Physics and Astronomy Department
ity College of New York physicist Pouyan Ghaemi and his research team are claiming significant progress in using quantum computers to study and predict how the state of a large number of interacting quantum particles evolves over…
With six stunning images of deep space, the James Webb Space Telescope has simultaneously given this world new screensavers and a treasure trove of new information about the universe.
The images are unprecedented due to the fact that the JWST collects infrared light, which travels in…
WWU Professor of Physics and Astronomy Janelle Leger has been selected to serve a fixed-term appointment as the dean of Western’s College of Science and Engineering.
Provost Brent Carbajal is excited by what Leger will bring to the role, including her depth of experience at Western and…
Western's Spanel Planetarium in Haggard Hall will host a live in-person show, "To the Moon," just for Western students, staff, and faculty at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 11.
This quarter, in addition to finding night sky objects you can see from your own backyard, we'll learn about the past…
Western's STEM Inclusion and Outreach Specialist Regina Barber will take up her dual roles as both a science communicator (she is the host of the podcast Spark Science) and an astrophysicist as the first-ever Scientist in Residence for National Public Radio's "Short Wave," a daily science…
For the next few weeks, Mars and Earth are on "in conjunction" - on opposite sides of the sun, meaning that the work being done by the Mars rover Perseverance, and all the scientists who monitor its daily work including Western's Melissa Rice - are finally getting their first real break since…
In the short time since NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in Mars’ Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, it’s already made history.
At the moment, Mars and the Earth are on opposite sides of the Sun, and the two planets cannot communicate with each other. After working nonstop for the past 216…
Say the word ‘scientist’ and images of stark white lab coats, bubbling test tubes and a Bill Nye-esque researcher might spring to mind; Regina Barber DeGraaff, Western’s STEM Inclusion and Outreach Specialist, is trying to change that.
For the past six years, she’s been working in…
U.S. Representative Rick Larsen visited the Western Mars Lab last week and got a tour of the facility from WWU's own Melissa Rice, a member of the Mars 2020 rover team. In the photo at right, Rice shows off WWU's goniometer, a device which allows for Mars scientists to better understand the…
Western’s faculty and students are engaged in exciting research across a variety of fields. Periodically, Western Today will share short summaries of the latest developments in scholarship and research at the University. Interested in reading in-depth stories about science and research at…