The Dark Universe Conference at UC Davis II: The DUC Returns!
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.
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.
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.
Prof. Wittman's research group's work on a merging galaxy cluster was highlighted by a NASA press release. The group was working on identifying clusters that are undergoing major mergers when, a few years ago on December 31, they found this excellent candidate and Wittman told his collaborator "You can have some Champagne tonight!" The nickname stuck as the group obtained follow-up observations with the Keck Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope.
