The snow graphics in ‘Frozen’ can predict the mechanics of real avalanches
When a slab of snow cracks and slides down a slope, the exact size and shape of the resulting avalanche is hard to predict. The sliding slab is denser than the snow underneath it, giving the system a mix of solid and liquid properties.
Chenfanfu Jiang, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science, is an expert on the dynamics involved in porous materials. But unlike most research in applied mathematics and physics-based simulations, Jiang’s work has been seen by millions of people around the world. Before coming to Penn, he developed computer graphics for the entertainment industry; his computational models of snow, sand, and water have appeared in the Disney films Frozen, Zootoptia, and Moana.
The math that power these realistic digital depictions are now set to have a real-world impact. Jiang recently published a study in Nature Communicationsthat leverages these simulations as a way of capturing and predicting the complexity of a slab of snow’s behavior as cracks propagate through it.
Along with colleagues from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University of California, Los Angeles, Jiang developed a numerical model that accurately conforms to real-life observations of so-called snow slab avalanches.
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.
