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News
Whole Foods vs. Walmart: New research reveals hidden realities of ultra-processed foods in stores
The American grocery store is a place where a bevy of food, drink and sundries are at shoppers’ fingertips.
But researchers with the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University have found that despite the abundance of food options available on grocery shelves most contain processed or ultra-processed ingredients.
Northeastern researchers analyzed ingredient lists of food available online from Target, Whole Foods and Walmart. The results were collected in GroceryDB, an online database of over 50,000 foods and it is searchable on the website Truefood. The study reveals the degree of food processing, empowering consumers to make informed choices.
“Food labels omit key information: whether a product is natural, processed or ultra processed,” says Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, the Robert Gray Dodge professor of network science and a distinguished university professor at Northeastern. “Inspired by mounting evidence that food processing affects our health, we set out to change that.”
Read more from Northeastern Global News.
Photo by AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
How Yizhi You’s quantum research could revolutionize computing and STEM education
Most people leave high school with the basic knowledge that everything in the physical world consists of atoms — made up of protons, neutrons and electrons.
Professor of physics Yizhi You says the limited mobility of fractons makes them a promising option for advancing quantum hardware and building more efficient quantum computers.
We also know about the three common states of matter we encounter daily — solid, liquid and gas.
A theoretical physicist like Yizhi You, a professor at Northeastern University, studies the tiny world of subatomic particles. She examines how these particles interact with each other in materials.
These interactions can lead to unusual states of matter and phenomena, like quasiparticles — when groups of particles work together and behave as if they were a single particle.
Read more from Northeastern Global News.
Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
As grad student, Northeastern co-op helps Bay Area startup develop device to prevent toxic algae blooms
OAKLAND, Calif. — When it blooms, red algae emits toxic byproducts, including aerosols, that kill shellfish and other marine life. People who eat shellfish that have been exposed can be at risk too.
Northeastern University graduate student Amelia Langan’s research helped a Bay Area startup develop a device that could prevent toxic algae from forming dead zones in ocean waters.
During her third and final co-op, Langan worked on a small team researching the use of different light wavelengths to detect algae blooms before they can do harm.
Read more from Northeastern Global News.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
From octopus training to robotics, a Northeastern co-op student’s marine biology journey
Northeastern University student Aidan Sasser has learned that when 15 research subjects look identical, it’s their personalities that distinguish them — even when they’re octopuses.
Sasser, a fourth year student, recently completed a co-op at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where he conducted research on how octopuses manipulate objects with the suckers on their arms.
Read more from Northeastern Global News.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.