Mark A. Waddell, Ph.D. has authored an article titled "Magic and artifice in the collection of Athanasius Kircher." The article discusses Jesuit naturalist Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) who administered the Collegio Romano in Rome. Waddell writes: "Situated at the center of intellectual life in baroque Rome, the museum administered by the Jesuit naturalist Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) simultaneously instructed and bemused its audiences with an exuberant mix of exotic animals, classical art and technologicalmarvels. Kircher's playful use of spectacle and his irrepressible fondness for ''magic'' were derided by contemporaries as frivolous wonder-mongering, but the lavish machines at the heart of his museum were more than mere showpieces. Instead, they presented audiences with a compelling vision of the natural world in which the hidden foundations of the universe could be captured and displayed by artifice. Kircher's collection was in itself a vast instrument of revelation, conceived on a grander scale than the telescope of Galileo but rooted all the same in contemporary scientific culture."  Read article >>>

Brian O'Shea, Ph.D. and his collaborators have work featured in Discover magazine. Using supercomputer simulations, O'Shea's work gives visual form to previously unimaginable complex physical systems. The simulations were run at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California. More realistic simulations help to support more realistic numerical experiments. Whether these supercomputer images are of the space and time warp around colliding black holes, or of the swine flu virus, they are helping scientists to better understand and study complex physical structures.

Aklilu Zeleke, Ph.D, is a among a group of colleagues who have secured a National Security Agency (NSA) grant for "The Summer Undergraduate Research Institute in Experimental Mathematics." The institute is designed for undergraduate students who have completed two years of university-level mathematics courses and would like to participate in research in the mathematical sciences. Students are given an opportunity to be a part of meaningful research opportunities, gain the skills necessary to participate with other academic peers and mentors who can advise, encourage and support them in furthering their academic studies. The National Security Agency Mathematical Sciences Program (MSP) was started at NSA in 1987 in response to an increasingly urgent need to support mathematics in the United States. Indeed, the NSA realizes the mutual benefits of maintaining a vigorous academic community and is proud to offer grant funding and sabbatical opportunities for eligible faculty members through the MSP.