JMU Department of Physics and Astronomy

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Radioactivity was discovered 130 years ago today by French physicist Henri Becquerel.

Three days before, on 26 February, it was a cloudy day in Paris, which presented a problem for Becquerel. He wanted to show that some minerals glow when exposed to strong light due to X-rays. The weather thwarted this experiment but led to a new discovery. Discouraged by the weather, Becquerel put the uranium he planned to use in his desk drawer on top of a covered photographic plate. When he returned, he found a fogged image of the uranium crystals that had been resting on it, even though the plate was wrapped in heavy black paper. He realized that the crystals were not phosphorescing from sunlight. Instead, he found that the crystals released spontaneous and penetrating rays without any external energy.
Together with his doctoral student, Marie Curie, and her husband Pierre, Becquerel studied this phenomenon, which turned out to be ‘radioactivity’ — a term that Marie Curie coined. This work earned them the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.

All are invited tonight at the 1st Demystifying the Expert show of the year, where we are featuring our new department head, Dr. Brett Taylor! Come to laugh and learn about the human that will demystify for us stuff like gravitational waves, their possible sources, and galaxy mapping.

It was a busy fall break as we hosted over 300 of our physics colleagues from around the southeast for the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS 2025). Sessions ran from an opening plenary on Thursday morning (featuring our own Prof. Ioana Niculescu) to a closing on Saturday at noon and included over a hundred posters in the poster session and a talk and awards presentation at the banquet on Friday evening. We hope some friends old and new come see us again in the future.

Congratulations to the physics graduates at the Winter 2024 commencement ceremony this weekend. Best of luck in the future and keep in touch.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/it-might-be-possible-to-detect-gravitons-after-all-20241030/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

It Might Be Possible to Detect Gravitons After All | Quanta Magazine A new experimental proposal suggests detecting a particle of gravity is far easier than anyone imagined. Now physicists are debating what it would really prove.

Some really stunning pictures taken by undergraduate Sherrie Gies during last night's star party on east campus. John C. Wells Planetarium

Way to go, Dr. Albright!

JMU took home two awards at the Sun Belt Conference annual Honors Banquet yesterday evening!

The Dukes joined three peers in receiving the Student-Athlete Graduation Success Rate award and Dr. Geary Albright took home Faculty Member of the Year!

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Introducing our NEW line of CSM Merch! Stay cozy in a hoodie & sweatpants, or relax in a CSM branded t-shirt. Grab a collared shirt or polo so you can represent CSM or your department at your next conference or presentation.

The webstore will close on 11/7, and orders will ship after Thanksgiving Break. Be sure to place your order ASAP if you’d like your items in time for the holidays! Order here: bit.ly/csmmerch24

JMU's own Dr. Geary Albright, Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy and Director of the John C. Wells Planetarium, has been named the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Faculty Member of the Year!

Congratulations, Dr. Albright!

Sun Belt Conference Announces 2024 Faculty Member of the Year NEW ORLEANS – Dr. Geary Albright, Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy and Planetarium Director at James Madison University, has been named the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Faculty Member of the Year.

New Demystifying the Expert show TONIGHT! New science, new Expert!!! Actually, not just one, but TWO Experts for tonight! the usual Taylor Down Under, 7pm. Same high standards of learning and laughing! Come over with a friend or two and enjoy all we have to offer!

Demystifying the Expert – Just another JMU LET Sites site DEMYSTiFYiNG THE EXPERT     Welcome to Demystifying the Expert, a show where comedians attempt to discover what a scientist does all day. Laugh and learn about cutting edge science & much more. Upcoming Events   Thursday, November 09 7:00 PM Location: Taylor Down Under   Don’t miss it! Thursda...