Final Four eight times since the 1998–1999 season. Spartans ice hockey won NCAA national titles in 1966, 1986 and 2007. The women’s cross country team was named Big Ten champions in 2019. In the fall of 2019, MSU student-athletes posted all-time highs for graduation success rates and federal graduation rates, according to NCAA statistics.

From The Michigan State University (US): “International research network welcomes new partners”

From The Michigan State University (US)

Jan. 20, 2022
Karen King

The Michigan State University-led International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics has expanded to include three new partners in its global quest to answer science’s most important questions.
Credit: FRIB at The Michigan State University (US)

Michigan State University-led International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics expands to include three new partners in global quest to answer science’s most important questions.

Science is a team sport. Searching for answers to science’s fundamental questions requires not only team effort, but the effort of multiple teams across multiple countries.

In its quest to answer questions about the evolution and properties of cosmic matter and the origin of the world’s chemical elements, the International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics, or IReNA, supported by the National Science Foundation (US) and headquartered at Michigan State University, is expanding to include three new crucial research partners.

IReNA’s new member networks are:

BRIdge the Disciplines related to the Galactic Chemical Evolution-or BRIDGCE, is a United Kingdom-wide network supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, part of UK Research and Innovation. The goal of this network is to facilitate connections across the different disciplines involved in the study of the origin of the elements and using chemical elements as tracers of the universe’s evolution.

The Canadian Nuclear Physics for Astrophysics Network-or CaNPAN, in Canada is a collaboration of astrophysicists and nuclear physicists. Its goal is to use Canadian nuclear physics facilities, expertise and equipment — in conjunction with Canadian computing resources — to provide education and advances in the understanding of the creation of the chemical elements and the role of stars in the universe.

Chemical Elements as Tracers of the Evolution of the Cosmos- Infrastructures for Nuclear Astrophysics-ChETEC-INFRA, in Europe has partner institutions in 17 countries. It provides them access to the infrastructures necessary for nuclear astrophysics research: astronuclear laboratories, supercomputers and telescopes.

They join six other networks that comprise IReNA: Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics – Center for the Evolution of the Elements, or JINA-CEE; Chemical Elements as Tracers of the Evolution of the Cosmos, or ChETEC; ExtreMe Matter Institute, or EMMI; Nucleosynthesis Grid collaboration, or NuGRID; Collaborative Research Center “The Milky Way System,” or SFB 881; and Japan Forum of Nuclear Astrophysics/UKAKUREN.

“We are very excited about the ‘bridge over the Atlantic Ocean’ joining the UK BRIDGCE research network and U.S.-based IReNA,” said Chiaki Kobayashi, chair of BRIDGCE’s steering committee and professor of astrophysics at The University of Hertfordshire (UK). “This bridge opens up excellent opportunities to exchange multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise, establish international connections and enhance training of the next generation of researchers. Our goal is to understand the origin of elements such as gold and platinum in the universe.”

Since its founding in 2019, IReNA has improved communication across countries and disciplines to take advantage of developments in astronomy, nuclear experiments and theory. It is enabled by NSF’s AccelNet program dedicated to support strategic linkages among U.S. research networks and complementary networks abroad. IReNA employs a novel mechanism of connecting regional research networks across the world into a global network of networks.

IReNA allows its new member networks to expand their access to laboratories and telescopes. IReNA benefits from the expanded pool of expertise and resources provided by the new member networks.

“For CaNPAN to be able to join the IReNA network is a great opportunity to further collaboration between Canadian nuclear astrophysics researchers and their colleagues in the U.S. and around the world,” said Chris Ruiz, senior scientist at TRIUMF- Canada’s particle accelerator centre [Centre canadien d’accélération des particules](CA) and CaNPAN representative. “Also importantly, it connects students to their peers in the field and really fosters community among the future leaders of the field.”

“We are excited to partner with IReNA to accelerate progress in our field,” said Daniel Bemmerer, ChETEC-INFRA representative and nuclear astrophysics group leader at The Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf](DE). “For example, we plan to offer complimentary access to ChETEC-INFRA infrastructures, partner in organizing meetings and improve the worldwide visibility of smaller European research institutions.”

