Recent news from The Johns Hopkins University
This section contains regularly updated highlights of the news from around The Johns Hopkins
University. Links to the complete news reports from the nine schools,
the Applied Physics Laboratory and other centers and institutes are to
the left, as are links to help news media contact the Johns Hopkins
communications offices.
The American Academy of Arts & Sciences has awarded Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist Charles L. Bennett one of the oldest and most celebrated awards in science, the Rumford Prize, an honor Bennett now shares with Thomas Edison and the scientists that invented instant photography and the world’s first nuclear reactor.
In nominating Bennett for the award, the American Academy credited him with a singular achievement in advancing humankind’s understanding of the universe, writing “the single most significant experiment—the one that transformed our view of the Universe from a rough sketch to a remarkably precise picture—was the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe led by Chuck Bennett. “
January 13, 2022 Tags: American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Charles Bennett, cosmology, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Rumford Prize, Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, WMAP
| Category: Uncategorized
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and other institutions have found that, on average, the temperature of galaxy clusters today is 4 million degrees Fahrenheit. That is 10 times hotter than 10 billion years ago, and four times hotter than the Sun’s outermost atmosphere called the corona. The findings are published in the Astrophysical Journal.
November 10, 2020 Tags: astronomy, astrophysics, Brice Ménard, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Planck satellite, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the universe, universe expansion
| Category: Physics and Astronomy
As dying stars take their final few breaths of life, they gently sprinkle their ashes into the cosmos through the magnificent planetary nebulae. These ashes, spread via stellar winds, are enriched with many different chemical elements, including carbon.
Findings from a study published today in Nature Astronomy show that the final breaths of these dying stars, called white dwarfs, shed light on carbon’s origin in the Milky Way.
July 6, 2020 Tags: carbon, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Jeffrey Cummings, stars, White Dwarfs
| Category: Physics and Astronomy
Dark matter, which researchers believe make up about 80% of the universe’s mass, is one of the most elusive mysteries in modern physics. What exactly it is and how it came to be is a mystery, but a new Johns Hopkins University study now suggests that dark matter may have existed before the Big Bang.
August 8, 2019 Tags: Big Bang, dark matter, Department of Physics and Astronomy, particle physics, space, Tommi Tenkanen
| Category: Physics and Astronomy
Pluto hogs the spotlight in the continuing scientific debate over what is and what is not a planet, but a less conspicuous argument rages on about the planetary status of massive objects outside our solar system. The dispute is not just about semantics, as it is closely related to how giant planets like Jupiter form. Johns Hopkins University astrophysicist Kevin Schlaufman aims to settle the dispute.
January 22, 2018 Tags: brown dwarfs, definition of planets, Department of Physics and Astronomy, formation of planets, giant planets, Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy
| Category: Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Technology
Four Johns Hopkins University faculty members are among the new scholars elected to the National Academy of Sciences today in recognition of their “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
May 3, 2016 Tags: Andrew J. Cherlin, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Geraldine Seydoux, Johns Hopkins University, Kenneth W. Kinzler, National Academy of Sciences, sociology, Sydney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Timothy M. Heckman
| Category: Medicine and Nursing, Natural Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Social Sciences
The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University will host its 12th annual Physics Fair from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 25. The fair coincides with the university’s annual Spring Fair celebration on the Homewood campus.
April 21, 2015 Tags: Department of Physics and Astronomy, K-12 science competition, physics demonstrations, Physics Fair, physics-themed scavenger hunt
| Category: Education/K-12, Events Open to the Public, Homewood Campus News, Natural Sciences, Physics and Astronomy
