Joel Mokyr wins Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences
Research
Adding Bridges to Stabilize Quantum Networks
New strategy could maintain communications in a constantly changing network While entangled photons hold incredible promise for quantum computing and communications, they have a major inherent disadvantage. After one use, they simply disappear. But in a new study published in Physical Review Letters, Northwestern...
First Fast Radio Burst Traced To Old, Dead, Elliptical Galaxy
For the first time, astronomers have traced a fast radio burst (FRB) to the outskirts of an ancient, dead, elliptical galaxy — an unprecedented home for a phenomenon previously associated with much younger galaxies. CHIME telescopes (shown here in featured image)...
Embracing Uncertainty, From Economic Policy To Space Colonization
Throughout his 50-year career, Charles Manski has had a broad taste in research, publishing work for both academic and mainstream audiences on a wide range of policy topics including financial aid for college students, pandemic response, clinical medicine and climate policy. In his...
Green Battery Discovery Turns Trash Into Treasure
Northwestern researchers leverage industrial waste to store energy The batteries used in our phones, devices and even cars rely on metals like lithium and cobalt, sourced through intensive and invasive mining. As more products begin to depend on battery-based energy storage...
Sir Fraser Stoddart, a Pioneer In Nanoscience, Dies At 82
Nobel laureate Sir Fraser Stoddart, a Board of Trustees Professor at Northwestern University, died Dec. 30. He was 82. Stoddart, a pioneer in the fields of nanoscience and organic chemistry, was an outsized figure on the Evanston campus and on campuses...
Young Exoplanet’s Atmosphere Unexpectedly Differs From Its Birthplace
New study shows planet formation might be more complicated than previously thought Just as some children physically resemble their parents, many scientists have long thought that developing planets should resemble the swirling disk of gas and dust that births them. But, in...
Shedding New Light on Infants’ Ability to Learn From Nonlinguistic Signals
Children as young as six months can flexibly recruit non-language sounds and bend them to their communicative needs A new study by developmental scientists at Northwestern University provides new insight into a hallmark of human communication: our flexibility to use nonlinguistic...
Prehistoric Rock in Japan Reveals Clues to Ocean Extinction Event
New analysis pinpoints timing and duration of extreme environmental disruption that choked oxygen from Earth’s oceans By studying prehistoric rocks and fossils emerging from the side of Mount Ashibetsu in Japan, researchers have precisely refined the timing and duration of Ocean...
How ‘Conan the Bacterium’ Withstands Extreme Radiation
New discovery finds simple metabolites combine to form a powerful antioxidant Dubbed “Conan the Bacterium” for its extraordinary ability to tolerate the harshest of conditions, Deinococcus radiodurans can withstand radiation doses thousands of times higher than what would kill a human...
Shaking Sensor Continuously Monitors Inflammation
Implantable device works like a tree branch to grab and fling proteins Northwestern University scientists have designed a new implantable device that can monitor fluctuating levels of proteins within the body in real time. Inspired by fruit shaking off the branches of...
