Through
4/26
A round-up of Penn mentions in local, national, and international media.
Penn In the News
Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the challenges of using drones for commercial purposes and about American perceptions of DJI, a China-based drone manufacturer.
Penn In the News
Kenneth Foster of the School of Engineering and Applied Science debunked conspiracy theories that link 5G networks and radio frequencies to the spread of COVID-19. "There's nothing different in terms of exposure," he said.
Penn In the News
Ari Benjamin, a doctoral student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said the biggest stumbling block for brain-to-machine interface technology is the complexity of the human brain. "Once they have the recordings, Neuralink will need to decode them and will someday hit the barrier that is our lack of basic understanding of how the brain works, no matter how many neurons they record from,” he said. "Decoding goals and movement plans is hard when you don't understand the neural code in which those things are communicated."
Penn In the News
Cynthia Otto of the School of Veterinary Medicine and A.T. Charlie Johnson of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about how trained dogs and electronic sensors can use scent to detect illness.
Penn In the News
Danielle Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about how neuroscience has led to a greater understanding of the brain’s networks and how to treat a variety of conditions. “Hopefully, with an understanding of the individual differences in the brain, we will have a better lever on how to predict human responses to a particular intervention,” she says, “and then not have to have people go for a year through different kinds of medication before we find one that works for them.”
Penn In the News
Cherie Kagan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the Penn-led IoT4Ag center’s work: “We need new technology to meet the challenges of a world with a growing population and changing climate. We simply need to produce more crops for every drop of water or Joule of energy we’re currently using to realize a food, energy and water-secure future.”
Penn In the News
Lyle Ungar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences called for Pennsylvania to hire thousands more contact tracers to slow the spread of COVID-19. While it’s an expensive proposition, they say it’s still less costly than “the $225 million in grants to small businesses affected by the pandemic and the estimated $5 billion in tax revenue that Pennsylvania is expected to lose through June of next year.”
Penn In the News
Vanessa Z. Chan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science wrote an op-ed about how students can still have a productive summer by taking online classes, picking up new hobbies, and creatively solving social problems.
Penn In the News
Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences, Lyle Ungar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and PIK Professor Ezekiel J. Emanuel wrote an op-ed about how best to persuade people to wear protective face masks. “It’s not too late to apply three basic principles from behavioral science: make it easy, understood, and expected,” they write, “and we’ll soon see face masks everywhere, saving lives.”
Penn In the News
Shu Yang of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the The Origami Mask Project, which is developing simple, easy DIY face masks.