Biology
Faculty Spotlight: Sophie Caron
Sophie Caron, an Assistant Professor of Biology, will present a “Science Night Live” talk on April 4 at the Sky Lounge, 149 Pierpont Ave, 6 p.m. She will discuss how the brain – and in particular neuronal networks – is organized to provide both the flexibility and specificity required for memory formation. The event is free and open to the public. Must be 21. Call Paige Berg for details at (801) 587-8098 or berg@science.utah.edu.
Chemistry
Young woman goes from refugee camp to medical school in 5 years
SALT LAKE CITY — Just five years ago, Hodan Abdi, a petite, 18-year-old Somalian, left an Ethiopian refugee camp and headed to the U.S. armed with only five years of formal education and English language skills she acquired while watching movies. On Thursday, she will graduate from the University of Utah with a chemistry degree. Later this summer she will begin medical school at the University of Minnesota.
Mathematics
Faculty Spotlight: Aaron Bertram
Aaron Bertram, professor of mathematics, recently was awarded a 2018 fellowship from the Simons Foundation, which will allow him to continue research in his specialty area of algebraic geometry. Bertram will be studying questions about moduli or meta-geometry, in which points in a meta-space represent different curved spaces. The Simons Foundation named 40 mathematicians and 12 theoretical physicists from universities across the United States and Canada for its 2018 awards.
Physics & Astronomy
Riding the (Quantum Magnetic) Wave
In 1991, University of Utah chemist Joel Miller developed the first magnet with carbon-based, or organic, components that was stable at room temperature. It was a great advance in magnetics, and he’s been exploring the applications ever since. Twenty-five years later, physicists Christoph Boehme and Valy Vardeny demonstrated a method to convert quantum waves into electrical current. They too, knew they’d discovered something important, but didn’t know its application. Now those technologies have come together and could be the first step towards a new generation of faster, more efficient and more flexible electronics.