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Little Things 

Andrew Mason develops microscopic electrode arrays sensitive enough to pick up the weak signals emitted by human proteins and brain neurons. Detecting protein activity—the essential functions of life—could allow diagnosis of disease before symptoms appear. An implantable signal processing chip could determine where signals for body processes originate and allow artificial reproduction of the signals in order to overcome neural disorders or injuries.

Michael Velbel used MSU’s new transmission electron microscope to analyze dust-like particles collected from a comet by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft. What he found—a variety of silicate and sulfide minerals lacking structural water—told the international research team that parts of the comet were formed in a high-temperature region of the solar system rather than the cold space beyond the outer planets of Uranus and Neptune.

Micropores in soil store carbon along with air, water, microbes, and nutrients. Tillage ruptures these pores, exposing carbon to microbes that break it down and release carbon dioxide. Alvin Smucker and an international team of biophysical and biogeochemical scientists identified mechanisms that develop and retain carbon as calcium carbonate, a more stable form of carbon that stabilizes soil structure, enabling it to hold more carbon for longer periods.

A new technique that Krzysztof Starosta and colleagues developed took the first-ever measurement of the electromagnetic transition probabilities in rare isotope germanium-64. They gauged the time for an excited, high-energy version of the isotope to decay to a lower energy state and observed its behavior. The short-lived isotope—normally not found on Earth—has 32 protons and 32 neutrons and exhibits strange phenomena, including rapid changes from round to cigar- or pancake-shaped.

Using MSU’s Soar telescope, Timothy Beers and colleagues found links to the earliest elements in the universe in binary star systems—dual stars orbiting each other, one of which has “died” and evolved into a smaller white dwarf. Before dying, it went through a stage where large amounts of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and other heavier elements were produced and transferred to the other star, leaving a fingerprint that helps reveal the process that formed the elements.

Timothy Beers, University Distinguished Professor of physics and astronomy, 517-355-9200x2416

Andrew Mason, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, 517-355-6502

Alvin Smucker, professor of crop and soil sciences, 517-355-0271x1251

Krzysztof Starosta, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, 517-355-9672x138

Michael Velbel, professor of geological sciences, 517-353-5273