Lydia Kisley received a U.S. Department of Energy early-career award and is building a microscope that could lead to a more efficient way to refine rare earth elements. | Photo by Matt Shiffler

The human eye is a biological marvel, capable of perceiving millions of colors and discriminating objects a 10th of a millimeter across. But there is still so much it can’t see—and that is where Case Western Reserve University physicists Johanna Nagy and Lydia Kisley come in.

They each build instruments that are revealing how the universe works on the very biggest—and smallest—scales. Their results could help accelerate the future of green energy (Kisley) and unlock the history of the universe (Nagy).

The story of the universe’s very first moments is imprinted in microwave radiation that suffuses the sky, said Nagy, PhD (GRS ’17, physics), the Warren E. Rupp Assistant Professor of Physics at the College of Arts and Sciences. With a team of creative students—and plenty of duct tape and power tools—Nagy builds specialized telescopes that can detect that radiation and measure its orientation to better understand how the universe has changed over time. “You’re iterating your way from prototyping to something that’s actually going to fly,” Nagy said. 

Johanna Nagy received a NASA Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship in Astrophysics and builds specialized telescopes that can detect radiation and measure its orientation to better understand how the universe has changed over time.

And fly they do: Nagy’s telescopes are strung from gigantic helium-filled balloons, where they float more than 20 miles above the ground, escaping most of Earth’s atmosphere.

Before joining the College of Arts and Sciences faculty, Nagy earned a PhD in the campus lab of John Ruhl, PhD, the Connecticut Professor in physics. There, she helped build a telescope called SPIDER, designed to pick up gravitational echoes from when the universe was less than a second old. 

Now with a NASA Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship in Astrophysics, she can continue to grow her research group, prepare a proposal for a $500,000 research grant tied to the fellowship and start building a next-generation microwave telescope called Taurus, which will study the era when the universe’s first stars formed. 

Down the hall, Kisley, PhD, the Ambrose Swasey Assistant Professor of Physics, is building a microscope with support from an $875,000 U.S. Department of Energy early-career award that could lead to a more efficient way to refine rare earth elements. These elements are essential to electronics and green energy technology, like batteries and electric motors, but they are extracted using harsh solvents in a process that is expensive, dangerous and damages the environment.

Work is underway around the country on a new, cleaner refining method that uses proteins immobilized within a porous “colander” to selectively catch rare earth elements, separating them from other metals. The microscope Kisley is developing could help by revealing interactions between individual proteins and the rare earth ions that adhere to them. The microscope will shine ultraviolet light on a single protein, which makes the absorbed rare earth ion light up and become visible to a camera. “Seeing the dynamics of individual ions allows us to understand how the separation may be succeeding or failing,” Kisley said.

At a volatile moment for global trade in rare earths, new extraction technology could also boost the United States’ independence, Kisley said, adding: “Developing methods to extract and purify these elements is of increasing importance.”