New method eliminates guesswork when lenses go freeform
Lenses and mirrors with freeform rather than symmetric can lead to optical devices that are more effective than ever before. A new design method would eliminate the expensive trail-and-error needed to work with freeform optics.
Why does ice make that sound?
What began as a “silly pastime” of tossing ice chunks down a borehole in Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, has led to a video with more than 8 million views and a collaboration between an acoustics expert and a climate scientist.
Theatre Program presents works by Harold Pinter
The International Theatre Program will close its season with “The Pinter Plays,” a double-bill of two of the most shocking one-act plays from the Nobel Prize-winning British playwright Harold Pinter.
Tiny microenvironments hold clues to ocean nitrogen cycle
A new Rochester study shows that nitrogen-feeding organisms exist all over the deep ocean, and not just in large oxygen-depleted “dead zones,” changing the way we think about the delicate nitrogen cycle.
Weight might not be why obesity damages knees
Bacteria in the gut, known as the gut microbiome, could be the culprit behind arthritis and joint pain that plagues people who are obese, according to a new Medical Center study.
We think we’re the first advanced earthlings—but how do we really know?
Imagine if, many millions of years ago, dinosaurs drove cars through cities of mile-high buildings. A preposterous idea, right? In a compelling thought experiment, professor of physics and astronomy Adam Frank and director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Gavin Schmidt wonder how we would truly know if there were a past civilization so advanced that it left little or no trace of its impact on the planet.
Going beyond medieval times to explore early worlds
The Early Worlds Initiative—an interdisciplinary research project at the University of Rochester—connects faculty researching social and cultural developments worldwide from medieval times to the early modern period.
Political scientists monitor threats to US democratic institutions
“One of the greatest threats to democracy is the idea that it is unassailable.” That’s the tagline of Bright Line Watch, which neatly sums up the group’s motivation. Made up of four political scientists including University of Rochester professor Gretchen Helmke, the non-partisan initiative has set out to monitor democratic institutions in the United States and potential threats to those practices.
Students learn the art of community change through dance
How can high school students inspire political and social change with the instuments of dance, theater, and visual art? University of Rochester students in the Program of Dance and Movement are working with local high schools to answer that question.
Leading experts to offer designs for diversity
President Richard Feldman recently announced that he has engaged the support of the consulting firm DeEtta Jones and Associates to help guide key elements of the University’s equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts.