Twisty swirls of bright soil on the lunar surface have long fascinated scientists. An early theory said the swirls were caused by anomalies in the lunar crust’s magnetic field. New computer simulation techniques suggest a different cause: Crashing comets.
Microspheres in a fluid, spinning in opposite directions, create flow patterns that affect other particles. Computer simulations show the particles self-assembling into different structures at different concentrations: bands, small swirls, a single large vortex.
When people on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) are incarcerated in the United States, they are almost always forced off of the addiction-controlling medicine. In a randomized trial led by researchers at Brown University and The Miriam Hospital, inmates allowed to stay on MMT while in jail proved much more likely to seek treatment after release than those whose treatment was interrupted.
Once a prisoner, now a recovery coach, Tarah Dorsey said she’s suffered and seen others either suffer or avoid treatment because of the prison system’s policy of ending methadone maintenance therapy.
Joshua Guilford, who received a Ph.D. in modern culture and media, has written a dissertation on the “redemption of human interiority” in the work of a mid-20th century filmmaking subculture known as the New American Cinema.
Samantha Rosenthal, who received her Ph.D. at Brown’s 247th Commencement, came to a career in public health research out of a desire to reduce suffering. In work as diverse as revealing connections between Facebook and depression and tracking global disease outbreaks, she has increased the understanding needed to keep people out of harm’s way.
Scientists are locked in a perpetual race with deadly bacteria, struggling to come up with new drugs as bacteria evolve new defenses. Corey Compton has demonstrated that a strategy focused on how bacteria develop resistance can give drugs — new and old — a leg up.
Kaitlin Sidorsky, who received her Ph.D. in political science at the 247th Commencement, did the first national survey that included appointments to state boards and commissions as well as elected office. Many female respondents said appointed office lets them accomplish more without the overhead of fundraising, campaigning, and media presence.
From Friday night’s Campus Dance, through the forums and Baccalaureate of Saturday, to the première of a new setting of the Alma Mater, Brown celebrated its students with traditions and more than a few firsts.
At the 247th Commencement ceremony today, Brown University President Christina H. Paxson conferred honorary doctorates — in English and in Latin — on six candidates who have achieved great distinction in their fields.
