Penn’s ENIAC, the world’s first electronic computer, turns 80
Housed in the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School Building, ENIAC—the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose computer—launched in 1946. ENIAC’s ability to be reprogrammed to solve a wide range of complex numerical problems was revolutionary and laid the foundation for modern digital systems.
High-speed laboratory images capture two distinct “sandball” shapes formed when raindrops strike dry, sloped sand and roll downhill. (Top) Peanut-shaped sandballs, where grains coat the surface of a liquid core. (Bottom) Donut-shaped sandballs, which densify into rigid, wheel-like structures with a hollow center, enabling far more efficient sediment transport than splash erosion alone.
(Image: Daisuke Noto)
Raindrop-formed ‘sandballs’ that erode hillsides tenfold
Penn geophysicists and colleagues have uncovered Earth-sculpting processes that result from the formation of snowball-like aggregates they call “sandballs.” Their findings provide fundamental insights into erosion and will broaden scientific understandings of landscape change, soil loss, and agriculture.
Why do some groups get smarter together while others collapse into groupthink? New research from theoretical biologist Joshua Plotkin and collaborators show that collective intelligence doesn’t emerge by rewarding the most accurate individuals but by rewarding those who improve the group’s prediction as a whole.
Despite the commonality of water and ice, says Penn physicist Robert Carpick, their physical properties are remarkably unique.
(Image: mustafahacalaki via Getty Images)
Why are icy surfaces slippery?
Winter Storm Fern brought icy and snowy conditions to the Northeast and other parts of the country over the weekend. Penn Today asks physicist Robert Carpick about the unique properties of ice, the science of curling, and how close we are to ‘nonslip’ ice.
How plants ‘hedge their bets’ for better reproductive outcomes
Penn biologists reveal how plants respond to seasonal flowering cues while protecting the stem cells at their growing tip, enabling continuous reproduction in changing environments.
(Pictured) An artist’s depiction of a single cell moving through the nanofabricated mictostrucures biophysicist Arnold Mathijssen’s team used to study E. coli.
(Image: Courtesy of Ruoshui Liu/Cylos Studio)
Lifesaving breakthrough in bacterial behavior
Bacteria can actively swim upstream, leading to severe infections in places like the urinary tract and respiratory system and contamination of medical devices like catheters. Biophysicist Arnold Mathijssen and colleagues have uncovered how and why this happens, revealing that E. coli actually “thrives under pressure.” Their findings point to new strategies for designing safer, more effective biomedical tools and treatments.
Wall Street rides an AI-fueled rally that has pushed major indices to new highs that’s driven largely by a handful of dominant tech firms. As enthusiasm around artificial intelligence reshapes markets and concentrates risk, questions are mounting about whether the surge reflects durable growth or the familiar shape of a speculative bubble. Wharton finance crises expert Itay Goldstein explains how bubbles form, why they can be so dangerous, and what today’s AI boom shares—and does not—with past market madness like the one described in “The Big Short.”
(Image: Getty / Spencer Platt)
Is there an AI bubble and what happens if it bursts?
Wharton’s Itay Goldstein discusses financial bubbles, the mechanics of betting against them, and the risks facing the AI boom.
Biologist Mia Levine and colleagues have demonstrated how a pair of essential protein partners undergo rapid evolutionary change to counter fast-evolving parasitic DNA while maintaining core cellular functions. The work presents novel insight into how evolution works at the molecular level.
(Image: Getty images/Joao Paulo Burini)
Evolution at a molecular level
Research led by Mia Levine shows how a vital DNA protection protein complex adapts to new threats without compromising essential functions.
An ‘illuminating’ design sheds light on cholesterol
High levels of cholesterol are linked to heart disease, stroke, and many other health problems. However, this complex and vital fatty, water insoluble molecule—a lipid—is found in every cell of the body and is not all bad news. It also regulates crucial processes that science has yet to map.
Penn researchers will receive two of four grants awarded this year by the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation in support of interdisciplinary collaboration aimed at developing novel approaches to fundamental scientific questions.
