Mark Brittenham and Susan Hermiller, both professors of mathematics, recently solved a decades-old problem in knot theory. The researchers found that larger and seemingly more complex knots created by joining two simpler ones together can sometimes be easier to undo than simple ones — the opposite of what was expected. The finding has been featured in New Scientist, Quanta Magazine, Scientific American and Stand-up Maths.
“The Nebraska Sandhills,” a richly illustrated collection of essays celebrating the history, geography, ecology and culture of Nebraska’s Sandhills, was recently named the winner of the 2025 Nebraska Book Award in the Nonfiction: Nebraska as Place category. Co-authors include faculty from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Sandhills Express and Tri-State Livestock News ran articles on the award.
An international team of scientists, led by Nebraska’s S. Kathleen Lyons, biological sciences, is providing a new framework — Earth system engineering — for examining how organisms, including humans, have fundamentally altered ecosystems on a global scale across hundreds, thousands or millions of years. Stories on the research appeared in Phys.org and Terra Daily.
