Read the latest news about research conducted by investigators in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Our faculty and students are continually advancing technology, creating solutions and expanding knowledge with new and innovative research.
10/23/2017
Rising sea levels caused by a warming climate threaten greater future storm damage to New York City, but the paths of stronger future storms may shift offshore, changing the coastal risk for the city, according to a team of climate scientists.
10/19/2017
Desirable properties including increased electrical conductivity, improved mechanical properties, or magnetism for memory storage or information processing may be possible because of a theoretical method to control grain boundaries in two-dimensional materials, according to Penn State materials scientists.
10/17/2017
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry highlighted the national importance of a new Penn State-industry collaboration during a recent visit to a Jeddo Coal Company mine in Ebervale, Pennsylvania. Along with Rep. Lou Barletta, of Pennsylvania's 11th district, Perry spoke at a press conference about the collaboration, which aims to extract rare resources from coal. The project is funded by the Department of Energy through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).
10/13/2017
Xiaoxing Wang, an associate research professor in Penn State's Earth and Mineral Sciences Energy Institute, received the Outstanding Young Researcher Award at the 15th International Conference on Carbon Dioxide Utilization, held July 17-21 in Shanghai, China.
10/11/2017
We have come a long way from leaky sulfur-acid automobile batteries, but modern lithium batteries still have some down sides. Now a team of Penn State engineers have a different type of lithium sulfur battery that could be more efficient, less expensive and safer.
10/06/2017
The Earth and Space Science Partnership (ESSP) is a program funded by the National Science Foundation designed to help Pennsylvania science teachers build upon their understanding and teaching of big ideas in Earth and space science. The $9 million initiative was aimed at reshaping the teaching and learning of Earth and space science in Pennsylvania.
10/03/2017
Jim Steenburgh, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah and Penn State alumnus, will give the 2017 Lattman Visiting Scholar of Science and Society Lecture. His talk, titled "Communicating Science in the 21st Century: Personal and Political Challenges and Opportunities," will be held from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6, in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum on the ground floor of Deike Building. The event is free and open to the public.
09/29/2017
Penn State President Eric J. Barron will welcome professor Chao-Yang Wang and graduate fellow Ryan Longchamps from the Penn State BEST Center to discuss the advancements in lithium battery technology and the future of electric vehicles during the next episode of WPSU's "Digging Deeper." The show will air at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 8 on WPSU-TV.
09/27/2017
Jennifer Baka, assistant professor in the department of geography, has been at Penn State for a little more than a year, but she has a lifetime of experience assessing the implications of energy. She grew up in a coal mining region of Northeastern Pennsylvania, and watching the relationship a rural community has with a global enterprise factored into her choice to become an energy geographer. It's a field that combines political and industrial ecology to look at how energy projects impact all segments of society.
09/20/2017
Some great ideas are born out of years of painstaking research. Others are gleaned from the plotline of the movie "Twister."