COS News

As an undergrad, co-op Noah Bissonnette never thought he'd get published or run independent experiments. Then he met the right mentors.

After days of closures and requests—or orders—to stay home, many people caught in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic are wondering if these efforts will be enough. Network scientist Alessandro Vespignani says the answer depends on the ways that local, regional, and federal governments use the time.

In soap lather, a combination of molecules assemble into bubble-like structures that trap viral matter and other biomaterials—grease, oil, dirt—and rinse them down the drain, says Thomas Gilbert, associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern.

Faster electronics, better communication devices, more efficient ways to store data are just some of the outcomes that the researchers can think of - if magnetite’s puzzle of hidden powers could be figured out. Eventually, it lead to new ways to manipulate materials and improving electronics by harnessing the behavior of their electrons.

Congratulations to Oyinda Oyelaran and Prasanth George, who have been named the 2020 COS Teaching Awards Recipients!

The Biochemistry '13 alumna took time out of her busy schedule to give us an on-the-ground look at COVID-19 preparations at MGH and to discuss her formative experience here at Northeastern.

As part of the School to Sea program, students from Lynn Public Schools had a chance to visit the Marine Science Center for some interactive learning, from touch tanks to Moon Snails.

“Imagination is the limit,” says Swastik Kar, an associate professor of physics. “It could change the way we can detect and communicate signals. It could change the way we can sense things and the storage of information, and possibilities that we may not have even thought of yet.”

Quantum computers represent an incredible leap in computing, but it's still in its infancy. Harnessing the power of spintronics, Professor Don Heiman is creating special materials to help make these computers more efficient, more accurate, and help usher them into the mainstream.

Neuroscientists at Northeastern are using rats to understand how trauma in infancy makes children, but especially girls, more likely to develop anxiety and other similar disorders later in life.

Some parts of the moon never see the light, but they are full of resources that NASA could mine to settle on the lunar surface and venture beyond. The agency selected a team of Northeastern students to develop robotic systems to help survey the darkest areas of the moon.

When researchers unearthed a tiny, fragile prayer book hidden deep in Northeastern’s archives, they embarked on a journey to unlock its mysteries. Complex script, medieval music, and poisonous ink are among the discoveries.