Science and Technology

A theoretical astrophysicist from the University of Kansas may have solved a nearly two-decade-old mystery over the origins of an unusual "zebra" pattern seen in high-frequency radio pulses from the Crab Nebula.

A joint project between University of Kansas and University of Houston supported by $1.8 million from the National Science Foundation’s second Future of Semiconductor program (FuSe) will produce atomically tunable memory resistors, dubbed “memristors,” for brain-inspired advanced computing — while training workforce for the nation’s semiconductor industry.

With $5 million in support from U.S. Department of Energy, the University of Kansas and Avium, a startup firm founded by researchers from KU’s School of Engineering, aim to make clean hydrogen more affordable.

University of Kansas experimental nuclear physicist Daniel Tapia Takaki and his team for the first time report suggestions of gluonic quantum fluctuations at the subnucleon level in heavy nuclei. The findings boost understanding of quantum fields that control interaction of particles at the tiniest scales.

Elisabeth Mills is a co-investigator on a proposal for a far-infrared mission that over the next year will receive $5 million to flesh out the plans and prototypes for a new class of astrophysics observatories.

The Kansas Energy Transition Atlas is a GIS-powered website that gathers wind energy regulations for all of the state's 105 counties and allows users to find information including laws guiding development and the number of turbines and transmission lines in a county. Users can print their own detailed maps.

A new project led by the University of Kansas will bring together scientists throughout the world who study the interactions between plants and microscopic fungi. A $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will support the creation of a global transdisciplinary network to address the grand challenges within the realm of plant-fungal interactions.

Based on the fossil record, it’s been assumed that elapoid snakes, found worldwide, had their origins in Africa. But the new University of Kansas study appearing in Royal Society Open Science — which depends on broad genetic sampling as well as fossils — points instead to Asian origins for these snakes.

Kansas Geological Survey scientists have been awarded nearly $900,000 in grants to spearhead the development of an innovative technology system that will leverage underused corners of farm fields to generate energy and collect water.

Researchers from the University of Kansas have published findings in the journal Ichthyology & Herpetology describing a new species of fanged frog, named Limnonectes cassiopeia, from the Philippine island of Luzon.