PHILADELPHIA -- A research team led by Marija Drndić of the University of Pennsylvania has been awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant to apply nanotechnology and materials science to the development of “third generation” techniques for DNA sequencing and to lower the cost of sequencing.

After the attacks of 9/11, the heroism of first responders — firefighters, police officers, EMTs, rescue workers and more — became a source of hope and inspiration in a trying time. But one group of responders has remained relatively unsung: 9/11’s working dogs.

PHILADELPHIA — In solid materials with regular atomic structures, figuring out weak points where the material will break under stress is relatively easy. But for disordered solids, like glass or sand, their disordered nature makes such predictions much more daunting tasks.

PHILADELPHIA — It is helpful — even life-saving — to have a warning sign before a structural system fails, but, when the system is only a few nanometers in size, having a sign that’s easy to read is a challenge.

PHILADELPHIA — A team of University of Pennsylvania physicists has shown how to disrupt the “coffee ring effect” — the ring-shaped stain of particles left over after coffee drops evaporate —  by changing the particles' shape.  The discovery provides new tools for engineers to deposit uniform coatings. 

PHILADELPHIA — An international team of astronomers has discovered a huge mass of warm water vapor in the central regions of a distant quasar, marking the farthest place in the universe that water has been detected. 

PHILADELPHIA — It’s not every day that researchers get access to a mouse that’s been to space and back, and, with the Space Shuttle program now scuttled, future chances will be even harder to come by.

PHILADELPHIA — Even in trace quantities, the radioactive gas radon is very dangerous; it is second only to cigarette smoking as a cause of lung cancer deaths in the United States.

PHILADELPHIA — Penn researchers have helped develop a nanotech device that combines carbon nanotubes with olfactory receptor proteins, the cell components in the nose that detect odors.

PHILADELPHIA — Renaissance architects demonstrated their understanding of geometry and physics when they built whispering galleries into their cathedrals. These circular chambers were designed to amplify and direct sound waves so that, when standing in the right spot, a whisper could be heard from across the room.