#University of Rochester

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Manipulated hafnia paves the way for next-generation memory devices

Scientists and engineers have been pushing for the past decade to leverage an elusive ferroelectric material called hafnium oxide, or hafnia, to usher in the next generation of computing memory. A team of researchers including the University of Rochester's Sobhit Singh published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences outlining progress toward making bulk ferroelectric and antiferroelectric hafnia available for use in a variety of applications. In a specific crystal phase, hafnia exhibits ferroelectric properties—that is, electric polarization that can be changed in one direction or another by applying an external electric field. This feature can be harnessed in data storage technology. When used in computing, ferroelectric memory has the benefit of non-volatility, meaning it retains its values even when powered off, one of several advantages over most types of memory used today.

Read more.

[connectparanormal]

Haunting at Rush Rhees Library: A Ghost Story

The Campus Times, March 16, 1934 (Rochester NY)

[heyits-mars-x]

A story on Meliora Weekend 2023

[flipfriddle]

3D Bacteria

This is an illustration I made at work for research into creating hydrogen gas using plain old water, particular bacteria, and a commonly found reactant. Seems like a BIG DEAL™ to me. As always, it was really interesting working with faculty like Kara Bren and Todd Kraus and helping them make their discoveries accessible to a broader audience.

Created primarily in Blender with a little zazzle added in via Affinity Photo.

[gamma-xi-delta]

If there’s one thing about UR’s Greek life that should be discussed more, it’s the issue surrounding housing for sororities.

[dwellerinthelibrary]

A detail from the coffin of Pa-debehu-Aset. The sun god appears as a black scarab with colourful wings and a ram's head with wavy horns, above which is a red sundisc. The scarab's hind legs also stand on a sundisc.

Where: Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester

When: Ptolemaic Egypt

[wonder-worker]

"...Walsingham, the monastic author of the St. Albans Chronicle, was by far [Alice Perrers'] harshest contemporary critic, who in his venom has (somewhat ironically) left us with the longest and most detailed account of her background and personality, her influence as Edward’s mistress, and her subsequent trial. He describes Alice as a shameless lowborn meretrix (a word variously translated as mistress, whore, or harlot), who “brought almost universal dishonour upon the king’s reputation […] and defiled virtually the whole kingdom of England with her disgraceful insolence.” Although Walsingham was not always accurate and, specifically in this case, clearly heavily biased against Alice, he nevertheless provides a truly contemporary account, and his importance as a source should not be underestimated. Likewise, the anonymous monk of St. Mary’s York recorded that in the Good Parliament the Commons (represented by their speaker, Sir Peter de la Mare) stated that it “would be of great gain to the kingdom to remove the said dame [Alice] from the presence of the king both as a matter of conscious and of the ill prosecution of the war.” During the same assembly, the bishop of Rochester, Thomas Brinton, preached from St. Paul’s Cross that “it is not fitting nor safe for all the keys of the kingdom to hang from the belt of one wife.” Although the word wife (uxoris) is used, it is widely accepted that this is a reference to Alice.”

-Laura Tompkins, '"Edward III's Gold-Digging Mistress": Alice Perrers, Gender, and Financial Power at the English Royal Court, 1360-1377", "Women and Economic Power in Premodern Courts" (edited by Cathleen Sarti). Italics by me.

[chery1bery1]

A list of universities that are holding movements with a high demand for a divestment from Israel apartheid.

“You cannot stop an idea whose time has come.”

“End apartheid. End this genocide. Free Palestine. Free them all. End white supremacy. End racism everywhere. End settler colonialism. 🍉”

(Words and picture from a twitter post by @DrRupaMarya.)

[lmao-what-the-fck]

hello chat... so regarding to that one au bernadine x arthur story that i planned to make while being bored... Well. fml I posted it now on ao3 and u can just see it right there.

Instead of a single part oneshot, I just decided to do it in half and then I'm going to write the last part tomorrow since my brain is so tired asf and let's just hope that writer's block doesn't get through me.

"but no one will read it. what will you do about that?" honestly I really dont care or don't give a single fuck if ppl won't read it or not. I really don't care if they flop like cmon it's just a fanfic. The world will still keep spinning even if my fanfics became a bit famous or not. Besides, I just write for fun. Or to practice ofc and also I am fucking aware my writing skills are still shit af like 😭😭😭 I mean my imagination really is unlimited... My biggest problem is indeed, my writing skills.

Anyways thank you for listening to my ted talk and this is all...

Also, the title is called "Giving In" on ao3. (Still the same "author_wright" username) and yes I am so shit when it comes to giving titles.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

As the world faces an increasing demand for clean and sustainable energy sources, scientists are turning to the power of photosynthesis for inspiration. With the goal of developing new, environmentally friendly techniques to produce clean-burning hydrogen fuel, a team of researchers at the University of Rochester is embarking on a groundbreaking project to mimic the natural process of photosynthesis using bacteria to deliver electrons to a nanocrystal semiconductor photocatalyst.

In a paper published in the journal PNAS, Kara Bren, the Richard S. Eisenberg Professor in Chemistry at Rochester, and Todd Krauss, a professor of chemistry, demonstrate that thebacteria Shewanella oneidensisoffer an effectively free, yet efficient, way to provide electrons to their artificial photosynthesis system. By leveraging the unique properties of these microorganisms along with nanomaterials, the system has the potential to replace current approaches that derive hydrogen from fossil fuels, revolutionizing the way hydrogen fuel is produced and unlocking a powerful source of renewable energy.

"Hydrogen is definitely a fuel of high interest for the DOE right now," Bren says. "If we can figure out a way to efficiently extract hydrogen from water, this could lead to an incredible amount of growth in clean energy."

Read more.

[stijlw]

some interpretations of the first of three watercolours jane presents to mr. rochester upon their meeting at thornfield (jane eyre vol i, ch 13) painted by students in the department of english and literature of national dong hwa university, taiwan.

[ravenkings]

one of my favorite parlor games that i like to play is asking myself the question: “which pre-1900 male romantic heroes have had premarital sex and under what circumstances?”

[scaredenglishmajor]

my english prof a few weeks ago, on jane eyre: “mr. rochester does fuck all. he wants the woman he supposedly loves get trampled down by an aristocratic asshole. he’s a dick.”

[betta-every-day]

Between the semester starting to wrap up and the holidays, everything's been super stressful! I've been praparing my official proposal for the project I've been working on the past few months to be accepted as my thesis, and have covered considerable ground in terms of progress. I hopefully will be able to launch the pilot experiment by the beginning of next semester at the latest, and be in good shape to develop the full write-up and give my oral defense before I graduate in May. This project has been huge for me and I feel that I've grown a lot throughout the process so far; it's easily what's been keeping me anchored!

On a separate note, it was just my 21st birthday (on the 21st). Journal entry-style moment here, but my birthday and the holidays are always a little rough. But I did thrift a dress I like (above) and had a nice time. I have some pictures from the local museum I went to that I might put in queue... 👀👀