News Archives from the College of Sciences
First-Ever Thirdhand Smoke Resource Center Opens
“There’s a big illusion that when tobacco smoke disappears, we’re safe,” said SDSU psychology professor Georg Matt, director of the resource center. “Unfortunately, some of the most toxic compounds clinch to surfaces. They get embedded in carpets, they coat walls, they penetrate into walls. They become part of the indoor environment.”
Astronomers Discover Third Planet in the Kepler-47 Circumbinary System
Astronomers have discovered a third planet in the Kepler-47 system, securing the system’s title as the most interesting of the binary-star worlds. Using data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, a team of researchers, led by astronomers at San Diego State University, detected the new Neptune-to-Saturn-size planet orbiting between two previously known planets.
Bacteria Surrounding Coral Reefs Change in Synchrony, Even Across Great Distance
“Investigations of day-night rhythms of reef processes are required to holistically understand the functional roles of microbial players in these ecosystems,” said Linda Wegley Kelly…
How Seals Took to the Seas
Sarah Kienle, a comparative biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, measuring the skull of a northern elephant seal. Photo Credit: Carolyn Lagattuta/UC Santa Cruz By comparing the bones of ancient and contemporary seals, researchers say a...
‘Ninja’ Kangaroo Rats Kick Rattlesnakes In The Head Faster Than You Can Blink!
“Our work, which, to our knowledge, is the first to describe the kinematics of evasive leaps by bipedal rodents avoiding actual attacks from predators, supports the idea that bipedalism may have been favored in kangaroo rats because it allows for the rapid…
From India to SDSU: A New Shark Genome
The work in an EIS lab could help protect a species whose numbers are dwindling. By Jeff Ristine Using a tiny tissue sample collected from one of the largest fishing ports in India, a San Diego State University laboratory has developed a detailed...
Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve is Critical Corridor for Wildlife Habitat
“Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve is one of the most critical corridors for wildlife and habitat biodiversity, we connect the Palomar Mountains to the East, and Santa Ana Mountain to the West for wildlife. Wildlife and animals use the river valley as a highway,” 20-year reserve manager Pablo Bryant said.
Professor Faramarz Valafar Receives Additional $3.1 Million to Combat Drug Resistance
Gathered in the lab of San Diego State University professor Faramarz Valafar, more than a dozen graduate students and research assistants focus on the most deadly pathogen on the planet. They analyze the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria...
Class of 2018 Outstanding Graduate
Congratulations to Kellen Gillooley for being named the 2018 Outstanding Graduate for Computer Science! Each outstanding graduate chooses his most influential professor and Kellen chose Dr. John Carroll. I asked him to tell us about his experiences here at SDSU,...
2018 Graduates
Congratulations to our 2018 Graduates! For the 2017/18 academic year the department graduated 25 BS, 10 BA, and 7 MS students with a degree in geology. In addition, 1 student left with the honor of PhD. As you can see in the above picture several students...
IBA team places 2nd in World Competition!
Michael Levenson, Abbey Warner, Maddie Burvant, Mark Korte-Nahabedian, Jack Brown, and Kip Herring Your 2018 IBA traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah to participate in the World Competition. All their hard work paid off, they took second…..in the world! ...
Advanced Field in the White Mountains
SDSU plus Dalhousie University joining field investigation of Cretaceous skarn deposit with Big Pine volcanic field in the background
Congratulations to Annie Meier
Congratulations to Annie Meier, a psychology Master’s student, on receiving a Graduate Student Preceptorship Award from the Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF). The RRF Preceptorship Award funds Annie’s research and pays for her travel to the American College of...
Sam Shen spoke at ABET symposium
SDSU Distinguished Professor Samuel Shen was a speaker at the opening plenary session on April 12 at the 2018 Symposium of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) held at the San Diego Grand Hyatt. ABET is a non-governmental organization formed...
2018 Cyber Defense Team Competition
We are very proud to announce that the SDSU Cyber Defense Team won 2nd Place in the Western Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. They placed above well renowned schools like Stanford University, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Riverside, and Arizona State University....
SDSU Study Sheds Light on Skin Cancer Risk Behaviors
Ultraviolet light exposure through tanning is the leading environmental risk factor for developing skin cancer. “Researchers found people tanned less often after seeing a simulation of how their older selves would look if they continued tanning verses if they...
Prof. Calvin Johnson appointed associate editor at Physical Review C
The department of physics’ very own Calvin Johnson has been named an associate editor at Physical Review C, one of the leading US journals in nuclear physics. When scientific papers are submitted to science journals for publication, they undergo peer review, whereby...
The Spring 2018 Doc Morris & John D. Schopp Public Lecture
This year’s Doc Morris & John D. Schopp Public Lecture will be given by Dr. Konstantin Batygin, a Professor of Planetary Science at Caltech, and a world leader in the study of planet formation. Dr Batygin will explain his recent prediction of the presence of an...