Current thermodynamic research

[nmsurobert]

I have to write an essay this semester for my thermo class on some current thermodynamic research.
I'm currently doing some googling but does anyone here have any suggestion of something they interesting?

 

[Ygggdrasil]

What level is the class?

This may be somewhat advanced, but Jeremy England at MIT published an interesting paper on the thermodynamics of the origin of life:
http://www.englandlab.com/uploads/7/8/0/3/7803054/2013jcpsrep.pdf

Here's some popular press coverage of the paper: http://www.businessinsider.com/physicist-has-a-groundbreaking-idea-about-why-life-exists-2016-1?amp

 

[Khashishi]

Do you have access to journals online? You might try searching for "thermodynamics" in APS journals and sorting by date. But current generally means pretty hard since all the easy stuff was done years ago.

 

[nmsurobert]

It's a undergrad senior level.
I'll give that a read tonight thank you!

I really just need to find something something relating to thermodynamics that I can get 10 pages out out of. I'm pretty desperate at this point because the topics are due soon and I've had no luck finding anything.

 

[Khashishi]

How about this? I haven't read it or anything, but the title caught by eye.
http://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.93.012132

 

[Ygggdrasil]

A few other broad topics from the realm of biophysics:
Using single-molecule force spectroscopy to study protein and nucleic acid folding (here's a great review http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-biophys-051013-022754 You can also look for work by Carlos Bustamante at Berkeley)
Protein folding in general (here's a good review: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6110/1042.full)

If all else fails, you can always ask your professor for suggestions or guidance.