Katherine Unger Baillie

by Patrick AmmermanCoastal dunes can pile up large amounts of sand, like a sandcastle. But, while a sandcastle can be completely washed away when it rains or blown away by a strong wind, dunes are much more tenacious. That’s because natural dunes have plants as supports to hold stabilize them in place, reducing erosion from wind and rain.

Receiving a report of “No cavities!” may be the best possible outcome of a visit to the dentist, but for those patients who need a filling, a newly approved anesthetic might make the procedure less painful.

Ciliopathies are diseases that affect the cilia, sensory organelles that most mammalian cells possess and which play a critical role in many biological functions. One such disease is Senior Løken Syndrome, a rare condition that can involve both a severe kidney disease and the blinding disease Leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA.

A fear of pain causes many people with dental phobias to avoid or delay needed treatment. In some cases, the injection of a numbing agent can be the most painful part of the visit.

By Niharika Gupta and Katherine Unger Baillie NASA's long search for life on Mars came to a thrilling turning point with the recent discovery of liquid water on the planet. One undergraduate researcher at Penn aims to understand how microbial life could thrive in such extreme, even extraterrestrial environments. 

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and University of Groningen have discovered a piece in the puzzle of how sleep deprivation negatively affects memory.

Dyskeratosis congenita, or DC, is a rare, inherited disease for which there are limited treatment options and no cure. Typically diagnosed in childhood, the disorder causes stem cells to fail, leading to significant problems including bone marrow failure, lung fibrosis, dyskeratosis of the skin and intestinal atrophy and inflammation.

Growing up in Parsippany, N.J., Bianca Reo Charbonneau adored visiting the beach and imagined she would one day live there full-time. She remembers, however, her parents cautioning, “It’s better to know someone with a house down the shore than to have one yourself.”

Public libraries serve communities in myriad ways, providing places where people gather to read, learn a new language, access the internet, pick up tax forms, or apply for jobs.

In humans, it’s well documented that having a healthy social life is associated with better physical health. The same is true for baboons: females who have close bonds with other females live longer and have greater reproductive success.