College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

An active galactic nucleus

Graduate student’s BADASS code has astronomical benefits

An astro-statistics course University of California, Riverside, graduate student Remington O. Sexton took three years ago taught him techniques that led him to develop free, open-source code benefiting astronomers everywhere. Called BADASS, which stands for Bayesian AGN Decomposition Analysis for SDSS Spectra, the code in its current form fits astronomical spectra of active galactic nuclei...
By Iqbal Pittalwala | Inside UCR |
Coronavirus

New multicampus consortium to study assembly of coronaviruses

The University of California, Riverside, is the recipient of a 2021 UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives, or MRPI, award allowing the campus to put together a UC Coronavirus Assembly Research Consortium. “This consortium will aim to understand the physical principles underlying the formation of coronaviruses,” said Roya Zandi, a professor of physics and astronomy...
By Iqbal Pittalwala | Inside UCR |
Dr. John Barton with a computer

New method identifies adaptive mutations in complex evolving populations

A team co-led by a scientist at the University of California, Riverside, has developed a method to study how HIV mutates to escape the immune system in multiple individuals, which could inform HIV vaccine design. HIV, which can lead to AIDS, evolves rapidly and attacks the body’s immune system. Genetic mutations in the virus can...
By Iqbal Pittalwala | Inside UCR |
Galaxies

Riverside Unified School District honors astronomer for his contributions to K-12 STEM education

For his numerous contributions to education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, Bahram Mobasher, a professor of physics and observational astronomy at UC Riverside, has been named a recipient of the Riverside Unified School District Board of Education Presidential Award for the year 2020. The Riverside Unified School District, or RUSD, educates nearly...
By Iqbal Pittalwala | Inside UCR |
Peng Wei

Physicist joins NSF-funded team focused on accelerating quantum computing research

Peng Wei, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at UC Riverside, is a co-principal investigator and theme lead on a grant from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, supported by the NSF Convergence Accelerator — a new model of innovation for the government, industry, and academia. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Wei worked...
By Iqbal Pittalwala | Inside UCR |
Diversity / pixabay.com

Physics and Astronomy joins elite group promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion

The UCR Department of Physics and Astronomy has been accepted to the American Physical Society Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance, or APS-IDEA, joining a consortium of physics departments, laboratories, and research collaborations committed to improving equity, diversity, and inclusion. APS-IDEA, a network of nearly 100 institutions worldwide, addresses long-standing, systemic barriers that have led to...
By Iqbal Pittalwala | Inside UCR |
Dr. Ken Barish in Physics 2000 classroom

CNAS meets Living the Promise campaign goal

A gift made anonymously to the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UC Riverside has helped the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, or CNAS, in which the department is housed, meet and surpass its goal of raising $100 million toward the $300 million Living the Promise campaign, the university’s first ever comprehensive fundraising campaign...
By Iqbal Pittalwala | Inside UCR |
Dr. Yanou Cui (article banner)

Major neutrino experiment yields new publications

Yanou Cui, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, is a coauthor on two important research papers on boosted dark matter, a novel type of dark matter model. A member of a flagship next-generation neutrino experiment named the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE, Cui is an expert on the interface between particle physics and...
By Iqbal Pittalwala | Inside UCR |
Dr. Yanou Cui (article banner)

Probing boosted dark matter

Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory joined with its international partners to break ground on a new beamline that will help scientists learn more about ghostly particles called neutrinos. The beamline is part of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility which will house the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE, an international...
By IQBAL PITTALWALA | Inside UCR |
Mercury Transit outreach

UCR hosts Mercury transit viewing

INSIDE UCR -- More than 200 people came out to the UCR Baseball complex Monday morning, Nov. 11, to watch Mercury pass in front of the sun — a rare occurrence that happens around 13 times every 100 years. The public viewing was organized by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and it took place...
By University Communications | Inside UCR |
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