Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
May 5, 2025
May 5, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Science & Technology



Public Domain
Angappan’s interests are broadly focused on the interior of planets.

Graduate student awarded FINESST grant from NASA

On Aug. 6, Hopkins graduate student Regupathi Angappan was awarded the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant — a big grant fitting a big project like his. Angappan’s research uses the incredibly weak and “noisy” magnetic field of Mercury to help reveal the planet’s interior structure. 


New student organization reaches for the stars

One of the newest student groups on the Hopkins campus, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) is a club meant to promote student interest in space and provide networking opportunities, project experience and career exploration in any discipline of the field.



Courtesy of Tommi Tenkanen
Tenkanen’s calculations propose that dark matter existed before the Big Bang.

Proposal sheds light on the origins of dark matter

To understand the workings of the ‘body’ of the universe, it is necessary to understand its skeleton: dark matter. Enter Tommi Tenkanen, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, who recently proposed a mathematical calculation to support the claim that dark matter predates the Big Bang.


CC0 PUBLIC DOMAIN
There are flu clinics for students at the Peabody and Homewood campuses.

Take preventative measures to avoid the flu this season

With flu season almost upon us, one of the best forms of defense is to learn how to recognize and prevent the flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms of the flu typically include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headaches, fatigue and in some cases vomiting and diarrhea. 





Public domain
Trump announced the launch of the U.S. Space Command in August.

Trump's new Space Command launches

This year there has been renewed public interest in the topic of space exploration and development. On Aug. 29, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the launch of the U.S. Space Command. 



Courtesy of Veena Das
Professor Veena Das is a professor and scholar of Indian anthropology.

Social Science Spotlight: Professor Veena Das

It is difficult to neatly pigeonhole Veena Das’ research endeavors. A Kreiger-Eisenhower Professor of Anthropology, Das is a scholar of Indian anthropology, the anthropology of violence and social suffering and ways of producing knowledge.



BME team’s novel product will make at-home dialysis safer for patients with kidney failure.

BME student team creates device to make at-home dialysis safer

Of the 660,000 Americans receiving treatment for kidney failure, 468,000 are undergoing dialysis. Now a team of engineers at Hopkins have developed a device that reduces the risk of infection in at-home dialysis. Their work will make it even more efficient for patients to perform dialysis at their own convenience. 


Senior Woodrow Wilson fellows shared their original research projects with attendees.

Senior Woodrow Wilson Fellows present their original research

Senior Woodrow Wilson Fellows presented their independent research projects to the Hopkins community on Thursday, April 25. The Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Program provides undergraduates with financial support and faculty mentoring on research over the course of three or four years. Students apply to the program as incoming students or rising sophomores by submitting a project proposal and they work on their projects during the entirety of their Hopkins careers.


When shown images of faces, children passed character judgements.

Research shows children also judge on facial features

If a child you just met is not particularly nice to you, it may not be your fault. A recent psychological study from the American Psychological Association has provided evidence that young children tend to make snap character judgments based on physical features, showing that a judgmental nature may be more inherent in humans than previously believed. 


Hopkins holds sustainability hackathon

GreenHacks hosted the first sustainability hackathon at Hopkins on April 20. The hackathon was held at FastForward U, a collaborative space dedicated to empowering student entrepreneurs across disciplines. 


Mickey Sloat presents her research at TriBeta poster session.

TriBeta poster session features student research

Effective communication is one of the hallmarks of scientific research. In light of this, the Rho Psi chapter of the Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) National Biological Honor Society hosted a poster session on Friday. Students majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Hopkins had the opportunity to present their research to their peers.



PUBLIC DOMAIN
CRISPR targets and removes or replaces pieces of genetic material.

CRISPR system could be the future of gene editing

Researchers at Cornell University recently developed a novel CRISPR system that has the potential to affect human genes. This research was featured in the paper “Introducing a Spectrum of Long-Range Genomic Deletions in Human Embryonic Stem Cells Using Type I CRISPR-Cas” published in the journal Molecular Cell. The development may, in the future, be able to recognize and destroy viruses such as Epstein-Barr and hepatitis B.  


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