Research
Princeton awarded more than $21 million in Recovery Act funding
By Hilary Parker · Posted October 9, 2009; 02:20 p.m.
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Princeton University has received more than $21 million in research funding from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
Schmidt Fund to advance science through support for transformative technology
By Staff · Posted October 13, 2009; 10:00 a.m.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, have created a $25 million endowment fund at Princeton University for the invention, development and utilization of cutting-edge technology that has the capacity to transform research in the natural sciences and engineering.
NCI awards $15.2 million to create Princeton Physical Sciences-Oncology Center
By Hilary Parker · Posted October 26, 2009; 08:00 a.m.
Princeton University physical scientists will partner with researchers at four other institutions to explore the driving forces behind the evolution of cancer under a five-year, $15.2 million award from the National Cancer Institute.
Study: Accounting error undermines climate change laws
By Staff · Posted October 22, 2009; 02:00 p.m.
An important but fixable error in legal accounting rules used to measure compliance with carbon limits for bioenergy could undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging deforestation, according to a new study by 13 prominent scientists and land use experts published in the Oct. 23 issue of the journal Science.
Professor calculates a cooler planet
By Chris Emery · Posted October 20, 2009; 10:31 a.m.
Some people fight global warming by driving fuel-efficient cars. Others weatherproof their houses or plant trees. Princeton's René Carmona does math.
Like humans, monkeys fall into the 'uncanny valley'
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted October 13, 2009; 11:00 a.m.
Princeton University researchers have come up with a new twist on the mysterious visual phenomenon experienced by humans known as the "uncanny valley." The scientists have found that monkeys sense it too.
Gunn, Fuchs receive National Medals of Science in White House ceremony
By Staff · Posted October 7, 2009; 06:55 p.m.
James Gunn, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy at Princeton, received the National Medal of Science in a ceremony Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the White House.
Princeton paleomagnetists put controversy to rest
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted October 2, 2009; 11:03 a.m.
Princeton University scientists have shown that, in ancient times, the Earth's magnetic field was structured like the two-pole model of today, suggesting that the methods geoscientists use to reconstruct the geography of early land masses on the globe are accurate. The findings may lead to a better understanding of historical continental movement, which relates to changes in climate.
Portable and precise gas sensor could monitor pollution and detect disease
By Chandra Shekhar · Posted September 25, 2009; 09:00 a.m.
A team of Princeton and Rice University researchers has demonstrated a new method of identifying the nitric oxide using lasers and sensors that are inexpensive, compact and highly sensitive. Such a portable device, suitable for large-scale deployment, could be of great value to atmospheric science, pollution control, biology and medicine.
Sigman, Zoli win MacArthur 'genius grants'
By Kitta MacPherson and Chris Emery · Posted September 22, 2009; 12:00 a.m.
Daniel Sigman, a Princeton University biogeochemist who has conducted pioneering work exploring the large-scale systems that have supported life on the planet throughout the millennia, has been selected as a 2009 MacArthur Fellow. Also chosen was Theodore Zoli, a 1988 alumnus and a visiting lecturer in Princeton's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 2003. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced that they are among 24 trailblazing artists, writers, scientists and others who each will receive a $500,000 no-strings-attached grant over a five-year period.
Gunn wins National Medal of Science
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted September 17, 2009; 03:57 p.m.
James Gunn, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy at Princeton University, has been chosen to receive a National Medal of Science, the nation's highest scientific honor, for his sweeping contributions to modern stargazing, from theory to observation to gadget-building.
Negative public opinion an early warning signal for terrorism, Princeton professor says
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted September 17, 2009; 02:00 p.m.
An analysis of public opinion polls and terrorist activity in 143 pairs of countries has shown for the first time that when people in one country hold negative views toward the leadership and policies of another, terrorist acts are more likely to be carried out.
Denitrification, its importance once diluted, may be back on top, Princeton-led team says
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted September 2, 2009; 01:00 p.m.
After more than a decade of inquiry, a Princeton-led team of scientists has turned the tables on a long-standing controversy to re-establish an old truth about nitrogen mixing in the oceans.
NIH awards $2.9 million to Center for Health and Wellbeing for research on aging
By Staff · Posted August 27, 2009; 12:32 p.m.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $2.9 million over five years to the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs to support research exploring the relationships and impacts of people's health and quality of life as populations age.
Princeton team learns why some drugs pack such a punch
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted August 20, 2009; 11:00 a.m.
By studying the intricate mechanisms at work in protein production, a Princeton-led team has discovered why certain kinds of antibiotics are so effective. In doing so, they also have discovered how one protein protects against cell death, shedding light on a natural cancer-fighting process.
