The results of Penn’s Power Down Challenge 2011 are in—and the energy-saving outcomes are impressive. The three-week competition, which lasted from Nov. 1 through 20, challenged 15 campus buildings to reduce energy consumption and raise awareness about what the Penn community can do to conserve energy.
The Quad (pictured) and Franklin Building won the College House and Campus Building competitions, respectively. In total, the 15 participating buildings saved 113,778 kilowatt hours over 20 days, which is the equivalent of planting more than 2,000 trees, or taking 280 cars off the road for the entire length of the competition.
At the current rate, the buildings saved Penn nearly $10,000. If all buildings on campus followed suit, Penn would save about $2.2 million per year. For more information on the Power Down Challenge, go to www.upenn.edu/sustainability/powerdown.html.
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.
In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.
Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion
Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.
