4.20
Science & Technology
Customized kits turn students’ dining rooms into biology labs
Customized kits turn students’ dining rooms into biology labs
Students in introductory biology laboratory courses in the School of Arts & Sciences used customized laboratory kits to get hands-on practice with the scientific method.
Uniting against an invisible foe
Uniting against an invisible foe
All across the University, researchers have launched new areas of study, reaching across disciplinary boundaries to make stunning progress in combating COVID-19.
Design-minded strategies for greener, healthier indoor spaces
Design-minded strategies for greener, healthier indoor spaces
Insights on the evolution of modern building design, how to improve ventilation while reducing energy usage, and ways that architects are supporting their communities with simple, design-based solutions.
Using lung-on-a-chip technology to find treatments for chlorine gas exposure
Using lung-on-a-chip technology to find treatments for chlorine gas exposure
The new lung-on-a-chip platforms will help better understand how chlorine damages lung tissues and to discover specific biomarkers of chlorine gas-induced lung injury.
Penn Trustees approve design for the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology
Penn Trustees approve design for the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology
Additional support from P. Roy Vagelos and Diana T. Vagelos helps to expand the building project which will consolidate the University’s existing and future energy research.
Five things to know about the promising COVID-19 vaccine news
Five things to know about the promising COVID-19 vaccine news
Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine, whose work is a key factor helping to enable two vaccines in late stages of testing, sheds light on the biology behind them and on his predictions about next steps in vaccine development and approval.
Parasitic worms offer ‘the missing link’ on the dual nature of a key immune regulator
Parasitic worms offer ‘the missing link’ on the dual nature of a key immune regulator
Whether the signaling molecule IL-33 wakes up or turns down the immune response depends on what cell type releases it, School of Veterinary Medicine researchers found.
How Microsoft and Sony’s new consoles improve game technology
How Microsoft and Sony’s new consoles improve game technology
Marking the launch of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, Penn professors and lecturers explain the significance of the new console hardware hitting the market this holiday.
At the intersection of water, equity, and climate change
At the intersection of water, equity, and climate change
The Water Center at Penn is collaborating to help guide community decisions to build capacity in water infrastructure.
After the storm, how to make a city more resilient
After the storm, how to make a city more resilient
During a Perry World House virtual event, panelists discussed the lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy and how cities can use these learnings to better recover from extreme weather events and climate change.
In the News
The Conversation
Neuralink’s monkey can play Pong with its mind. Imagine what humans could do with the same technology
Anna Wexler of the Perelman School of Medicine expressed skepticism about Neuralink, a company developing brain-machine interfaces. “Neuroscience is far from understanding how the mind works, much less having the ability to decode it,” she said.
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6ABC.com
University of Penn nursing student co-creates product to help frontline workers care for patients in the dark
Anthony Scarpone-Lambert, a senior in the School of Nursing, spoke about the wearable nightlight he helped develop. The invention allows nurses to check on patients at night without turning on bright white lights. "On average, patients regularly report poor quality of sleep as their number one complaint during hospitalization," he said.
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The New York Times
Biden’s push for electric cars: $174 billion, 10 years and a bit of luck
John Paul MacDuffie of the Wharton School spoke about the push to develop a robust charging network for electric vehicles in the U.S. “It is, famously, one of the ways that China has become the No. 1 country in E.V.s on most dimensions,” he said.
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MIT Technology Review
Keeping COVID vaccines cold isn’t easy. These ideas could help
Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine and Michael Mitchell of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about efforts to develop new ways to keep temperature-sensitive COVID-19 vaccines cold during shipment.
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Philadelphia Business Journal
Strella Biotechnology, whose backers include Mark Cuban, expands its presence at Pennovation Works
Strella Biotechnology, a company developing technology to reduce food spoilage, has moved into a 2,000 square foot space at the Pennovation Lab. The company’s founders won the $100,000 Penn President’s Innovation Prize in 2019.
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The Atlantic
Why celebrities are agog over this tiny climate think tank
Zane Cooper, a doctoral candidate in the Annenberg School for Communication, said all networked computation, including cryptocurrency, is powered by fossil fuels and harmful to the environment. “Bitcoin reveals a fundamental truth about the relationship between computing and energy,” he said.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Wolf administration to buy half of state government’s electricity from solar
Mark Hughes of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy said Pennsylvania’s solar fields will provide jobs and tax revenue and move the state toward clean energy. “You want to make it hip, you want to make it cheap—but eventually you’re going to have to make it mandatory,” he said.
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The New York Times
Black NFL players want new advocate in concussion settlement
PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts said algorithms can reflect the biases of their creators. “Technology can be used to promote equality or perpetuate inequality. It depends on who’s in control of it and what data they are putting into the algorithms,” she said.
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Newsweek
7 women scientists who defied the odds and changed science forever
Ashley Wallace of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about Kizzmekia Corbett, a viral immunologist who co-developed Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. "The pandemic exposed layers of racial disparities in medical treatment and clinical research, resulting in conversations surrounding the effects of how COVID-19 disproportionately infects and kills people of color," said Wallace. "Dr. Corbett is not only advancing science but she is also using her voice and platform to contribute to these conversations."
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The Atlantic
How female frogs tune out useless, noisy males
Amritha Mallikarjun, a postdoc in the School of Veterinary Medicine, weighed in on a study that found that female frog lungs can not only amplify the mating calls of male frogs but also muffle noises from other species. “It seems incredibly smart,” she said. “They’re taking sounds that aren’t interesting and trying to reduce them.”
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