Research Spotlights Digest

Nitrogen (N) fertilizers are widely used in agriculture worldwide, and their use is growing. One of the side effects of N fertilizers is that they release nitrous oxide (N₂O). N₂O is a greenhouse gas and major depleter of stratrospheric ozone, so knowledge about how it escapes into the atmosphere is important to climate researchers. However, how weather conditions affect...Read more

Multiphase fluid flows involve more than one state of matter, such as gasoline sprayed into air, or two fluids of the same state with different properties, such as oil droplets suspended in water. This type of flow is involved in many industrial and consumer processes, including fuel injection, spray coating, and inhaled medications. Insight gathered by studying multiphase systems allows...Read more

Cells move, or migrate, across body tissues such as bone, brain, muscle, and fat. This migration is how wounds heal, for example. Unfortunately, it is also the mechanism by which cancer spreads. Different types of tissues have varying degrees of stiffness, and each kind of cell has a preferred stiffness for migration. The scientists who study cell migration refer to the cell’s “engine,” the...Read more

Scientists studying air pollution use powerful computer models to simulate how various types of pollution spread in the atmosphere. Among these models are Eulerian Chemical Transportation Models (CTMs), which are able to simulate the effectiveness of pollution-reduction efforts. This provides necessary information to policymakers and researchers who are trying to reduce illness and death rates...Read more