Nuclear astrophysics is a multidisciplinary field that addresses scientific questions at the intersection of nuclear physics and astrophysics. Research networks connecting nuclear physicists, astronomers and modelers are key to making progress.

For example, when the observatories known as LIGO and Virgo announced the detection of gravitational waves from the collision of two neutron stars — neutron star merger GW170817 — in August 2017, the event was followed up by detection of electromagnetic emission by a coordinated network of ground and space-based telescopes.

Caltech/MIT Advanced aLigo at Hanford, WA(US), Livingston, LA(US) and VIRGO Gravitational Wave interferometer, near Pisa(IT).

This was the first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light. Astronomy and nuclear astrophysics have since entered the multimessenger era. These multimessengers inform modelers about key nuclear physics input needed to understand how chemical elements are synthesized in such energetic cosmic events.

More powerful accelerators and more sophisticated detectors at both radioactive and stable beam facilities allow for the measurements of short-lived nuclear species never before accessible. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, in the United States, for example, will soon produce some of these ephemeral rare isotopes.

“There hasn’t been a more exciting time to be a researcher in this field,” said Hendrik Schatz, University Distinguished Professor with faculty appointments at FRIB and in MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and director of IReNA and JINA-CEE. Schatz conducts nuclear research at FRIB. “We are at the crossroads of unprecedented scientific opportunities. By building networks of networks like IReNA, we are well-equipped to fully exploit these opportunities and to really accelerate science. We are also able to train the new generation of nuclear astrophysicists in a global and multidisciplinary environment.”

IReNA is a National Science Foundation AccelNet Network of Networks. AccelNet is designed to accelerate the process of scientific discovery and prepare the next generation of U.S. researchers for multiteam international collaborations. The AccelNet program supports strategic linkages among U.S. research networks and complementary networks abroad that will leverage research and educational resources to tackle grand scientific challenges that require significant coordinated international efforts. Learn more at http://www.irenaweb.org.

Michigan State University operates FRIB as a user facility for the Office of Nuclear Physics in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

Hosting the most powerful heavy-ion accelerator, FRIB will enable scientists to make discoveries about the properties of rare isotopes in order to better understand the physics of nuclei, nuclear astrophysics, fundamental interactions and applications for society, including in medicine, homeland security and industry.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of today’s most pressing challenges. For more information, visit http://www.energy.gov/science.

See the full article here .

five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

The Michigan State University (US) is a public research university located in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. Michigan State University (US) was founded in 1855 and became the nation’s first land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862, serving as a model for future land-grant universities.

The university was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the country’s first institutions of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. After the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, Michigan State University (US) is one of the largest universities in the United States (in terms of enrollment) and has approximately 634,300 living alumni worldwide.

U.S. News & World Report ranks its graduate programs the best in the U.S. in elementary teacher’s education, secondary teacher’s education, industrial and organizational psychology, rehabilitation counseling, African history (tied), supply chain logistics and nuclear physics in 2019. Michigan State University (US) pioneered the studies of packaging, hospitality business, supply chain management, and communication sciences. Michigan State University (US) is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity”. The university’s campus houses the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, the Abrams Planetarium, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, and the country’s largest residence hall system.

Research

The university has a long history of academic research and innovation. In 1877, botany professor William J. Beal performed the first documented genetic crosses to produce hybrid corn, which led to increased yields. Michigan State University (US) dairy professor G. Malcolm Trout improved the process for the homogenization of milk in the 1930s, making it more commercially viable. In the 1960s, Michigan State University (US) scientists developed cisplatin, a leading cancer fighting drug, and followed that work with the derivative, carboplatin. Albert Fert, an Adjunct professor at MSU, was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Peter Grünberg.

Today Michigan State University (US) continues its research with facilities such as the Department of Energy (US)-sponsored Plant Research Laboratory and a particle accelerator called the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory [below]. The Department of Energy (US) Office of Science named Michigan State University as the site for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). The $730 million facility will attract top researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in basic nuclear science, astrophysics, and applications of isotopes to other fields.

