From the Clark Planetarium's website.

NASA Traveling Exhibit

Credit: NASA

Don’t miss the NASA Exploration Systems Directorate/Space Launch System (ESD/SLS) exhibit when it is on display at the Clark Planetarium. In partnership with ATK and NASA, the SLS exhibit will be open to the public February 26 – March 2, 2014.

Guests will be able to explore launch system and flight hardware with an interactive touch screen presentation, take an up-close look at a scale model of NASA’s next rocket, the Space Launch System and multi-purpose crew vehicle, the Orion space capsule. Visitors can also have their picture taken as an astronaut.

According to NASA: “The SLS will be NASA’s first exploration-class vehicle since the Saturn V took American astronauts to the moon over 40 years ago. With its superior lift capability, the SLS will expand our reach in the solar system, allowing astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft to explore multiple, deep-space destinations including near-Earth asteroids, Lagrange points, the moon and ultimately Mars.

Remember, exhibits are always free so be sure to get in and see this before it’s gone.

Free admission. All are invited to attend. Learn More
Date: Wednesday, February 26 - Sunday, March 2, 2014
Location: Hansen Dome Theatre, Clark Planetarium, 110 South 400 West in Salt Lake City
View Location & Map

Special Night Vision Event

Join Clark Planetarium for a special Night Vision event on Wednesday, February 26, 2014, for an up close look at NASA and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Clark Planetarium is pleased to welcome Alex Priskos, NASA's SLS Boosters Manager, and NASA Astronaut Dominic "Tony" Antonelli for this special event.

Their joint presentation will include discussion of NASA's next rocket, the SLS, and will pair nicely with the special NASA Exploration Systems Directorate/Space Launch System (ESD/SLS) exhibit that will be on display at Clark Planetarium from February 26 - March 2, 2014.

The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. in the Hansen Dome Theatre. Tickets to the event are $2. Members get in free. Seating is limited.

$2 admission (Tickets available here). All are invited to attend.
Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 7:00 p.m. MST
Location:Hansen Dome Theatre, Clark Planetarium, 110 South 400 West in Salt Lake City
View Location & Map

More…

Dr. George Lowe
Legendary alpine climber and highly skilled scientist.

Date: Monday, February 24, 2014, 3:00 p.m.

Location: 103 James Fletcher Building at the University of Utah
View Map

Free admission. No tickets required.

Download event poster here (PDF)

Join Dr. George Lowe for a whirlwind tour of climbing and physics: fluid mechanics, forces on bodies and with motion, the quest to balance a professional career with recreation - and come away with a profound understanding of why physics matters.

With an abundance of first ascents under his belt, in a career spanning more than 50 years, Utah native George H. Lowe III is a legend in the climbing community. He is also a highly skilled scientist and engineer, working for such firms as Argo Systems & Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory. With a background in physics, he developed strong problem solving skills that translated well to climbing, and learned skills in climbing that he applied to his scientific work. By navigating these diverse routes, Dr. George Lowe has made it his mission to take on and overcome obstacles both outdoors and in the lab.

Dr. George Lowe enjoys rock climbing, alpine climbing and Himalayan climbing disciplines. His climbing accomplishments include a series of first ascents, such as Dorsal Fin, in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, first winter ascents of many routes such as the North and West Faces of the Grand Teton in Wyoming, the North Face of North Twin in the Canadian Rockies, and the Infinite Spur on Mount Foraker in the Canadian Rockies. His most famous first ascent was the still unrepeated east face of Mt. Everest in 1983, via the now-named “Lowe Buttress”. He, along with Jim Donini, climbed the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite in about 32 hours in May 2013.

Free admission. All are invited to attend.

Date: Monday, February 24, 2014, 3:00 p.m. MST

Location: 103 James Fletcher Building at the University of Utah
View Map

More…

Two department professors, Adam Bolton & Kyle Dawson, (pictured at left) are featured in the Salt Lake Tribune article on the latest cosmology measurements from SDSS-III's Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Part of the article is reprinted below. Read the full article at the Salt Lake Tribune here.

Researchers Get Most Accurate Measure of the Universe

Dark energy » The new understanding likely will shed light on the mysterious force that is expanding the universe.

By Sheena McFarland The Salt Lake Tribune First Published Jan 08 2014 06:18 pm MDT

"Astronomers have defined the scale of the universe to within 1 percent accuracy, allowing them to better understand the enigmatic nature of dark energy and its ability to accelerate the expansion of the cosmos.

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Collaboration is the largest program in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III, and researchers from the University of Utah contributed to its findings. The new measurement allows for a much more accurate picture of the universe and how it’s expanding."

Read the full article at the Salt Lake Tribune here.

More…

UPDATE: Check out the interview with Fox 13 News here.

Sept. 29, 2013 – One problem in developing more efficient organic LED light bulbs and displays for TVs and phones is that much of the light is polarized in one direction and thus trapped within the light-emitting diode, or LED. University of Utah physicists believe they have solved the problem by creating a new organic molecule that is shaped like rotelle – wagon-wheel pasta – rather than spaghetti.

The rotelle-shaped molecule – known as a “pi-conjugated spoked-wheel macrocycle” – acts the opposite of polarizing sunglasses, which screen out glare reflected off water and other surfaces and allow only direct sunlight to enter the eyes.

The new study showed wagon-wheel molecules emit light randomly in all directions – a necessary feature for a more efficient OLED, or organic LED. Existing OLEDs now in some smart phones and TVs use spaghetti-shaped polymers – chains of repeating molecular units – that emit only polarized light.

“This work shows it is possible to scramble the polarization of light from OLEDs and thereby build displays where light doesn’t get trapped inside the OLED,” says University of Utah physicist John Lupton, lead author of a study of the spoked-wheel-shaped molecules published online Sunday, Sept. 29 in the journal Nature Chemistry.

“We made a molecule that is perfectly symmetrical, and that makes the light it generates perfectly random,” he adds. “It can generate light more efficiently because it is scrambling the polarization. That holds promise for future OLEDs that would use less electricity and thus increase battery life for phones, and for OLED light bulbs that are more efficient and cheaper to operate.”

Lupton emphasizes the study is basic science, and new OLEDs based on the rotelle-shaped molecules are “quite a way down the road.”

He says OLEDs now are used in smart phones, particularly the Samsung Galaxy series; in pricey new super-thin TVs being introduced by Sony, Samsung, LG and others; and in lighting.

“OLEDs in smart phones have caught on because they are somewhat more efficient than conventional liquid-crystal displays like those used in the iPhone,” he says. “That means longer battery life. Samsung has already demonstrated flexible, full-color OLED displays for future roll-up smart phones.” Lupton says smart phones could produce light more efficiently using molecules that don’t trap as much light.

The large rotelle-shaped molecules also can “catch” other molecules and thus would make effective biological sensors; they also have potential use in solar cells and switches, he adds.

The study was funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, the German Chemical Industry Fund, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the European Research Council.

Lupton is a research professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Utah and also on the faculty of the University of Regensburg, Germany. He conducted the study with Utah physics graduate student Alexander Thiessen; Sigurd Höger, Vikas Aggarwal, Alissa Idelson, Daniel Kalle and Stefan-S. Jester of the University of Bonn; and Dominik Würsch, Thomas Stangl, Florian Steiner and Jan Vogelsang of the University of Regensburg.

Read the whole press release here.

More…