1 true Awards,Donors & Alums,Events pa 04/16/2026 Alumni Awards honor many in college community /_assets/audio/news/2026/2026-04-alumni-awards-honor-many-in-college-community.mp3 Dean Eric Hegg shakes hands with an Alumni Award winner2 Two MSU students awarded prestigious Goldwater Scholarship 03/27/2026 https://studentawards.msu.edu/news/two-msu-students-awarded-goldwater-scholarship/ Awards chemistry,math,pa Goldwater Scholarship winners Lauren Jin and Aswath Karai3 true Awards,Student Success integrativebiology,pa 03/17/2026 Grad students earn awards for national energy research /_assets/audio/news/2026/2026-03-grad-students-earn-awards-for-national-energy-research.mp3 Three MSU graduate student portraits and an spartan helmet stickerThree MSU graduate student portraits and an spartan helmet sticker4 true 03/11/2026 Darryl Seligman's research presentation at the Board of Trustees meeting profile photo of Darryl Segilman 5 Ask the expert: The physics of the Winter Olympics 02/04/2026 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2026/02/ask-the-expert-physics-of-the-winter-olympics Discovery Science pa Ice skater holding a position while skating on green ice6 College of Natural Science alumnus invests $50M in MSU’s future of Engineering and Digital Innovation 02/03/2026 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2026/02/naming-gift-announcement-edi-center Donors & Alums pa Artist rendering of Engineering and Digital Innovation Building on campus of Michigan State University7 Study provides new insight into the origin of a rare proton-rich isotope 01/21/2026 https://frib.msu.edu/news-center/news/study-provides-new-insight-origin-rare-proton-rich-isotope Discovery Science pa a periodic table with new squares representing discovery8 true Discovery Science pa 01/07/2026 The Milky Way’s black hole is hiding an explosive past, evidence suggests XRISM reveals signs of long-lost flares Our galaxy’s supermassive black hole is famous for being one of the dimmest in the universe. Evidence from a new space telescope shows that might not always have been the case. Bethany Mauger /_assets/audio/news/2026/2026-01-the-milky-ways-black-hole-is-hiding-an-explosive-past.mp3 Image of Space with glowing pink clouds9 How to stop an asteroid MSU planetary scientists help shape strategies for protecting Earth from future impacts. 12/08/2025 https://spartanscience.natsci.msu.edu/how-to-stop-an-asteroid.html Discovery Science ees,pa A tall blond man holds a small asteroid.10 true Discovery Science pa 12/05/2025 Astronomers watch stars explode in real time through new images MSU astrophysicist contributes to research challenging long-held views about nova eruptions Astronomers have captured unprecedented, detailed images of two stellar explosions—known as novae—within days of their eruption. image of Nova Herculis 2021, black square with orange gradient and directional arrows11 Paul Guèye named American Physical Society Fellow Guèye was elected for pioneering experiments, developing tools critical to unravelling the structure of nuclei, and for extraordinary service to the physics community. 11/04/2025 https://frib.msu.edu/news-center/news/paul-gueye-named-2025-american-physical-society-fellow Awards,Faculty pa portrait of Paul Gueye12 true Discovery Science pa 10/28/2025 How neutrinos may hold the keys to why we exist MSU scientists help merge data from two neutrino experiments to offer most precise look yet at elusive particles A Michigan State University researcher co-led a joint analysis between two major neutrino experiments. Bethany Mauger Inside the Super-Kamiokande detector13 true Donors & Alums,Faculty pa 10/21/2025 The sound of a legacy Former physics professor endows $2 million physics chair A former psychoacoustics professor is giving back to MSU. Bethany Mauger /_assets/audio/news/2025/2025-10-the-sound-of-a-legacy.mp3 Portrait of William Hartmann14 MSU physicists awarded Moore Foundation grants to advance quantum science, fundamental physics MSU physicists work every day to advance quantum computing and help unravel the mysteries of the universe. 10/09/2025 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/10/msu-physicists-awarded-moore-foundation-grants Discovery Science,Grant pa Johannes Pollanen and Jaideep Taggert Singh15 true Discovery Science pa 09/16/2025 What 3I/ATLAS tells us about other solar systems The fleeting interstellar visitor offers MSU astrophysicists clues about comets beyond our solar system The earliest images of 3I/ATLAS, newly uncovered by Michigan State University, reveal how the interstellar object evolved. Bethany Mauger image of 3I Atlas in May 202516 ‘Wiggling’ atoms may lead to smaller, more efficient electronics Wiggling atoms in new quantum materials could lead to more efficient electronics that are smaller and faster. 09/16/2025 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/09/wiggle-atoms-for-better-smartphones Discovery Science pa hands holding cellphone17 First scientific paper on 3I/ATLAS interstellar object Astronomers at Michigan State University turned their telescopes to capture data on the new celestial sighting.     07/11/2025 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/first-scientific-paper-on-3i-atlas-interstellar-object Discovery Science pa diagram shows trajectory of interstellar comet 3iatlas as it passes through the solar system18 FRIB researchers use SuN to shine light on exotic nuclear shapes A team of researchers at the  Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) discovered that cobalt-70 isotopes form different nuclear shapes when their energy levels differ only slightly.  06/10/2025 https://frib.msu.edu/news-center/news/frib-researchers-use-sun-shine-light-exotic-nuclear-shapes Discovery Science chemistry,pa Molecules with a microscope19 true Discovery Science,Faculty pa 06/09/2025 Where did cosmic rays come from? MSU astrophysicists are closer to finding out Shuo Zhang and her group led two studies that shed new light on where cosmic rays might have come from. Bethany Mauger PeVatron candidate we studied with a green circle that highlights the pulsar wind nebula we discovered that is associated with this PeVatron20 New research shatters long-held beliefs about asteroid Vesta

