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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
TUESDAY MARCH 26, 2019
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Researchers find new rare earth elements JOYCE CHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A research team at Rutgers offered findings on a new source of rare earth elements, as well as how to extract them. The term “rare earth element” (REE) refers to a series of chemical elements called lanthanides, which encompass a row in the periodic table. Though they are not actually rare, they are considered so because they do not occur often in concentrated deposits, said Paul
Antonick, a graduate student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. “This makes extracting them difficult, because there is a small amount of them dispersed over large areas,” he said. Furthermore, the current extraction process for REEs is not environmentally friendly. The largest REE extraction site, which is located in Bayan Obo, China, is incredibly polluted, Antonick said. SEE ELEMENTS ON PAGE 4
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering, which is located on Busch campus, covers more than 60,000 feet of research laboratories, teaching laboratories and office space. One of the research projects involved the extraction of rare earth metals. RUTGERS.EDU
Rutgers staff member leads physics show CATHERINE NGUYEN NEWS EDITOR
Dave Maiullo, a physics support specialist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was first intrigued by physics when he was 9 years old and looked through his father’s telescope to see Saturn. Ever since, science has played a major role in his life. Maiullo, who recently won a Staff Excellence Award from the School of Arts and Sciences, said he excelled in science courses in high school and later received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Rutgers. He realized, though, that he did not necessarily want to become a physics professor, so the year after he graduated, Maiullo worked on a project to build a particle detector in Japan. After the installation process was finished, he returned to Rutgers and took on the job of building demonstrations for the physics department. “When I took physics here at Rutgers, I didn’t see a single demonstration … but they said they wanted me to make it grow,” he said. Mauillo soon realized that building the demonstrations was fun and kept him young, since he was essentially “playing” with toys that connected to physics. As part of his job, he figures out what professors are trying to show, and then builds a specific demonstration to convey the concept. Currently, the physics department has more than 3,500 demonstrations in total. Demonstrations were important in the classroom because they made physics real, Mauillo said. Much of what students did in classrooms were esoteric, meaning they saw equations and only worked on trying to get the numbers right.
After spending time building demonstrations at Rutgers, Mauillo then started to develop public shows. He first started with schools, libraries and senior centers, then eventually performed off-Broadway in “That Physics Show.” “(People) took (physics) in high school and probably failed it,” he said. “So when you go to a physics show and you realize how exciting it is, how it’s really not scary and is what’s around you all the time … that’s what I was trying to achieve.” At first, Mauillo was hesitant to take a position performing offBroadway because of the time commitment, especially since he had children. After being encouraged by Eric Krebs, who founded the George Street Playhouse, he said he would give “That Physics Show” a shot. Since first running four years ago, approximately 540 shows have been performed and more than 60,000 people have watched it. Mauillo said in the show, he would start by introducing basic physics concepts and building on them throughout the show’s 1.5-hourlong duration. First, he would explain how objects move, then relating that to circulation motion, then to the concept of moment of inertia. The show then transitions to waves, specifically in the context of sound waves and light waves, and eventually concludes with an actor lying on a bed of nails as the finale. The show has even become international. After being performed in New York City, it was soon developed in China, where it won the award for Best Children’s Show in Shanghai. Mauillo said there were even people in Brazil who were hoping to incorporate the show into the country. “It works universally, because the physics is universal,” he said. SEE SHOW ON PAGE 4
Marijuana bill fails, NJ lawmakers hope to hold vote in May BRENDAN BRIGHTMAN NEWS EDITOR
In “That Physics Show,” Dave Maiullo first begins the show by explaining basic concepts about motion. Then, he explains advanced concepts such as sound waves. COURTESY OF DAVE MAIULLO
VOLUME 151, ISSUE 31 • UNIVERSITY ... 3 • OPINIONS ... 6 • INSIDE BEAT... 8• DIVERSIONS ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK
A vote on a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21 was canceled at New Jersey’s state capital on Monday after not gathering enough support in the senate, according to an article by NJ Advance Media. “This is not an issue that’s going away,” said New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-3) at a news conference shortly after the vote was called off. “Marijuana will get passed in the state of New Jersey one way or another.” The vote was called off after it became clear that the senate would vote approximately a handful shy of the minimum 21 votes required to pass a bill, according to the article. Sweeney said he would hold another vote “as soon as (he had) 21 votes for sure.” Lawmakers are scheduled to plan another vote for as soon as May, according to the article. Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) made legalizing marijuana a key issue during his campaign for governor in 2017. The lobbying effort was seen as a referendum on how well he could work with state legislators to pass an initiative of his, according to the article. Both houses of the legislature have to pass the bill, the senate and the assembly for Murphy to sign it into law. The assembly had the 41 votes needed to pass it on Monday, according to the article. Murphy and other lawmakers who support the bill believe that it SEE VOTE ON PAGE 4