Recently published research by the late Professor Ronald J. Allen and PhD students Michael Busch and Philip Engelke was the focus of a Tech & Science article in Newsweek titled “Scientists Accidentally Discover Huge Galactic Structure in Space.” The research uncovered the existence of a thick disk of previously undetected molecular gas in the outer regions of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The new publication posits that the existence of the disk-like structure has implications for theories on how stars are formed as well as how the structure of the interstellar medium evolves.