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West Virginia University researchers have helped discover the most massive neutron star to date, a breakthrough uncovered through the Green Bank Telescope in Pocahontas County. The neutron star, called J0740+6620, is a rapidly spinning pulsar that packs 2.17 times the mass of the sun (which is 333,000 times the mass of the Earth) into a sphere only 20-30 kilometers, or about 15 miles, across. This measurement approaches the limits of how massive and compact a single object can become without crushing itself down into a black hole.

WVU astronomers help detect the most massive neutron star ever measured

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West Virginia University researchers have helped discover the most massive neutron star to date, a breakthrough uncovered through the Green Bank Telescope in Pocahontas County.

Dan McNeil

Looking beyond the tooth

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WVU studies impact of social support on kids’ oral health

To the casual observer, Japanese stiltgrass appears as a harmless, leafy green plant that blends into the majestic scenery of your weekend hike through the woods. Plant biologists like Craig Barrett know better.

Invasion of the Japanese stiltgrass

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WVU biologist targets plant that wreaks havoc on forest ecosystems

2019 Ruby Fellows

WVU names 2019 class of Ruby Fellows

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Seven students pursuing doctoral degrees at  West Virginia University are receiving funding through the Ruby Scholars Graduate Fellows Program. Lauryn Alexander, Heather Baldwin, Elaine Christman, John Hansen, Emily Hughes, Alyssa Stonebraker and Nicholas Winch have been named to the eighth class of fellows. 

Researchers at West Virginia University are helping universities nationwide overcome barriers to STEM faculty careers for women and underrepresented minorities. While there have been increases in the diversity of faculty positions, the share of women and underrepresented minority faculty is considerably less than their share in the U.S. population or in the number of undergraduate students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and math, according to the National Science Foundation. To address these challenges, ADVANCE Center Director Kasi Jackson and Center for Women’s and Gender Studies Director Sharon Bird are leading a research team in evaluating colleges and universities nationwide to make recommendations for equity reform and organizational change.

WVU project forges pathways for underrepresented faculty

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Researchers at West Virginia University are helping universities nationwide overcome barriers to STEM faculty careers for women and underrepresented minorities.

While marriage equality continues to be a big win for the LGBTQ movement since its passage in the U.S. in 2015, many activists are concerned about what’s next. Researchers from West Virginia University and the University of Kansas have spent the intervening years studying the young adults comprising the next generation of LGBTQ activists to understand their aspirations for the movement’s future.

WVU study investigates rural LGBTQ youth’s motivations for participating in activism

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While marriage equality continues to be a big win for the LGBTQ movement since its passage in the U.S. in 2015, many activists are concerned about what’s next.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at West Virginia University received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund the new Center for Kinetic Experiment, Theory and Integrated Computation (KINETIC) Physics.

WVU physicists receive $2 million for new plasma physics center

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The Department of Physics and Astronomy at West Virginia University received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund the new Center for Kinetic Experiment, Theory and Integrated Computation Physics.

How do we make ethical decisions? Some schools of thought in philosophy propose following a system of morals or beliefs. Existentialism, on the other hand, suggests every person has the freedom—and responsibility—to choose the most ethical way to live. This spirit steered all 15 presentations at the inaugural International Summer Conference in Continental Ethics, hosted at West Virginia University from June 19 to 22, 2019, and sponsored jointly by WVU’s Department of Philosophy and the Emmanuel Levinas Centre at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences in Kaunas, Lithuania.

A philosophy that puts ethics into everyone's hands

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How do we make ethical decisions? 

West Virginia University chemist Kung Wang is an architect. Not the kind that builds houses – one that designs molecules. Wang is constructing a synthetic pathway to creating new molecular templates for growing carbon nanotubes. Supported by a nearly $500,000 award from the National Science Foundation, Wang and his research team are creating short segments of carbon nanotube compounds, honeycomb-shaped tubes that are the foundation for applications in nanotechnology and for conducting electricity.

WVU chemist is a molecular architect

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West Virginia University chemist Kung Wang is an architect. Not the kind that builds houses – one that designs molecules. 

Growing up riding four-wheelers and collecting rocks near her grandparents’ cabin in the valleys wedged between the Rocky Mountains, Shelby Isom’s childhood was an adventure. Always on the hunt for the perfect sphere- and heart-shaped rocks, she loved being in nature. But she never expected she would turn that passion for the outdoors into a career. But that became her reality as a geology Ph.D. student at West Virginia University, where she has spent many hours scaling volcanoes and leading undergraduate students on field trips.

Trekking to the top

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Growing up riding four-wheelers and collecting rocks near her grandparents’ cabin in the valleys wedged between the Rocky Mountains, Shelby Isom’s childhood was an adventure. Always on the hunt for the perfect sphere- and heart-shaped rocks, she loved being in nature. But she never expected she would turn that passion for the outdoors into a career.