5/18
Penn in the News
A round-up of Penn mentions in local, national, and international media.
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Penn In the News
Bird flu: What is it and what’s behind the outbreak?
Louise Moncla of the School of Veterinary Medicine says that the latest bird flu outbreak has refused to die out, spreading from Europe to North America and affecting species like seals and foxes.
Penn In the News
Universal flu vaccine could counter future pandemic
Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine have found a flu vaccine that could protect against any future pandemic strains, with a quote from Scott Hensley.
Penn In the News
Biden signs climate, tax and health bill into law
An analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model finds that the administration’s Inflation Reduction Act will have zero measurable impact on inflation despite its name.
Penn In the News
U.S. closes loophole for Russian debt payments
Philip Nichols of the Wharton School says it’s not clear what Western holders of Russian bonds have done in the weeks since the invasion.
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Could mRNA make us superhuman?
Research by Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine laid the groundwork for mRNA vaccines.
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A weekend in America: Shootings in Washington spotlight growing problem
David Abrams of the Law School spoke about rising crime rates in the U.S. "Homicides are, in most of these cities, outpacing—and in some cases by a lot—rates that we've seen for the last several years," he said. "It's pretty widespread. This is not just a D.C. phenomenon. It's not just a Chicago phenomenon."
Penn In the News
Teen girl footballers have double concussion risk of boys
With teenage girls who play football running nearly twice the risk of concussion as teenage boys and take longer to recover, Abigail Bretzin of the Perelman School of Medicine highlights the need for female-specific studies in athletics.
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Elon Musk to show off working brain-hacking device
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
Coronavirus: Wear masks in crowded public spaces, says science body
Paul Edelstein of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the effectiveness of face masks in preventing the spread of COVID-19. "There are people without symptoms going about their daily business who are unknowingly breathing out droplets that are carrying the virus," he said. "If they had their faces covered the majority of those droplets would be caught before they can infect other people. Wearing face coverings can help save lives and prevent disabling illnesses."
Penn In the News
The best trees to reduce air pollution
Stephanie Carlisle of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about high hopes for the use of urban trees to mitigate air pollution. “Some designers have a tendency to think in terms of objects rather than a complex ecological system,” she said. “But without a holistic understanding of urban ecosystems, the risk is to do more harm than good.”