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Physics

Acoustic signals for better wireless technologies
Charlie Johnson, Yue Jiang, and Vince Kerler.

Yue Jiang (center), a Ph.D. student in Charlie Johnson’s (left) lab in the School of Arts & Sciences, has led research hinting at a new way to control sound waves at frequencies in which phones and other wireless technologies operate. These findings could lead to better signal processing and improve technologies for both classical and quantum information systems.

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Acoustic signals for better wireless technologies

Researchers push the limits of sound wave control, unlocking the potential for faster, clearer wireless communication and quantum information processing technologies.
Novel coupled nanopore platform offers greater precision for detecting molecules
Artist depiction of DNA moving through a nanopore system.

Marija Drndić of the School of Arts & Sciences and Dimitri Monos of the Perelman School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia led a team of researchers who developed a new nanostructure platform that allows for more precise detection and control of biomolecules, such as DNA and proteins. This exciting new platform signals a new era of synthetic biology, paving the way for enhanced DNA sequencing and protein conformation detection.

(Image: Courtesy of artist) 

Novel coupled nanopore platform offers greater precision for detecting molecules

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Penn have created the first ever reusable coupled nanopore platform for detecting and guiding molecules, findings could pave the way for much improved DNA sequencing and molecule identification.
Sound research as a lens to understanding the world
Illustration of a person wearing headphones with swirling whales and birds surrounding them.

Image: Maggie Chiang for OMNIA

Sound research as a lens to understanding the world

Researchers across Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences are turning to sound for new answers to questions on subjects from birdsong to the benefits of music exposure.

Laura Dattaro

Does heat travel differently in tight spaces?
Green-tinted image showing thermal plumes in a Hele-Shaw cell, illustrating heat transfer in confined spaces.

Hugo Ulloa and Daisuke Noto of the School of Arts & Sciences have unearthed findings that address long-standing mysteries in the mechanics of fluids in confined, tight spaces: how their boundaries affect heat as it emanates from one place and dissipates throughout the space. The image above is a lab-scale hydrothermal system modeled utilizing a Hele-Shaw cell of 10 cm tall, 20 cm long and 4 mm gap. The interior of the Hele-Shaw cell is filled with degassed, deionized water heated from the bottom and cooled from above. A green laser sheet crosses the middle plane of the cell to visualize the motions of micro-scale particles seeded on the water, allowing researchers to estimate the fluid velocity and temperature.

 

 

(Image: Courtesy of Daisuke Noto)

Does heat travel differently in tight spaces?

New research led by Penn scientists offers insights into fundamental problems in fluid mechanics, findings that pave the way for more efficient heat transfer in myriad systems.
Four academic journeys explored
Vijay Balasubramanian writes equations on a whiteboard with a graduate student

Younger scientists often ask him about exploring multiple fields, Balasubramanian says. The advice he offers is to “have a central line where you have credibility, where you’ve established that you’re really, really good at what you do, and you can be trusted.”

(Image: Eric Sucar)

Four academic journeys explored

Vijay Balasubramanian and Tukufu Zuberi in the School of Arts & Sciences, Amy Hillier in the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Brittany Watson in the School of Veterinary Medicine share their academic paths toward interdisciplinary work.

Kristina Linnea García

A first, physical system to learn nonlinear tasks without a traditional computer processor
Contrastive local learning network.

University of Pennsylvania physics and engineering researchers have created a contrastive local learning network, an analog system that is fast, low-power, scalable, and able to learn nonlinear tasks.

(Image: Erica Moser)

A first, physical system to learn nonlinear tasks without a traditional computer processor

Physics and engineering researchers created a contrastive local learning network that is fast, low-power, and scalable.
Five from Penn elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024
Headshots of five Penn professors.

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences elected five Penn faculty this year (left to right): Dolores Albarracín, Charles Kane, Edward D. Mansfield, Virgil Percec, and Deborah A. Thomas.

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Five from Penn elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024

Dolores Albarracín, Charles L. Kane, Edward D. Mansfield, Virgil Percec, and Deborah A. Thomas are recognized for their contributions to mathematical and physical sciences and social and behavioral sciences.
Total solar eclipse
the solar eclipse surrounded by its corona

Sliski's composite image of the solar eclipse, with plumes located above and below the poles of the stars, red prominences located near the edge of the sun (at 11 and 8 o'clock), and with one extensions each to the east and west of the solar disc. This data will be compared to predictive models to better refine the current understanding of the sun (Image credit: David Sliski). 

Total solar eclipse

Gary Bernstein and Bhuvnesh Jain speak with Penn Today about the significance of the coming total eclipse.