Departments College of Science - News @ Northeastern

Clockwise from top left, Adel Zadeh, Brian Helmuth, Sheila Puffer, Diane MacGillivray, Daisy Kendrick and Anne Halverstadt. Screenshots by Northeastern University

It’s the second-most exploited resource after water–and the world is running out of it.

You like digging your toes in it and children enjoy building castles out of it. Now consider for a moment a world without sand. That world will be our reality someday. But, how can we possibly be running low on a substance that seems so limitless? Northeastern researchers discussed the global sand shortage during a webinar on sustainable development and coastal erosion hosted by the university’s Young Global Leaders.

by Khalida Sarwari September 29, 2020

Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

What do we know about airborne transmission of the coronavirus?

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted—and then quickly removed—new guidelines indicating that the coronavirus is airborne, leaving people confused about vital public information. Samuel Scarpino, assistant professor and head of the Emergent Epidemics Lab, explains where the science stands.

by Laura Castañón September 25, 2020

Alessandro Vespignani is the Sternberg Family Distinguished University Professor of physics, computer science, and health sciences, and director of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

If rich countries monopolize COVID-19 vaccines, it could cause twice as many deaths as distributing them equally

Researchers from Northeastern’s Network Science Institute have partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to predict COVID-19 deaths based on two different ways of distributing vaccines.

by Emily Arntsen September 14, 2020

The Huntington Testing Center, located in the former pop-up space on Huntington Avenue, is outfitted to be the “gold standard” of indoor, symptomatic testing. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

Here’s how Northeastern will test students who show symptoms of COVID-19

In order to promote the safety of the Northeastern community, the university has created a separate testing facility on Huntington Avenue for students who exhibit symptoms of the illness. The Huntington Testing Center is where all symptomatic students—including those on co-op—will be tested, upon referral by a medical professional.

by Molly Callahan September 2, 2020

Under the leadership of Jared Auclair, an associate teaching professor of biotechnology, Northeastern's Life Science Testing Center at the Innovation Campus in Burlington, Massachusetts, has been processing coronavirus tests around the clock. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

What it’s like to run a lab that churns out thousands of coronavirus test results per day

Thousands of coronavirus swabs from Northeastern’s Boston campus end up in the Life Sciences Testing Center. Jared Auclair, an associate teaching professor of biotechnology, is at the helm. “All of my efforts are turned towards maintaining quality while scaling up our effort,” he says. “If we’re not going to produce quality results, there’s no point.”

by Roberto Molar Candanosa August 28, 2020

Faculty Expert

Jared Auclair

Director of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Associate Teaching Professor, Director of Biopharmaceutical Analysis Training Laboratory

James Halverson, an assistant professor of physics in the College of Science, uses artificial intelligence to untangle knots and uncover the secrets of the universe. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Why you need a computer to understand strings and knots

Some questions are simply too big for humans to answer alone. “How does the universe work?” is a good example. James Halverson and Brent Nelson, physicists at Northeastern, are getting a little extra help from artificial intelligence to uncover the secrets of why we exist.

by Emily Arntsen August 26, 2020

Faculty Expert

Brent Nelson

Associate Professor of Physics, Associate Dean of the College of Science

Graduate student Suzanne Stasiak is part of a team of researchers studying how smooth muscle cells in the human airway behave to trigger asthma. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

Cells in your airway talk to each other. For some, what they say can trigger an asthma attack.

Conventional asthma research has largely focused on diseased cells in human airways. But now, researchers at Northeastern have found that asthma attacks are not only the result of diseased cells acting up—healthy cells get caught up in the mix, too.

by Roberto Molar Candanosa August 24, 2020

Social insects like this termite have evolved multiple strategies over millions of years to keep pathogens from wiping out their colonies. Perhaps it’s time we learned from them. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

What can ants and termites teach us about fighting disease?

Social insects have evolved multiple strategies over millions of years to keep pathogens from wiping out their colonies. Perhaps it’s time we learned from them, says Rebecca Rosengaus, an associate professor in marine and environmental sciences.

by Laura Castañón August 18, 2020