Are there planets out there like ours? Could they be capable of sustaining life? It’s questions like these that have been motivating Dr. Peter Plavchan as he has been studying planets that orbit other stars besides our sun, known as exoplanets.
What do you know about physics? Is your perception of the science more driven by intense study or pop culture?
Faculty from the physics, astronomy and materials science department have been spending the summer sharing the excitement of science with students in the community.
In physicist Dr. Robert Mayanovic’s laboratory at Missouri State University, which is one of 12 partner institutions in the United States funded through the Department of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research in Extreme Environments (EFree) center, he and his students are researching materials to extract hydrogen more efficiently to make it a readily available energy source.
March marks the beginning of tornado chasing season, and residents of the Ozarks are all too aware of the devastation tornadoes can cause. According to Dr. Emmett Redd, professor of physics at Missouri State University, the inner workings of this natural phenomenon highlight the principles of physics.