Since 2020, Philip Stern has led three Bass Connections projects, ranging from an exploration into early modern mapping to a deep dive into the possible futures of space settlement research. His approach emphasizes giving students ownership of their learning while creating fertile ground for both innovative research and unexpected career pathways. Stern shared his perspective on leading teams with Kelly Harrison (Senior Academic Program Coordinator, Bass Connections) during an interview in Fall 2025. read more about Faculty Perspective: Philip J. Stern »
Every year, the research intelligence company Clarivate publishes a list of Highly Cited Researchers. These researchers have multiple publications which rank in the top 1% by citation in their fields and are further selected for exemplifying excellence and integrity in their work.The Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list was recently released, and 29 Duke scholars were featured on the list of 6,868 researchers. These leading researchers hail from across Duke University, Duke Health and Duke-NUS Medical School… read more about Trinity Scholars Featured in the Highly Cited Researchers 2025 List »
Cadets Austin, Good and Skena contracting and receiving the Oath of Enlistment from Major Allen on East Campus. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Garza) We see them every day — attending classes, grabbing lunch at the WU, dropping by office hours or catching the C1 bus. From dorms and libraries to lecture halls and Cameron Stadium, they’re tightly woven into the fabric of campus life. For these student cadets in the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (AFROTC), balancing the… read more about Air Force ROTC at Duke: Building Tomorrow’s Leaders »
Duke’s SPACE initiative hosted Washington Post staff writer and CBS contributor Christian Davenport Monday evening to discuss his newest book, “Rocket Dreams: Musk, Bezos and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion Dollar Space Race.”The event was sponsored in part by Duke’s new SPACE initiative, which launched Aug. 27 and is “dedicated to advancing our understanding of the cosmos through interdisciplinary collaboration.” read more about At Duke, Washington Post's Christian Davenport talks new billionaire space race »
As humans prepare for longer missions to the moon and Mars, scientists are trying to understand how space affects the human body. One of the biggest concerns is space radiation — high-energy particles from the sun and distant galaxies that can pass through spacecraft and into bodies.Unlike Earth, which is protected by a magnetic field and atmosphere, space is not. This means astronauts are exposed to radiation that could harm their health during and long after their missions end.Dawn Bowles, a researcher at Duke University… read more about What Happens to the Body in Space? »
October is Space Month. At Duke University, space research is more than just science — it's a bold journey across disciplines. This is the fifth in a series of stories featuring innovators, dreamers, and students shaping the future exploration and regulatino of the cosmos.In the early days of space exploration, satellites were rare. Each launch was a feat of engineering and ambition, sending machines far above the Earth into orbits where they could drift undisturbed.These high-altitude paths offered vast expanses of space,… read more about Don’t Look Up, Space is Filled With Junk »
Eve Vavagiakis constructs cameras — not the kind that capture everyday moments on Earth, but ones designed to image the earliest light in the universe. Some of these instruments are installed at the Simons Observatory, 17,000 feet above sea level in the Atacama Desert, Chile. At that altitude, scientists often need supplementary oxygen to breathe. read more about Capturing the Big Bang’s Afterglow »
A new series explores how Duke faculty are crossing disciplinary boundaries to address global challenges — from climate justice to space debris. read more about Intersections at Duke: Bridging Disciplines, Solving Problems »
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) is more than just a club for students who are passionate about space. It’s where students, whether professionally or just for fun, can get together and dream about the future of space exploration and plan how to set up cities on other planets. read more about Space Club Envisions Life on Other Planets One Day »
In the heart of Duke University’s engineering community, a student-led team is on a mission to bring the thrill and rigor of aerospace engineering to students of all backgrounds and disciplines.“Our biggest goal is to increase exposure to the aerospace industry and to give all interested students hands-on technical experience,” said team president Megan Glasgow. read more about A Student-Led Engineering Team Shares the Joy of Aerospace »
