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The physics of the perfect pour over
The New York Times

The physics of the perfect pour over

Arnold Mathijssen of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues applied the principles of fluid dynamics to optimize the pour in pour over coffee.

Penn ATLAS shares 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
Members of the Penn ATLAS team and others in front of the inner detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

Members of the Penn ATLAS team and others in front of the inner detector of ATLAS experiment.

(Image: ©CERN/Maximilien Brice)

Penn ATLAS shares 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

The team, which includes Joseph Kroll, Evelyn Thomson, Elliot Lipeles, Dylan Rankin, and Brig Williams from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is part of an expansive collaboration studying high-energy collisions from the Large Hadron Collider.

Michele W. Berger

2 min. read

For a better cup of coffee, look to physics
A kettle and pour-over coffee filter full of coffee grounds.

(On homepage) 

(Image: Courtesy of Ernest Park)

For a better cup of coffee, look to physics

Researchers from Penn have found new cost-effective ways to make a great cup of pour-over coffee using fewer beans. Their findings could potentially provide insights into similar systems such as waterfalls and surface erosion.

4 min. read

Scientists release instructions for how to make a perfect cup of coffee
USA Today

Scientists release instructions for how to make a perfect cup of coffee

Arnold Mathijssen of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues have created a pour-over coffee technique using a goose-neck kettle and a high pour to achieve an “avalanche” in the ground coffee.

New high-definition pictures of the early universe
Part of the installation of a telescope.

(Image courtesy of ACT Collaboration; ESA/Planck)

New high-definition pictures of the early universe

Research by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration has led to the clearest and most precise images yet of the universe’s infancy—the cosmic microwave background radiation that was visible only 380,000 years after the Big Bang.

8 min. read

What can theoretical physics teach us about knitting?
knitted squiggles

(On homepage) A close-up of a highly structured self-folding knit, where carefully designed stitch patterns create a repeating wave-like geometry. This fabric’s shape is dictated entirely by its stitch arrangement, demonstrating how knitting can be programmed to form complex, three-dimensional structures without the need for additional shaping forces. Such advancements in knitigami—the fusion of knitting and origami—could lead to innovations in deployable textiles, soft robotics, and adaptive materials.

(Image: Courtesy of Lauren Niu)

What can theoretical physics teach us about knitting?

Penn physicist Randall Kamien, visiting scholar Lauren Niu, and collaborator Geneviève Dion of Drexel bring unprecedented levels of predictability to the ancient practice of knitting by developing a mathematical model that could be used to create a new class of lightweight, ultra-strong materials.