Read the latest news about research conducted by investigators in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Our faculty and students are continually advancing technology, creating solutions and expanding knowledge with new and innovative research.
The fine-tuning of two-dimensional materials
A new understanding of why synthetic 2-D materials often perform orders of magnitude worse than predicted was reached by teams of researchers led by Penn State. They searched for ways to improve these materials' performance in future electronics, photonics, and memory storage applications.
NSF Day events offer resources, strategies for faculty researchers
NSF Day, on Feb. 28 at the Nittany Lion Inn, will feature several events aimed at providing resources and support for faculty interested in strengthening their research grant applications and forwarding their research careers.
Augmented reality app reveals campus monument's history as teaching tool
Augmented reality is reviving the educational focus of the oldest monument on Penn State’s University Park campus. Known as the Obelisk, the nearly 33-foot-tall, 53.4-ton stone structure was originally constructed in 1896 to showcase regional rocks and minerals. Its 281 stones, procured from sites around Pennsylvania and neighboring states, are stacked by geologic time period, from youngest at the top to oldest at the base.
Researchers team up to tackle state’s acid mine drainage problem
As Penn State researchers stood on the banks of Scalp Level Run, an acid mine drainage-polluted stream in Cambria County, a scientific question formed: How is nature removing toxic metals from the drainage at a rate faster than any other tested waters in the state, under pH conditions deemed too low to do so?
Liberal Arts student has research paper accepted by international conferences
Penn State Schreyer Scholar Doran Tucker will present his research on medieval armor at Western Michigan University and University of Leeds this spring and summer.
Fellowship allows meteorology graduate student to advocate for diversity
In the middle of a Category 1 hurricane in Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa, Aara’L Yarber discovered her passion for meteorology. Coming from Los Angeles, California, she had never experienced a hurricane before.
Scalable two-dimensional materials advance future-gen electronics
Since the discovery of the remarkable properties of graphene, scientists have increasingly focused research on the many other two-dimensional materials possible, both those found in nature and those concocted in the lab. However, growing high-quality, crystalline 2-D materials at scale has proven a significant challenge.
Repetition key to self-healing, flexible medical devices
Medical devices powered by synthetic proteins created from repeated sequences of proteins may be possible, according to materials science and biotechnology experts, who looked at material inspired by the proteins in squid ring teeth.
NSF grant to help create sustainable fuels through artificial photosynthesis
A grant totaling $1.2 million over three years has been awarded to researchers at Penn State and Cornell University by the National Science Foundation to identify a material that can most efficiently separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, to collect hydrogen as a sustainable fuel source.
Data driven dialogue: Scientists bring groups together on water quality concerns
Shale Network, a team of scientists studying water quality around Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania, has spent the last six years fostering a dialogue between concerned citizens, watershed groups, government regulators and representatives from large energy companies around water quality data in the state. The team published a paper in the journal Science last week discussing the impacts of its project.