Michigan State University has contributed to research revealing Vesta 's interior structure is more uniform than previously thought .

04/28/2025 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/new-research-shatters-long-held-beliefs-about-asteroid-vesta Discovery Science pa Photo of the asteroid Vesta21 true Awards,Faculty mgi,pa 04/04/2025 Christoph Adami honored with William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award The Beal Award is one of the most prestigious honors given at MSU. Adami is being recognized for significant contributions across multiple scientific fields including evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. Debbie Walton microbiology microbiologyChristoph Adami sits for a formal portrait. He's wearing a black jacket and shirt. The background behind him is dark gray. He is smiling. A petri dish with white and red bacterial colonies sits on a black background. microbiology22 true Awards math,pa 03/28/2025 Students awarded prestigious Goldwater Scholarships Three Michigan State University College of Natural Science  students have earned the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Melanie Brender Goldwater scholarship winners23 Four MSU researchers named AAAS fellows “This year’s class of fellows are the embodiment of scientific excellence and service to our communities,” said Sudip Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals 03/28/2025 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/four-msu-researchers-named-aaas-fellows Awards integrativebiology,pa Portraits of four MSU faculty24 true Discovery Science,Faculty pa 03/05/2025 MSU forges strategic partnership to solve the mystery of how planets are formed A new collaboration among Michigan State University, Arizona State University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will seek to answer how planets are formed with the help of a powerful telescope and high-performance computers.   Bethany Mauger An artist’s conception of the exoplanet K2-33b, a 10 Myr Jupiter-sized planet, transiting in front of its active host star. This system is comparable to those which will be observed by the KRONOS collaboration. Photo credit: NASA/JPL-CalTech25 true Awards,Discovery Science,Faculty pa 02/12/2025 A stellar career and unyielding spirit MSU physics and astronomy professor reflects on her career amid her battle with stage four cancer Laura Chomiuk received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, or PECASE, the highest honor given to scientists by the U.S. government early in their careers. Bethany Mauger A woman smiles with her arms crossed in front in an observatory telescope room.26 true Climate and Sustainability,Discovery Science,Faculty,Grant,Water pa 01/23/2025 MSU professor’s fresh water mission Michigan State University professor is committed to solving one of Earth’s most pressing problems — access to clean water — through applied physics. Michigan State University professor is committed to solving one of Earth’s most pressing problems — access to clean water — through applied physics. Stacy Kish Three oxygen sensors prior to burial in the sediment of the stream bed to monitor dissolved oxygen dynamics continuously over 1.5 years at depths of 10 cm, 20 cm and 35 cm below the East River.27 true Discovery Science pa 01/22/2025 MSU researcher-led company working to bring quantum computers into reality Johannes Pollanen and his start up, EeroQ, set out to revolutionize information by bringing quantum computers into reality. Johannes Pollanen didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur. Originally a physicist studying superfluids, Pollanen first turned his attention to quantum computing over a decade ago at Caltech. Building a marketable quantum computer wasn’t on his radar. Jude Coleman Detailed close up showing quantum computer mechanical parts.28 MSU researcher’s breakthrough model sheds light on solar storms and space weather Our sun is essentially a searing hot sphere of gas. Its mix of primarily hydrogen and helium can reach temperatures between 10,000 and 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit on its surface and its atmosphere’s outermost layer. Because of that heat, the blazing orb constantly oozes a stream of plasma, made up of charged subatomic particles — mainly protons and electrons. The sun’s gravity can’t contain them because they hold so much energy as heat, so they drift away into space as solar wind. Understanding how charged particles as solar wind interact with other transient eruptions of energy from the sun can help scientists study cosmic rays emitted in supernova explosions.  01/17/2025 Do Portrait https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/msu-researchers-breakthrough-model-sheds-light-on-solar-storms-and-space-weather 29 true Discovery Science,STEM Education pa 12/10/2024 Bringing dark comets to light Research led by Michigan State University’s College of Natural Science has uncovered seven new dark comets in our solar system.
  • A Michigan State University post-doctoral fellow discovered seven new dark comets in our solar system.
  • This discovery doubles the population of known dark comets and identifies two distinct types of dark comets.
  • These objects could help scientists gather data to uncover answers about the formation of our planet.
 Chelsea Stein A dark comet moving in space around earth with orbit rings30 true Discovery Science,STEM Education,Student Success pa 12/06/2024 Learning from the stars For the last decade, the MSU Observatory Research Program has provided undergraduate and graduate students alike with real-world research experience and helped them to decide if astrophysics is the right career path.
  • The MSU Observatory Research Program gives astrophysics students real-life research experience early in their academic careers.
  • Every clear night, students man the MSU Observatory all night and collect data by taking photos with MSU’s telescope.
  • Students also lead public nights, when the public is invited to the Observatory to look through the telescope and attend educational programming.
 Bethany Mauger Two Michigan State University students adjust a camera on a research telescope.31 Research on ice: Spartan students help unlock cosmic mysteries in Antarctica Students and faculty are building sensors that will be embedded deep within Antarctic ice to shed new light on the origins of the universe 11/20/2024 photo of research facility with the milky way galaxy in the background https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2024/research-on-ice-spartan-students-help-unlock-cosmic-mysteries-in-antarctica 32 true Discovery Science,Donors & Alums,Faculty,Fundraising pa 10/09/2024 MSU physicist named inaugural Cowen Distinguished Chair

