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Friday, September 11, 2026
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New and exciting activities in the
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
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Recent News From McDonnell Center Fellows
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Chong Zu brings quantum sensing to questions across science
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MCSS fellow Chong Zu develops quantum sensors to explore questions ranging from the magnetic history of the Moon to materials under extreme pressure, living cells and X-ray telescopes. His goal is to make quantum sensing useful to scientists across disciplines.
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The hunt for magnetic interactions between stars and planets
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A new study by graduate student Nathan Whitsett and Dr. Tansu Daylan has identified several candidate systems for magnetic interactions between exoplanets and their host stars. The work advances a new avenue toward measuring planetary magnetic fields, a long-standing challenge in exoplanet science with important implications for planetary interiors, atmospheric evolution, and potentially habitability.
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Zifan Lin coauthors Science study of escaping exoplanet atmosphere
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McDonnell Center Postdoctoral Fellow Zifan Lin is a coauthor of a new study in Science detecting helium escaping from LHS 1140b, a rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone of a nearby red dwarf star. Lin contributed to the theoretical interpretation of the observations, which reveal a helium-rich, hydrogen-poor upper atmosphere.
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Alexandria Terry nominated for NASA space navigation study
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Physics graduate student Alexandria Terry has been nominated by NASA as an early-career participant in a Keck Institute for Space Studies workshop, “Pulsar-based Navigation and Time Keeping for Space Exploration,” to be held in November at Caltech in Pasadena. The workshop will explore how measurements of rapidly rotating neutron stars called pulsars could enable autonomous navigation and precise timekeeping for spacecraft exploring the solar system and beyond.
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Recent Publications by McDonnell Center Fellows
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The Physics of Purposeful Biological Dynamics
| Physics Colloquium
Rob Phillips
Caltech
Wednesday, September 16
3:00pm, Compton 340
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The role of rheology in governing ice sheet dynamics
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EEPS Colloquium
Meghana Ranganathan
University of Chicago
Thursday, September 17
11:30am, Rudolph 301
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A Collider-, Cosmology-, and Astrophysics-Testable Curvaton
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Physics Theory Seminar
Takuya Okawa
SISSA
Thursday, September 17
3:00pm, Compton 241
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Spectral radiative transfer post-processing of GRMHD simulations of black hole accretion
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Astrophysics & Space Sciences Seminar
Christopher Naegle
Johns Hopkins University
Friday, September 18
9:00am, Compton 241
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Is There Anyone Out There?
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St. Louis Astronomical Society
Monthly Meeting
Vivian White
The Astro Society
Friday, September 18
7:30pm, McDonnell 162
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Subscribe to the MCSS Messenger
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| McDonnell Center Contacts |
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Compiled and edited by Alison Verbeck. Have news to share? Please send it along!
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