In 2004, scientists at the Cyclotron produced and observed a new isotope of the element germanium, called Ge-60 In that same year, Michigan State University (US), in consortium with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US) and the government of Brazil, broke ground on the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) in the Andes Mountains of Chile.

NSF NOIRLab NOAO Southern Astrophysical Research [SOAR ] telescope situated on Cerro Pachón, just to the southeast of Cerro Tololo on the NOIRLab NOAO AURA site at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,775 feet) above sea level.
The consortium telescope will allow the Physics & Astronomy department to study galaxy formation and origins. Since 1999, MSU has been part of a consortium called the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, which aims to develop biotechnology research in the State of Michigan. Finally, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences’ Quello Center researches issues of information and communication management.

The Michigan State University (US) Spartans compete in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference. Michigan State Spartans football won the Rose Bowl Game in 1954, 1956, 1988 and 2014, and the university claims a total of six national football championships. Spartans men’s basketball won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000 and has attained the Final Four eight times since the 1998–1999 season. Spartans ice hockey won NCAA national titles in 1966, 1986 and 2007. The women’s cross country team was named Big Ten champions in 2019. In the fall of 2019, MSU student-athletes posted all-time highs for graduation success rates and federal graduation rates, according to NCAA statistics.

From The Michigan State University (US) : “Zooming in on the future of microscopy”

From The Michigan State University (US)

Nov. 23, 2021
Matt Davenport

MSU is home to the first microscope of its kind in the U.S. and it’s now showing what it can do.

A schematic representing a microscopy measurement where a pulse of laser light (red curve) illuminates an atomically sharp needle (top) positioned above the sample surface. The graphene nanoribbon sits on top of a gold substrate. Experimental data is shown in blue, revealing the distribution of electrons above the nanoribbon. Credit: Spencer Ammerman.

When physicist Tyler Cocker joined Michigan State University in 2018, he had a clear goal: build a powerful microscope that would be the first of its kind in the United States.

Having accomplished that, it was time to put the microscope to work.

“We knew we had to do something useful,” said Cocker, Jerry Cowen Endowed Chair in Experimental Physics in the College of Natural Science’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. “We’ve got the nicest microscope in the country. We should use this to our advantage.”

One example of MSU research advances in ultrafast microscopy – Michigan State University College of Natural Science.

With its microscope Cocker’s team is using light and electrons to study materials with an unparalleled intimacy and resolution. The researchers can see atoms and measure quantum features within samples that could become the building blocks of quantum computers and next-generation solar cells.

The team has given the world the first glimpse of those capabilities on Nov. 23 in the journal Nature Communications, taking snapshots of how electrons are distributed in what are known as graphene nanoribbons.

“This is one of the first demonstrations that this type of microscope can tell you something new,” Cocker said. “We’re very excited and proud of the work. We also have all these ideas in our heads about where we want to go with it.”

Cocker’s team is part of a collaboration that’s working to develop these nanoribbons into qubits, pronounced “q-bits,” for quantum computers. The collaboration spans five institutions and the work is supported by a grant from the Office of Naval Research that will provide more than $1 million to MSU’s contribution.

For the Nature Communications study, Cocker teamed up with the research group of Roman Fasel, a professor at Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology [Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt] (CH). Fasel invented what’s known as the bottom-up growth method for graphene nanoribbons. Fasel’s lab has synthesized molecules that, with the addition of heat, can build themselves into ribbons with a predetermined shape and size.

An illustration shows graphene nanoribbons on top of a gold substrate. Experimental data revealed by the Michigan State microscope is shown in blue above the ribbons. Credit: Spencer Ammerman.

“You essentially bake the molecules like a cake,” Cocker said. “Then the properties of the ribbon you end up with are predefined. You know what you’re getting before you start.”

The Swiss lab sent the molecules to MSU, where Cocker’s lab grew the precision ribbons and then examined them with its microscope. The basis for the instrument is what’s known as a scanning tunneling microscope, or STM, that brings a very sharp tip or probe extremely close to the specimen being studied without touching it.

Even though the tip and sample aren’t in contact, electrons can still jump or tunnel from the tip to the sample. By recording how the electrons tunnel — for example, how many electrons tunnel and how quickly — the microscope builds high-resolution images of the sample and its properties.