From top to bottom, Butler will be a living environmental laboratory
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted August 13, 2009; 09:00 a.m.
When 283 Princeton undergraduates move into Butler College this September, they will be entering a 113,000-square-foot complex integrating sustainability features from top to bottom, including the green roofs on more than half of its buildings and a stormwater cistern that will collect and recycle rainwater to irrigate courtyard landscaping.
Princeton pair sets world record in packing puzzle
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted August 12, 2009; 01:00 p.m.
Finding the best way to pack the greatest quantity of a specifically shaped object into a confined space may sound simple, yet it consistently has led to deep mathematical concepts and practical applications, such as improved computer security codes. Two Princeton University researchers have made a major advance in addressing a twist in the packing problem, jamming more tetrahedra -- solid figures with four triangular faces -- and other polyhedral solid objects than ever before into a space.
Princeton quantitative biology center awarded $15 million renewal grant
By Ushma Patel · Posted August 6, 2009; 09:00 a.m.
The Princeton Center for Quantitative Biology will receive $15.54 million over the next five years to continue its research and teaching in biological processes from aging to malaria by developing improved quantitative models, data sets and computational analysis equipment and methods.
Astronomers find hyperactive galaxies in the early universe
By Space Telescope Science Institute and Gemini Observatory · Posted August 5, 2009; 01:00 p.m.
Looking almost 11 billion years into the past, astronomers have measured the motions of stars for the first time in a very distant galaxy and clocked speeds upward of 1 million miles per hour, about twice the speed of the sun's revolution through the Milky Way.
PPPL will receive $13.8 million in Recovery Act funding
By Staff · Posted August 4, 2009; 04:17 p.m.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will receive a two-year federal grant of $13.8 million as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Super tiny technology could power superfast airplanes
By Chris Emery · Posted July 17, 2009; 12:26 p.m.
Supersonic aircraft may get a boost in speed from the tiniest of manmade particles. An interdisciplinary team of scientists led by Princeton engineers has been awarded a $3 million grant to study how fuel additives made of tiny particles known as nanocatalysts can help supersonic jets fly faster and make diesel engines cleaner and more efficient.
Biofuels 'done right' can curb greenhouse gas emissions and provide other benefits
By Chris Emery · Posted July 16, 2009; 04:08 p.m.
Biofuels derived from renewable sources can be produced in large quantities and address many problems related to fossil fuels, including greenhouse gas emissions, but only if they are made from certain sources, according to a new article by a team of scientists and policy experts that included several Princeton researchers.
Task force report highlights changing nature of government service
By Staff · Posted July 16, 2009; 10:51 a.m.
A task force convened by Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs to examine the changing nature of government service has issued a report finding that the federal hiring and personnel system is broken to the point of crisis and recommending that government and academic leaders work together to develop future public servants who will require new skills in the 21st century.
Three Princeton scientists receive Presidential Award
By Staff · Posted July 14, 2009; 03:57 p.m.
U.S. President Barack Obama has named three Princeton scientists as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the federal government on young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
New Princeton method may help allocate carbon emissions responsibility among nations
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted July 6, 2009; 05:00 p.m.
Just months before world leaders are scheduled to meet to devise a new international treaty on climate change, a research team led by Princeton University scientists has developed a new way of dividing responsibility for carbon emissions among countries.
Research offers new insights, and a new angle, on high-temperature superconductivity
By Hilary Parker · Posted June 29, 2009; 02:18 p.m.
A Princeton-led research team has revealed surprising information about how electron behavior influences the conduction of electricity in a class of high-temperature superconductors. An increased understanding of this mechanism could one day transform a number of technologies, including the transmission of electrical power.
Brinkman confirmed as director of DOE's Office of Science
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted June 23, 2009; 11:57 a.m.
William Brinkman, a senior research physicist in the Department of Physics at Princeton University, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as director of the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy.
New website to help translate genetic data into medical therapies
By Chris Emery · Posted June 15, 2009; 04:00 p.m.
Princeton researchers have created a Rosetta Stone for the human body, a website that offers clues to the role DNA plays in aging and disease by helping scientists make sense of the vast jumble of information emerging from genetics research.
Research team finds important role for junk DNA
By Kitta MacPherson · Posted June 4, 2009; 12:00 a.m.
Scientists have called it "junk DNA." They have long been perplexed by these extensive strands of genetic material that dominate the genome but seem to lack specific functions. Why would nature force the genome to carry so much excess baggage? Now researchers from Princeton University and Indiana University who have been studying the genome of a pond organism have found that junk DNA may not be so junky after all.