4/22
Science & Technology
Soft support can make unexpectedly stable glass
A team of researchers from Penn and the Brookhaven National Laboratory find a new way to manufacture stable glass.
Wrestling with academics
As a student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, second-year wrestler Adam Thomson, an international champion, balances athletics with his research on hyperinflation in Brazil.
Structural elements of archaea
Researchers shed light on archea, a single cell microorganism, to discover how proteins determine what shape a cell will take and how that form may function.
When do stereotypes undermine indirect reciprocity?
Researchers from Penn and Princeton develop a model to evaluate how reputation and indirect reciprocity affects cooperative behaviors.
New molecules, inspired by space shuttles, advance lipid nanoparticle delivery for weight control
Penn Engineering researchers have invented a new way to synthesize the key chemical components of lipid nanoparticles that help protect and deliver medicinal payloads.
The role of history in how efficient color names evolve
In a new study, biology and psychology researchers show how existing color vocabularies constrain future options for efficient color vocabularies.
The soils beneath the solar fields
How do solar farms impact soil health? It’s a question that master’s student Hannah Winn is exploring at the central Pennsylvania site where solar energy production is helping Penn progress toward carbon neutrality.
New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed
A new silicon-photonic (SiPh) chip design from the lab of Nader Engheta, alongside Firooz Aflatouni, uses light waves, the fastest possible means of communication, rather than electricity, to perform mathematical computations.
‘Switchable’ bispecific antibodies pave way for safer cancer treatment
Immunotherapy utilizing an FDA-approved drug has enabled Penn researchers to develop a novel switchable bispecific T cell engager that mitigates negative outcomes of immunotherapy.
Illuminating the invisible: Bringing the smallest protein clusters into focus
Penn engineers are opening new avenues for detecting the proteins implicated in diseases like Alzheimer’s and testing new treatments.
In the News
Here’s why experts don’t think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai’s downpour
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that many people blaming cloud seeding for Dubai storms are climate change deniers trying to divert attention from what’s really happening.
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Can we stop AI hallucinations? And do we even want to?
Chris Callison-Burch of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that auto-regressive generation can make it difficult for language learning models to perform fact-based or symbolic reasoning.
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“Record-shattering” heat wave in Antarctica — yep, climate change is the culprit
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that persistent summer weather extremes like heat waves are becoming more common as people continue to warm the planet with carbon pollution.
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How the solar eclipse will affect solar panels and the grid
Benjamin Lee of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that the electrical grid will have to figure out how to match supply and demand during brief windows where the energy source goes away.
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Scientists struggle to explain ‘really weird’ spike in world temperatures
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that tendencies to exaggerate climate science in favor of “doomist” narratives helps no one except the fossil fuel industry.
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Spring is here very early. That’s not good
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that plant-flowering, tree-leafing, and egg-hatching are all markers associated with spring that are happening sooner.
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Can your personal medical devices be recycled?
A lab at the School of Engineering and Applied Science led the development of a COVID test made from bacterial cellulose, an organic compound.
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Could Florida electric bills go up because of a fuel made from manure?
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that federal and California state subsidies have led to a gold rush of companies trying to get into the business of renewable natural gas around the country.
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Why don’t we just ban fossil fuels?
Joseph Romm of the School of Arts & Sciences says that stronger action against fossil fuels is essential to save the planet.
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Students can soon major in AI at this Ivy League university—it’ll prepare them for ‘jobs that don’t yet exist’
The Raj and Neera Singh Program in Artificial Intelligence at Penn will be the first AI undergraduate engineering major at an Ivy League school, led by George Pappas of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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