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Nathi Magubane

Science News Officer
  • nathi@upenn.edu
  • (215) 898-8562
  • A portrait of science writer Nathi Magubane
    Articles from Nathi Magubane
    Can data from the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?
    Close-up of ATLAS detector at CERN.

    ATLAS’s wheel-like end-cap reveals the maze of sensors primed to catch proton smash-ups at the LHC. Researchers comb through billions of events in search of fleeting “ghost” tracks that might expose cracks in string theory.

    (Image: Courtesy of CERN)

    Can data from the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

    Theoretical physicist Jonathan Heckman of the School of Arts & Sciences has put a spin on ideas related to testing string theory: Rather than looking to verify it, he and his collaborators sought a novel way to falsify it. Heckman and Ph.D. candidate Rebecca Hicks explain string theory, researchers’ quest to unify physics, and what their new paper puts forward.

    10 min. read

    Heat domes and flooding have nearly tripled since the ’50s
    Everett Clayton looks at a digital thermometer on a nearby building that reads 116 degrees while walking to his apartment on June 27, 2021 in Vancouver, Washington.

    Record-breaking temperatures lingered over the Northwest during a historic heatwave in June, 2021 in Vancouver, Washington.

    (Image: Nathan Howard via AP Images)

    Heat domes and flooding have nearly tripled since the ’50s

    New research led by Michael E. Mann links a surge in stalled jet stream events to human-driven climate change, with major implications for future heatwaves, wildfires, and floods.

    7 min. read

    Decoding ancient immunity networks
    Hand holding a blood vial that reads "complement (C3 + C4)"

    A collaborative team from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Perelman School of Medicine have unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that acts like the body’s bouncer, “deciding” which foreign materials get degraded by immune cells and which are allowed entry.

    (Image / iStock Md Saiful Islam Khan)

    Decoding ancient immunity networks

    A collaborative team from Penn Medicine and Penn Engineering have  unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that “decides” which foreign materials are friend or foe.

    Nathi Magubane , Ian Scheffler , Holly Wojcik , Matt Toal

    5 min. read

    What can ants and naked-mole rats teach about societal roles?
    Leafcutter ants moving around a bright green leaf.

    In eusocial superorganisms like leafcutter ant colonies, labor is divvied up according to body shape and size, but PIK Professor Shelley Berger and her team discovered that molecular signals can override that blueprint. Their findings reveal how simple neuropeptides can reprogram ant behavior, reshuffling roles in nature’s most disciplined workforce.

    (Image: Courtesy of Tierney Scarpa)

    What can ants and naked-mole rats teach about societal roles?

    PIK Professor Shelley Berger and colleagues explored the genetic basis of labor distribution in communal-dwelling species and discovered that pathways dating back hundreds of millions of years are conserved across animal kingdoms. Their findings offer fundamental insights into complex social behaviors.

    5 min. read

    AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows collaborate across disciplines
    Sibe-by-side portraits of Brynn Sherman, on left, and Kieran Murphy, right.

    Penn’s AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows Program is breaking down traditional scientific boundaries by integrating artificial intelligence across diverse research fields. Less than a year in, the program is already paying dividends in the form of new collaborations and research publications for inaugural fellows like Brynn Sherman (left) of the School of Arts & Sciences and Kieran Murphy (right) of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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    AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows collaborate across disciplines

    The new fellowship program, offered through the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, offers mentorship and peer engagement opportunities.

    5 min. read

    Unlocking the mechanics of protein misfolding
    Artist's interpretation of prion mechanics.

    Mathieu Ouellet

    Unlocking the mechanics of protein misfolding

    An interdisciplinary team led by School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Lee C. Bassett and Dani Bassett, also of the School of Arts & Sciences, have studied the mechanical properties of prions, the mysterious shape-shifting proteins that are infamous for mad cow disease yet essential for yeast survival

    5 min. read

    Delivering a one-two punch to superbugs to fight infections
    Rakesh Krishnan sits at a computer staring at a 3D rendering of a protein.

    Researchers led by César de la Fuente of the Perelman School of Medicine have created new peptides that fight hard-to-treat “superbug” infections by punching holes in bacterial cells and stimulating immune cells to signal for more defenders.

    (Image: Courtesy of Jianing Bai) 

    Delivering a one-two punch to superbugs to fight infections

    Penn researchers create mirror-image molecules that both kill pathogens outright and rally the immune system—an advance aimed at the growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance.

    3 min. read

    Lillian Miller: May grad turned Penn Ph.D.
    Lillian Miller and Irina Marinov

    Lillian Miller (left) graduated as a chemistry and environmental scieces double major in May. This summer, she returns to begin her graduate training in Irina Marinov’s (right), where researchers use big data and computational techniques to make better climate models.

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    Lillian Miller: May grad turned Penn Ph.D.

    Lillian Miller, a May graduate from the College, will begin graduate studies in the laboratory of Irina Marinov this summer, where she is leveraging big data to tackle ocean and climate-focused research.

    5 min. read

    AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellowship
    Aerial shot of Amy Guttman Hall

    Bhuvnesh Jain of the School of Arts & Sciences has teamed up with PIK University Professor René Vidal of the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Engineering and Applied Science to create the AI x Science Fellowship offering postdoctoral researchers across the University opportunities to collaborate across disciplines.

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    AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellowship

    Bhuvnesh Jain and René Vidal have teamed up to create the AI x Science Fellowship, which builds on the thriving postdoctoral program of the Data Driven Discovery Initiative to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration among researchers across the University.

    6 min. read

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