What Cocker and his team have done is couple this conventional STM with extremely short pulses of laser light, which lets them bring the STM’s tip even closer to the sample. As a result, they’re able to extract more detailed information from a sample than ever before.

“It’s almost like we’re zooming in by physically bringing the tip closer,” he said.

The team could then characterize different nanoribbons with atomic resolution, revealing unprecedentedly clear information about how electrons are distributed within the structure.

In addition to a publication, this work also has earned awards for its Spartan authors. Postdoctoral scholar Vedran Jelic won an award for his poster about the research at a recent workshop in Germany. Graduate student researcher Spencer Ammerman won an award for presenting the work last November at a conference hosted by the Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Wave Society, which also awarded Cocker its 2021 Young Scientist Award.

As excited as Cocker and his team are about the new paper and these accolades, they’re looking forward to what’s next. For example, the team is working on going from still images to movies of samples, showing how electrons move within the ribbons as the nanomaterial absorbs light.

The researchers are also building a second microscope with support from a Department of Defense (US) grant awarded in June, meaning the only two microscopes like this in the U.S. will both be at MSU.

“This paper is very exciting, but it’s also just the first step,” Cocker said. “We think it’s going to open up a lot of possibilities.”

See the full article here .

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Stem Education Coalition

The Michigan State University (US) is a public research university located in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. Michigan State University (US) was founded in 1855 and became the nation’s first land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862, serving as a model for future land-grant universities.

The university was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the country’s first institutions of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. After the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, Michigan State University (US) is one of the largest universities in the United States (in terms of enrollment) and has approximately 634,300 living alumni worldwide.

U.S. News & World Report ranks its graduate programs the best in the U.S. in elementary teacher’s education, secondary teacher’s education, industrial and organizational psychology, rehabilitation counseling, African history (tied), supply chain logistics and nuclear physics in 2019. Michigan State University pioneered the studies of packaging, hospitality business, supply chain management, and communication sciences. Michigan State University is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity”. The university’s campus houses the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, the Abrams Planetarium, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, and the country’s largest residence hall system.

Research

The university has a long history of academic research and innovation. In 1877, botany professor William J. Beal performed the first documented genetic crosses to produce hybrid corn, which led to increased yields. Michigan State University (US) dairy professor G. Malcolm Trout improved the process for the homogenization of milk in the 1930s, making it more commercially viable. In the 1960s, Michigan State University (US) scientists developed cisplatin, a leading cancer fighting drug, and followed that work with the derivative, carboplatin. Albert Fert, an Adjunct professor at MSU, was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Peter Grünberg.

Today Michigan State University (US) continues its research with facilities such as the Department of Energy (US)-sponsored Plant Research Laboratory and a particle accelerator called the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory [below]. The Department of Energy (US) Office of Science named Michigan State University as the site for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). The $730 million facility will attract top researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in basic nuclear science, astrophysics, and applications of isotopes to other fields.

In 2004, scientists at the Cyclotron produced and observed a new isotope of the element germanium, called Ge-60 In that same year, Michigan State University (US), in consortium with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (US) and the government of Brazil, broke ground on the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) in the Andes Mountains of Chile.

NSF NOIRLab NOAO Southern Astrophysical Research [SOAR] telescope situated on Cerro Pachón, just to the southeast of Cerro Tololo on the NOIRLab NOAO AURA site at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,775 feet) above sea level.

The consortium telescope will allow the Physics & Astronomy department to study galaxy formation and origins. Since 1999, MSU has been part of a consortium called the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, which aims to develop biotechnology research in the State of Michigan. Finally, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences’ Quello Center researches issues of information and communication management.

The Michigan State University (US) Spartans compete in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference. Michigan State Spartans football won the Rose Bowl Game in 1954, 1956, 1988 and 2014, and the university claims a total of six national football championships. Spartans men’s basketball won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000 and has attained the Final Four eight times since the 1998–1999 season. Spartans ice hockey won NCAA national titles in 1966, 1986 and 2007. The women’s cross country team was named Big Ten champions in 2019. In the fall of 2019, MSU student-athletes posted all-time highs for graduation success rates and federal graduation rates, according to NCAA statistics.