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Inside a 3,000-square-foot space adjacent to the UC Davis Physics Building, Nancy Aggarwal searches for invisible ripples and substances in the fabric of space-time. It’s a space uniquely suited for detecting gravitational waves and dark matter, built on its own foundation and outfitted with thick concrete walls. 

What: The topic is research at UC Davis related to the dark universe: neutrinos, dark matter, dark energy, gravitational waves, and new dark ingredients. This year’s program is here.

Who: Any UC Davis researcher is welcome to attend and participate.

It's that time of year again to showcase your culinary and scientific skills at The Great Physics Bake Off! 🍰✨

Whether you’re a seasoned baker or an eager amateur, this is your chance to add a little science to your treats. Here's what you need to know to participate.

🍽️ Guidelines for Your Submission:

TIME has named University of California, Davis Distinguished Research Professor Tony Tyson, of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, to the 2026 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. 

In the write-up about Tyson, who is chief scientist of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, TIME published: 

PICNIC DAY 2026 - Saturday April 18th

Join the Physics and Astronomy Department for two fun shows, all day April18th! 

Superconductors play a critical role in the modern-day scientific enterprise, from the magnets used in the CERN Large Hadron Collider to those in medical MRI machines. But these superconductors require very low temperatures to work. The discovery of room-temperature superconductors would open a huge range of applications and new technologies.

Friday, March 13, 2026
7pm, Creuss Hall 1002

67 minute film followed by Q&A with the filmmakers. More information: https://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/shortfilms/

Astronomy on Tap is on this Thursday, March 5th, from 6 to 8 pm at Sudwerk Brewing in Davis. This month's speakers are Professor Tucker Jones (UC Davis) and Ms. Emily Silich (Caltech). Jones's presentation title is "Towards Cosmic Dawn with the James Webb Space Telescope" and Silich's is "Galaxy Clusters Collide: The Most Energetic Events since the Big Bang." 

Professor Warren Pickett was inducted last month into the Hall of Fame of the Wichita State University Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The honor is bestowed annually to at most one person each from Physical Sciences, Humanities, and Social Sciences, for career achievements. He was the second WSU Physics student (after a colleague of his at WSU, last year) to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

At the February 5th Astro on Tap at Sudwerk Brewery in Davis, there was not even standing room. Those who showed up a little late just could not get in. On the docket were Professor Sean Carroll, of Johns Hopkins University and the Santa Fe Institute, and our own Professor Andrew Wetzel. Professor Carroll talked about the origin of complexity, the second law of thermodynamics, and the arrow of time with its origins in the low-entropy conditions of the big bang. Professsor Wetzel followed with a presentation about the formation of our Milky Way galaxy.

For more than 40 years, physicist John Conway has led research in high-energy particle physics, a field driven by a simple yet profound goal: to understand what the universe is made of and how it works.

He is this month’s guest on Face to Face With Chancellor May. Conway’s career has been fueled by the thrill of colliding subatomic particles at extraordinary energies and capturing the results with some of the most sophisticated instruments ever built.

A rock star of science communication will be visiting the UC Davis campus on Thursday Feb 5 and Friday Feb 6. Most broadly known for his public outreach, via books, blogs, and television show, radio show, and podcast appearances, Sean Carroll is a distinguished theoretical physicist and philosopher holding appointments at Johns Hopkins University and the Santa Fe Institute. Professor Carroll is an excellent communicator, at all levels, and our community is blessed to have three talks from him during this visit, as well as some opportunities for more informal interaction. 

Currently finishing up a fellowship at the Carnegie Theoretical Astrophysics Center in Pasadena, Calif., Mockler will join the UC Davis campus in summer 2026. The move is a homecoming.

Mockler was raised in Davis, and it was while she was attending Ralph Waldo Emerson Junior High that her fascination with space was ignited.