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Penn Researchers Show Stem Cell Fate Depends on ‘Grip’
The field of regenerative medicine holds great promise, propelled by greater understanding of how stem cells differentiate themselves into many of the body’s different cell types. But clinical applications in the field have been slow to materialize, partially owing to difficulties in replicating the conditions these cells naturally experience.
Penn Engineers Enable ‘Bulk’ Silicon to Emit Visible Light for the First Time
Electronic computing speeds are brushing up against limits imposed by the laws of physics. Photonic computing, where photons replace comparatively slow electrons in representing information, could surpass those limitations, but the components of such computers require semiconductors that can emit light.
Penn Researchers Attach Lyme Disease Antibodies to Nanotubes
Early diagnosis is critical in treating Lyme disease. However, nearly one quarter of Lyme disease patients are initially misdiagnosed because currently available serological tests have poor sensitivity and specificity during the early stages of infection.
Zapping brain’s ‘filter’ helps thinking outside the box
The ability to focus on a single idea without being distracted by the myriad thoughts, memories, sensations, and other stimuli constantly stirring in the human brain is known as “cognitive control.” While a well-functioning neural “filter” helps keep us on task, useful creative thoughts may get caught in the filter, as well.
Penn Research: Quitting Marshmallow Test Can Be a Rational Decision
A psychological experiment known as “the marshmallow test” has captured the public’s imagination as a marker of self control and even as a predictor of future success. This test shows how well children can delay gratification, a trait that has been shown to be as important to scholastic performance as traditional IQ.
Psych prof puts new wrinkle in marshmallow test
For decades, a psychological experiment known as the marshmallow test has captured the public’s imagination as a marker of self-control and a predicator of future success. In the test, a researcher presents a child with a marshmallow and leaves him or her alone for a few minutes.
Penn Researchers Show that Suppressing the Brain’s “Filter” Can Improve Performance in Creative Tasks
The brain’s prefrontal cortex is thought to be the seat of cognitive control, working as a kind of filter that keeps irrelevant thoughts, perceptions and memories from interfering with a task at hand. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that inhibiting this filter can boost performance for tasks in which unfiltered, creative thoughts present an advantage.
CTT prepares for major change in patent law
United States patent law is undergoing a major overhaul, and Penn’s Center for Technology Transfer, which helps University members commercialize inventions, file for patent protection, and incubate spin-off businesses, is preparing for the changes.
Engineering Professor Elected to the Club of Rome
Noam Lior, professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, has been elected to the Club of Rome, an interdisciplinary, international think tank dedicated to sustainability issues.
Penn prof develops ‘passport’ for the immune system
The body’s innate immune system is its first line of defense against invaders. A disease-causing bacterium or a piece of wood from a splinter are treated the same: Cellular agents of the immune system identify these objects as foreign and try to destroy them.