The definition of emotion has intrigued philosophers, physicians and psychologists for centuries. Is it a basic biologic state or does it emerge from other physiological components? Lisa Feldman Barrett, Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the College of Science, analyzed 20 years’ worth of neuroimaging studies to find out. The results, which will be published in June […]

Prof. Swastik Kar has been awarded a grant of $308,907 by the National Science Foundation to support a program to investigate and develop high performance photoswitches using carbon nanotube - Si heterojunctions for optoelectronic logic devices,. This is a 3-year award starting May, 2012. Prof. Young J. Jung of MIE department is the Co-PI on this award.

In honor of Earth Day, we decided to take that opportunity to speak with chemistry and chemical biology chair Graham Jones about Northeastern’s role in the emerging field of green chemistry. What is green chemistry? Green chemistry is a term often used to describe chemical processes, procedures and products that are environmentally friendly and sustainable […]

Congratulations to Undergraduate Senior Emily Batt (Physics '12) who has been selected as this year's commencement speaker.

Many industrial chemistry applications, such as drug or biofuel synthesis, require large energy inputs and often produce toxic pollutants. But chemistry and chemical biology professor Mary Jo Ondrechen said enzymes — proteins that increase the rate of chemical reactions in the body — could be used to effectively replace standard industrial processes. “Enzymatic reactions are […]

Alexandros Makriyannis, the founding director of Northeastern’s Center for Drug Discovery, has received the annual Award in Medicinal Chemistry from the American Chemical Society. Makriyannis, whose award propelled him into the society’s Hall of Fame alongside other pioneers of medicinal chemistry, will address his colleagues at the 33rd National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium in Tucson in May. […]

Doctoral candidate Jaylene Ollivierre works with a small bacterial protein that regulates the activity of larger DNA repair complexes in Northeastern’s DNA Damage Recognition and Tolerance Laboratory led by chemistry and chemical biology assistant professor Penny Beuning. That protein, called UmuD (pronounced yoo-myoo-d), has been studied for 20 years, Ollivierre said, “but it keeps surprising us.” […]

All human languages contain two levels of structure, said Iris Berent, a psychology professor in Northeastern’s College of Science. One is syntax, or the ordering of words in a sentence. The other is phonology, or the sound structure of individual words. Berent — whose research focuses on the phonological structure of language — examines the nature […]

Dr. Judith Edersheim, co-founder and co-director of the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital, explores how neuroscience can enhance the pursuit of justice. “If neuroscience could shed light on mental states, it might be able to illuminate whether someone meant the crime or intended to harm someone,” Edersheim told approximately 200 students, […]

Doctoral candidate Jaylene Ollivierre works with a small bacterial protein that regulates the activity of larger DNA repair complexes in Northeastern’s DNA Damage Recognition and Tolerance Laboratory led by chemistry and chemical biology assistant professor Penny Beuning. That protein, called UmuD (pronounced yoo-myoo-d), has been studied for 20 years, Ollivierre said, “but it keeps surprising us.” […]

The magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand, in February 2011 is considered to be one of the island country’s most deadly and expensive disasters, killing 185 people and costing an estimated $30 million. Less than one year after the environmental disaster, Northeastern University sophomore biology and environmental science combined major Michael Orbank began helping […]

Congratulations to Professors Don Heiman and Sri Sridhar and Research Associate Dattatri Nagesha.

Murray Gibson, dean of the College of Science, opened the 15th annual Humic Science and Technology Conference — held last week at Northeastern — by admitting that he, like many people, didn’t know what humic substances (HS) were for most of his life. According to the International Humic Substances Society (IHSS), HS “are complex and heterogeneous […]

One million vocalists singing the same song will sound cacophonous to an audience member if the singers belt out the tune at different tempos. “But if you’re listening to one person sing, and he changes his tempo, you’re still going to stay in tune with him,” said Meni Wanunu, an assistant professor of physics in Northeastern’s […]