Michigan State University has named Johannes Pollanen as the inaugural Cowen Distinguished Chair in Experimental Physics.
  • Johannes Pollanen, associate professor in the MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy, is the inaugural Cowen Distinguished Chair in Experimental Physics.
  • The endowment from MSU alum Randy Cowen honors Randy's father, a physics researcher of four decades.
  • Pollanen and his team explore quantum technologies. This endowment will allow his team to delve deeper into the science, creating novel technologies and making fundamental discoveries.
 Sam Brichta An MSU interim provost wearing a suit hangs a medal around the neck of MSU physicist Johannes Pollanen.Landscape picture of the Physics and Astronomy building33 pa 09/26/2024 Tyler Cocker earns Early Career Research Award for charting new territory in material physics Tyler Cocker received a prestigious 2024 Early Career Research Award from the Department of Energy (DOE) for research that uses a technique he pioneered to study atomic motion in materials.
  • Tyler Cocker received a prestigious award from the Department of Energy for his research on atomic motion in materials.
  • Cocker pioneered a technique that uses lightwave-driven terahertz scanning tunneling microscopy to observe single atoms moving in surfaces.
  • Cocker's technique is gaining popularity among other researchers, with more labs building their own instruments to conduct similar studies.
 Mollie Newman Tyler Cocker34 Faculty pa 08/30/2024 Norman Birge appointed Interim Associate Dean of Budget, Planning, Research, and Administration Norman Birge, Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been appointed Interim Associate Dean of Associate Dean of Budget, Planning, Research, and Administration in the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University. Norman Birge35 Discovery Science pa 07/08/2024 Single atoms show their true color

A new technique reveals single atom misfits and could help design better semiconductors used in modern and future electronics
  • Researchers at Michigan State University have developed a new technique that combines atomic-scale imaging with extremely short laser pulses to clearly detect single-atom “defects” that manufacturers add to semiconductors to tune their electronic performance.
  • The technique could help researchers better characterize and design semiconductor materials used in modern electronics, such as computer chips, communication devices and solar cells, as well as future devices.
  • The MSU team demonstrated their technique in the journal Nature Photonics by revealing silicon defects in gallium arsenide that had been all but invisible previously. “Here was this defect that people have been hunting for over forty years, and we could see it ringing like a bell,” said team leader Tyler Cocker, the Jerry Cowen Endowed Chair in Experimental Physics at MSU.
 Matt Davenport A schematic representing a microscopy measurement where a pulse of laser light (red curve) illuminates an atomically sharp tip (top) positioned above the sample surface. The graphene nanoribbon sits on top of a gold substrate. Experimental data is shown in blue, revealing the distribution of electrons above the nanoribbon. 36 FRIB helps advance understanding of proton halos

