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Henry Kapteyn Elected as a Member of the National Academy of Sciences

04/30/2013
Henry Kapteyn

Henry Kapteyn has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the academy announced on April 30, 2013. Kapteyn joins seven other members of the JILA faculty as members of the academy. They include John Hall (1984), Carl Wieman (1995), Eric Cornell (2000), Margaret Murnane (2004), Deborah Jin (2005) and Jun Ye (2011). NIST Nobel Laureate Dave Wineland and CU Physics Professors Noel Clark and John Wahr are also academy members.Read more »

David Nesbitt Elected as 2013 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

04/24/2013

David Nesbitt has been elected as a 2013 member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He joins some of the world’s most accomplished leaders from academia, business, public affairs, the humanities, and the arts, including JILA Fellows Carl Lineberger, Eric Cornell, Margaret Murnane, and Deborah Jin, Fellow emeritus Carl Wieman, and such luminaries as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein, and Winston Churchill. Read more »

The Amazing Plasmon

Experimental setup for monitoring electron emission from the surface of a gold n

The Nesbitt group has figured out the central role of “plasmon resonances” in light-induced emission of electrons from gold or silver nanoparticles. Plasmons are rapid-fire electron oscillations of freely moving (conduction) electrons in metals. They are caused by light of just the “right frequency.” Read more »

Refueling the Future — with Carbon Dioxide

Orientation of solvent molecules around a negatively charged gold-carbon dioxide

Graduate student Ben Knurr and Fellow Mathias Weber have added new insight into a catalytic reaction based on a single gold atom with an extra electron that transfers this electron into carbon dioxide molecules (CO2). This reaction could be an important first step future industrial processes converting waste CO2 back into chemical fuels. Read more »

Way Faster than a Speeding Bullet

Caption: The Nesbitt group is investigating collisions between HCl gas (green an

The interface between a gas and a solid is a remarkable environment for new investigations. Lots of fascinating chemistry takes place there, including catalysis. Catalysis is acceleration of a chemical reaction that is caused by an element like platinum that remains unchanged by a chemical reaction. For instance platinum catalyzes the transformation of carbon monoxide (CO) into carbon dioxide (CO2) in automobile catalytic converters. Read more »

Chemistry in the Cosmos

An important chemical in combustion known as ethynyl radical was identified for

Searching for Clues in Quantum Fingerprints Read more »

Senate Confirms Fellow Carl Lineberger as Member of the National Science Board

08/05/2011
W. Carl Lineberger

The U.S. Senate confirmed JILA Fellow Carl Lineberger on August 2 as a member of the National Science Board. He was nominated for the position by President Barack Obama in April. As a member of the National Science Board, Lineberger's duties will include helping to establish the policies of the National Science Foundation. The National Science Board also serves as an advisory board to the president and Congress on issues involving science and engineering. Read more »

President Obama to Nominate Carl Lineberger to the National Science Board

04/08/2011
W. Carl Lineberger

On April 7, 2011, the White House announced that President Obama intends to nominate JILA Fellow W. Carl Lineberger to the National Science Board, National Science Foundation, one of the nation's most important science policy organizations. The board sets policy for the National Science Foundation and serves as a key advisory organization to the President and Congress on science, engineering, and education. Lineberger’s nomination will take place soon. Read more »

J. Mathias Weber

J. Mathias Weber

Mathias Weber has known he would become a scientist ever since he was five or six years old and living in Pirmasens, Germany. As a child, he read as much about science as he could. His specific interest in the field of chemistry began when he was about 13 years old. He had convinced his parents to let him set up a chemistry lab in one room in the family home.  Read more »