From fairy tales – such as Sleeping Beauty and Rip Van Winkle – to science fiction films, including Planet of the Apes and Alien, people have long been fascinated by the concept of humans undergoing prolonged periods of sleep.Ana Breit’s fascination started with her studies of body temperature regulation and hibernation. Her early research focused on bats, which can double their weight before entering a months-long hibernation state. A year ago, when she joined the Duke Lemur Center as a research scientist, she began… read more about How Lemurs Are Laying the Groundwork for Interstellar Travel »
A Duke patch accompanied astronaut Anna Menon to space on the Polaris Dawn mission. (Photo courtesy of Menon) The Duke SPACE Initiative (Science and Policy to Advance Cosmic Exploration) celebrated its successful launch on September 8, 2025, with an event combining ongoing research, views from space and the most traveled Duke memento in history. Directed by Dan Scolnic and Michael Troxel, the Duke SPACE initiative unites hard science with policy-making… read more about Astronaut Alum Kicks Off Duke SPACE Initiative »
The Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has launched the SPACE Initiative at Duke (Science & Policy to Advance Cosmic Exploration), a universitywide endeavor dedicated to advancing our understanding of the cosmos through interdisciplinary collaboration. All are invited to its celebratory kick-off event to be held on Sept. 8 at 4 p.m., at Penn Pavilion. The event will combine a poster presentation, a reception and a keynote talk by Duke alumna, astronaut and former Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX… read more about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Launches SPACE Initiative »
Duke Law risk expert Jonathan Wiener says the proliferation of new players and ventures in space calls for rethinking law and policy regulating space activity. read more about Regulating Risks in Outer Space »
The First-Year Experience in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, designed to foster community among students, includes the longstanding FOCUS program and new Constellations cohorts. Students are encouraged to think creatively and outside of the box as they explore important and timely questions through interconnected courses. There are 16 Constellations offered in the 2025-2026 academic year. We spoke with faculty teaching courses in three different Constellations as they prepare for the semester. read more about Meet Three Trinity Constellations Faculty »
Duke’s football stadium scoreboard is accustomed to displaying impressive images. On June 23rd, however, it had the privilege of displaying images unlike any other before: the cosmos, as seen in the first photographs released by the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. From the identification of its ideal site on a Chilean mountaintop 8,684 feet above sea level to the fine-tuning of its software, thousands of researchers have played a role in ensuring that the Rubin Observatory’s extraordinarily ambitious goal — to… read more about Duke Cosmologists Celebrate the Rubin Observatory’s First Images »
When it comes to the tiny particles that make up our universe, do you think you know more than a seven-year-old? You might — if you’ve been reading the Meet the Universe! children’s book series authored by Assistant Professor of Physics Eve Vavagiakis, a cosmologist who studies the remnants of the Big Bang and builds telescope cameras with an unprecedented ability to measure the oldest light in the Universe.Vavagiakis’ interest in science began as young child, reading books about animal species… read more about If You Think Physics is Just for Grownups, Think Again »
Just in time for National Space Day, Duke recently hosted its inaugural Duke Space Symposium at the Sanford School of Public Policy. Co-sponsored by the Duke Center for Risk in Science & Society, the Duke Rethinking Diplomacy Program (including its Space Diplomacy Lab), Duke Bass Connections, Duke Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), Duke Faculty Advancement Seed Grant Program, and Duke Cosmology, the event brought together a diverse group of experts, faculty, and students for an… read more about Inaugural Duke Space Symposium Explores the Future of Space Settlements »
The Universe really seems to be expanding fast. Too fast, even. A new measurement confirms what previous — and highly debated — results had shown: The Universe is expanding faster than predicted by theoretical models, and faster than can be explained by our current understanding of physics.This discrepancy between model and data became known as the Hubble tension. Now, results published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters provide even stronger support to the faster rate of expansion. “The… read more about Dan Scolnic Shows that the Universe Is Still Full of Surprises »
