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Science & Technology
Penn Vet Study Identifies Mechanism Explaining Female Bias in Autoimmunity
Possessing two X chromosomes is a double-edged sword, immunologically speaking. Females are better at fighting off infection than males, but they are also more susceptible to many autoimmune conditions, such as lupus.
Before Retinal Cells Die, They Regenerate, Penn Vet Blindness Study Finds
Until relatively recently, the dogma in neuroscience was that neurons, including the eye’s photoreceptor cells, rods and cones, do not regenerate. This is the reason that nerve damage is thought to be so grave. More recent studies have poked holes in this belief by showing that, in some vertebrate species, neurons can be stimulated to divide.
The Journey From Egypt to Philadelphia of the Penn Museum’s Sphinx
When the massive sphinx arrived at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia in 1913, it was eclipsed by another historic event in the city – opening day of baseball’s World Series with the Philadelphia Athletics hosting the New York Giants.
Penn Vet Team Promotes One Health Concepts in Education
What can a scattering of dead pigeons mean for human health? Sometimes, a lot.
Penn Researchers’ Theory: Brain’s Location-tracking Cells Use Transcendental Number System
Animals use specialized neurons in their brain known as grid cells to keep track of their physical location.
Penn Student Mathematician Participates in Eight-week NSF Research Program
Before last summer, Suneil Parimoo had never worked on partial differential equations. But that didn’t stop the University of Pennsylvania senior from spending eight weeks solving one such problem at a Math REU at the Florida Institute of Technology.
Penn Team Reverses Signs of Naturally Occurring Chronic Periodontitis
Periodontitis, a gum disease present in nearly half of all adults in the United States, involves inflammation, bleeding and bone loss. In its severe form, it is associated with systemic inflammatory conditions such as atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Balancing Privacy and Security in Network Analysis
In the digital age, data is ubiquitous. The increasing ease with which every online interaction can be stored, compared and analyzed has transformed a wide swath of business and led to the formation of new ones.
Penn Science Café: ‘Studying Climate Change in a Land of Nomads’
WHO: Brenda Casper Professor and Chair Department of Biology
Penn Science Café Presents ‘Public (Mis)understanding of Evolution’
WHO: Michael Weisberg Chair and Professor
In the News
Big Think
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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Salon.com
“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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CNET
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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Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
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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Vox.com
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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The New York Times
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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Tampa Bay Times
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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WESA Radio (Pittsburgh)
Pa. environmental, religious and other groups criticize Shapiro plan for ignoring climate change
A study by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design found that Pennsylvania would benefit overall from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
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The New York Times
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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CNBC
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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