19552 GW Mag 26_Final_singles - Flipbook - Page 9
A neuroscience major,
Dewanga Mayarata built on
her NIH internship for her
study of prostate growth.
STUDENT RESEARCH
TAKES CENTER STAGE
FROM OBSERVING THE UNIVERSE’S
most powerful explosions to examining
the microscopic world’s tiniest creatures,
from understanding classic literature
to untangling mathematical knots,
from hiking sun-scorched forests to
mapping frozen Alaskan roadways, an
array of graduate and undergraduate
student research experiences was on
display at the fourth-annual CCAS
Research Showcase in April.
More than 250 students, a 25
percent increase from last year’s
showcase, presented posters from
research projects across 33 CCAS
departments and programs. Their
work covered a gamut of topics,
including the origins of breast cancer
and prostate growth, the links between
political polarization and foreign policy
perceptions and the lessons DoorDash
drivers and their hunt for public
bathrooms hold for the gig economy.
“The projects featured here
highlight the remarkable breadth
and depth of research taking place
across our college,” said CCAS Dean
Paul Wahlbeck. “Spanning the
sciences, social sciences, arts and
humanities, this work reflects our
deep commitment to fostering a
dynamic and interdisciplinary
learning environment.”
BLACK HOLE EATS STAR:
STUDENT CHARTS RECORD BLAST
A TEAM OF ASTRONOMERS INCLUDING
Eliza Neights, a CCAS physics PhD
student, recorded an extraordinary
cosmic outburst, which likely heralds
a new kind of stellar explosion. With a
flood of data from sources including
NASA satellites, the team observed a
gamma-ray burst (GRB), the most
powerful class of cosmic explosions.
But while most GRBs are over in a
minute, this one continued for days.
Scientists say the best explanation
for the outburst is that a black hole
consumed a star, but they disagree
on exactly how it happened. The
possibilities include a black hole
weighing a few thousand times the
sun’s mass shredding a star that passed
too close or a much smaller black
hole falling into and consuming its
stellar companion.
“This is certainly an outburst
unlike any other we’ve seen in the past
50 years,” said Neights, who partnered
with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center for this study.
The GRB’s host galaxy as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope.
(Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, H. Sears, Rutgers. Image processing: A. Pagan)
GW Arts & Sciences | BRIEFCASE | 9