Astronomers have released a set of more than a million simulated images showcasing the cosmos as NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will see it. This preview will help scientists explore a myriad of Roman’s science goals.“We used a supercomputer to create a synthetic universe and simulated billions of years of evolution, tracing every photon’s path all the way from each cosmic object to Roman’s detectors,” said Michael Troxel, an associate professor of physics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who… read more about Travel Across the Universe in a New Simulation »
Michael Boyarsky, a research scientist in electrical and computer engineering, holds a model made with Legos and explains how his new technology differs from current satellite sensors.“We have pioneered a new way of making satellite imaging antennas. Our metamaterial antennas enable a jump from taking 100 images per day to 10,000. This boost is possible thanks to the way we were able to engineer new solutions to the challenges of operating in space,” Boyarsky says.Beyond just the capacity bump, the technology allows… read more about New Frontiers in Space Metamaterials »
Ask Duke cosmologist Eve Vavagiakis what she does for a living, and her answer is deceptively humble: “I work on the guts of cameras, basically.”But the cameras she works on are designed for a special purpose: to take pictures of some of the oldest light in the universe. In her office on Duke’s West Campus, the newly arrived assistant professor of Physics showed off a snapshot of this ancient light, the faint glow left over from the Big Bang that gave birth to the cosmos more than 13 billion years ago.As she… read more about Looking for Remnants From the Beginning of Time »
DURHAM, N.C. -- How would it feel to peer into the night sky and behold millions of galaxies across a vast swath of space? What would it be like to hunt for worlds beyond our solar system, or spot the fiery deaths of stars?In the next few years, two U.S.-funded telescopes will allow astronomers to find out. But before that happens, a Duke researcher has been leading an effort, under a broader project called OpenUniverse, to create the most realistic preview yet of what they will see once the missions get underway.In his… read more about Building a Prototype of the Cosmos »
Dr. Giovanni Zanalda, director of the Duke University Rethinking Diplomacy Program (RDP) and co-founder of RDP’s Space Diplomacy Lab represented RDP and SDL during the 2024 Meridian Diplomacy Forum which took place on May 1, 2024 in Washington D.C.The forum is a signature annual gathering of the Meridian Center, a 60-year-old diplomacy center that connects leaders to drive solutions for global challenges. The 2024 forum was… read more about The 2024 Meridian Space Diplomacy Forum: Advancing Dialogue for the Expanding Constellation of Global Actors »
The United States government appears to finally be taking on dangerous debris in earth orbit, and two recent efforts may now have opened the door to solutions. For seven decades, we have polluted earth orbits, leaving thousands of useless space vehicles over our heads. Many more launches are coming, and we have run out of time to become serious about this threat.The Biden Administration has now begun to draw lines. Last Oct. 2, the FCC issued the first fine ever for space debris, ordering the U.S. TV… read more about Giovanni Zanalda: Launch the ORBITS Act »
Daniel Tani traces his love of engineering and space exploration to his childhood.As a young boy, Tani loved playing with model rockets. He would use the money he made delivering newspapers to buy and build them.“I was enthralled by the magic of the power of my thumb, making something go so fast and so high,” Tani recently told students of professor Giovanni Zanalda’s space economics class. “We were astronaut crazy in the 1960s. I never thought it would be a reality.”Zanalda, professor of the practice in economics and… read more about Former Astronaut Discusses Space Travel and Its Future With Students »
If the United States and the former Soviet Union could cooperate on space efforts during the Cold War, then tensions between nations on Earth today don’t have to extend to diplomacy and agreements governing outer space.That’s according to speakers at a recent webinar organized by the Space Diplomacy Lab at Duke, part of the university’s Rethinking Diplomacy program.“Plans to have Russian-U.S. cooperation in space emerged in the height of the Cold War and continued. There's this kind of legacy of those efforts, there should… read more about Tensions on Earth Don’t Have to Affect Outer Space Diplomacy »
Duke’s Michael Troxel explains what millions of galaxies can teach us about dark energy and the ever-expanding cosmos. read more about Mapping the Invisible Universe »