The first results from FRIB’s precision measurement program measure the mass of a rare isotope

 06/17/2024 https://frib.msu.edu/news/2024/proton-halos Discovery Science pa An atomic nucleus is shown with blue neutrons and red protons clustered in its core. There is one proton,, however, that orbits that central cluster, creating what's called a proton halo.37 true Discovery Science,Student Success pa 06/11/2024 'Flares' and 'echoes' from the Milky Way's monster black hole

Spartans have uncovered new information about the galaxy’s central black hole, Sagittarius A*
  • Michigan State University researchers led by Shuo Zhang, have presented new findings that will help scientists better understand the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*.
  • Grace Sanger-Johnson, a postbaccalaureate researcher, discovered nine previously undetected “flares” from Sagittarius A* — high-energy X-ray bursts that give researchers valuable insights into the black hole’s physical environment.
  • Jack Uteg, an undergraduate researcher in the MSU Honors College, analyzed X-ray echoes from a molecular cloud near the black hole to peer more than 200 years into Sagittarius A*’s past.
 Samantha Brichta The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, known as Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*, appears as a bright spot against the backdrop of space in this telescope image, shrouded by X-ray light, which appears as clouds of red and blue. Credit: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Wisconsin/Y. Bai, et al.Physics and Astronomy Building38 Solving quantum many-body problems FRIB reserachers are helping solve complex computational problems with a new method called wavefunction matching. 05/20/2024 https://frib.msu.edu/news/2024/wavefunction-matching Awards pa An illustration shows wave-shaped purple, pink and orange contours nesting within each other and overlapping.39 true Physics & Astronomy pa 05/01/2024 Ask the expert: The nova in our 'galactic backyard' Elias Aydi shares the story of a star explosion that will soon light up the night sky
  • Elias Aydi researches novae — the plural of stellar explosions known as nova — at Michigan State University. Within the next year or so, people all over the Northern Hemisphere will have a chance to see the brightest nova in the night sky since 1942.
  • Aydi explains what a nova is, how it differs from a supernova and why this event is special, even for the casual stargazer.
  • The nova also presents a unique opportunity for Aydi and the astrophysics community to learn more about how the cosmos work.
 Matt Davenport A white dwarf star (center) pulls matter off its much larger yellow, companion star. An accretion disc forms around the white dwarf and, eventually, the material in this disc will undergo a thermonuclear explosion.40 Where neutrons meet neutron stars

FRIB researchers lead effort to merge nuclear physics experiments and astronomical observations

 04/23/2024 https://frib.msu.edu/news/2024/equation-of-state pa An illustration of an ultradense object surrounded by glowing blue and orange rings is superimposed over a collage of a particle accelerator facility and a grid of graphs showing different astronomical observations.41 Why is the upcoming total solar eclipse so special? An MSU astronomer shares what you need to know for this and other out-of-this-world events on the horizon.  03/14/2024 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2024/ask-the-expert-why-is-the-upcoming-total-solar-eclipse-so-special pa An illustration of an eclipse shows a yellow ring of sun shining brightly behind a moon shrouded in shadow.42 FRIB Project team receives Secretary of Energy's Achievement Award The award is DOE's highest form of employee recognition for achievement. 03/06/2024 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2024/frib-project-team-receives-secretary-of-energy-achievement-award pa The metal-capped brick exterior of the FRIB building sits behind a bright green lawn and under a blue sky, dusted with white clouds starting to take on orange and purple hues of dusk.43 FRIB creates 5 new isotopes

Spartans lead an international team in making new nuclei and paving the way to new discoveries

 02/15/2024 https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2024/frib-creates-5-new-isotopes pa A rendering of a table of nuclides shows that the new isotopes are the heaviest versions of thulium, ytterbium and lutetium that have been made.44 FRIB to construct a next generation neutron detector Empowered by a  National Science Foundation  (NSF) grant, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at  Michigan State University  (MSU) is spearheading a multi-institutional project to construct a next-generation fast-neutron detector unlike any other in the world. 01/26/2024 https://frib.msu.edu/news/2024/next-generation-detector.html pa FRIB neutron FRIB,neutronThe Facility for Rare Isotope Beams is accelerating scientific breakthroughsFRIB,neutron