An international team of researchers, including researchers at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), has successfully measured carbon at pressures reaching 2,000 GPa (five times the pressure in Earth’s core), nearly doubling the maximum pressure at which carbon’s crystal structure has ever been directly probed. Their results were published in the journal Nature.

“This is the highest pressure any atomic structure has been measured, placing key constraints on the equation of state, material strength, melting, and chemical bonding of carbon,” says Gilbert (Rip) Collins, the Tracy Hyde Harris Professor of Mechanical Engineering and associate director of science, technology, and academics at the LLE. “In our studies of the many recently discovered and yet-to-be discovered massive, carbon-rich planets, we will have to consider the diamond structure of carbon at pressures well beyond its predicted stability range.”

The findings indicate that the strength of the molecular bonds in diamond persists even under enormous pressure, resulting in large energy barriers that hinder carbon’s conversion to other possible structures.

“The diamond phase of carbon appears to be the most stubborn structure ever explored,” says Ryan Rygg, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and of physics and a senior scientist at the LLE. “This could have implications for carbon in the deep interiors of planets, where the precipitation of diamond is expected. Now we anticipate the diamond structure of carbon will persist over a much greater range of planetary conditions than we previously thought.” Read more here.

The Medical Center (URMC) and Rochester Regional Health (RRH) have begun a new clinical trial that will evaluate the safety and efficacy of a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.  The vaccine is currently approved for a two dose regimen. This study represents an important step in the development of long-term vaccination strategies to protect against circulating and emerging variants of the virus.

“While widespread vaccination is the key to moving past the current health crisis, COVID-19 has the potential to become a seasonal and mutating virus,” said Ed Walsh, an infectious disease specialist at URMC.  “This study will help us understand important questions about the safety and immunogenicity of multiple doses of an mRNA vaccine, information that could ultimately enable us to extend the protection of vaccines and develop tailor-made, variant-specific boosters.”

URMC and RRH have been involved in the development of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine since the launch of phase 1 clinical trials in May 2020 when volunteers in Rochester were among the first in the nation to receive the then experimental vaccine.  Rochester was also a site for the phase 2/3 clinical trials that ultimately led to the vaccine’s emergency use authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last December.

The new study will involve individuals who participated in the phase 1 trials last spring, all of whom were fully vaccinated more than 6 months ago.  Over the next several weeks, researchers will dose 144 volunteers, including 35 in Rochester, with a booster dose of the EUA-approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.  Rochester is one of four sites in the U.S. involved in the study. Read more here.

Both Democrat and Republican voters overwhelmingly favor politicians who support generous COVID-19 relief spending.

However, they remain deeply polarized over the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election results and former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment.

Meanwhile, political experts find that the former president’s actions and those taken by congressional supporters in the aftermath of the election represent serious departures from American democratic norms.

Those are among the most recent findings of Bright Line Watch, the political science research project cofounded by Gretchen Helmke, a professor of political science, and her colleagues at the University of Chicago and Dartmouth College. The watchdog group started regular surveys about the health of US democracy in February 2017.

The latest survey provides a snapshot of the state of democracy in the early days of the new Biden administration, but is also a look in the rearview mirror. The Bright Line Watch team found that loyalties and antipathy toward the former president—whose Senate impeachment trial began immediately after the surveys were conducted—continue to shape the views of citizens and government officials alike.

As a result, the “country still lives in the shadow of the Trump legacy,” the team writes. Read more here.

The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), a global higher education and research network made up of 21 universities—including the University—is holding a series of free virtual networking workshops, each thematically focused on a UN Sustainable Development Goal.

The workshops are intended to bring together early-career researchers from all around the world interested in establishing connections to colleagues in their field.

The next workshop will be held on Wednesday, March 24, from 10–11:30 a.m. EST. Register today to attend.

University faculty, staff, students, and community are invited to attend a Leaders in Augmented and Virtual Reality seminar series this spring.

All talks will be held by Zoom from 10:25-11:45 a.m. EST at this link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/99954299264

The series is co-sponsored by the Goergen Institute for Data Science and River Campus Libraries Studio X and is supported by GIDS’ NSF funded PhD training program on AR/VR.

• March 8: Yan Xu, UX research scientist, Facebook Reality Labs, AR/VR for UX.
• March 15: Chiao Liu, director of research, Facebook Reality Labs, AR/VR Sensing and Computing Technologies.
• March 17: Steven Christian, owner of IItopia Studios, Interdisciplinary Problem Solving with Innovation and Emerging Technology.
• March 22: Cali Fidopiastis, chief scientist, Design Interactive Inc., AR/VR for Rehabilitation.
• March 24: Kaan Aksit, associate professor, University College London, Next Generation Display Technologies for AR/VR.
• March 29: Anand Santhanam, associate professor, UCLA Health, Medical Use for AR/VR.
• March 31: David Glowacki, Royal Society Senior Research Fellow, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol UK, Virtual Reality Use in Chemistry and Biology. 
• April 7: Ahmed Ghazi, associate professor, Department of Urology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, AR/VR Applications in Surgical Training.

Here are important links for researchers:

• The University’s COVID-19 Resource Center for important updates and guidance on working, teaching, and learning remotely
• University of Rochester Medical Center website for restrictions, resources, and news
• The University’s COVID-19 “Restart and Recovery” web page

PLEASE NOTE that the University’s COVID-19 Dashboard is updated daily and dashboard numbers may reflect additional cases confirmed later in the day. When a new case is known, the contact-tracing process begins immediately with the Monroe County Health Department, with confirmed exposures being contacted and required to quarantine. Remember:

• A temperature of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or higher
• Chills
• Muscle or body aches
• Severe fatigue
• Headache
• Congestion or runny nose
• Sore throat
• Loss of taste, smell, or appetite
• Cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea