11/15
Physics
Physics on display
Physics on display
Hundreds of regional junior high and high school students visited Penn’s campus in early January to beat the winter blues—and reds—by watching physics demonstrations about lights and waves.
Dark Energy Survey completes six-year mission
Dark Energy Survey completes six-year mission
A global research effort to map a portion of the sky in unprecedented detail is coming to an end, but the task of learning more about the expansion of the universe has only just begun.
The nanotopography of an atomic world
The nanotopography of an atomic world
Physicists offer insights into the structure of atomically thin materials using nanoscale images of 2D membranes.
Electric bond
Electric bond
Behind the discovery of a new class of electronic materials is a 20-year collaboration between two Penn physicists, winners of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Celebrating science
Celebrating science
Eight Penn faculty share their favorite general interest books about science.
Cutting and folding toward innovations in medicine, design, and more
Cutting and folding toward innovations in medicine, design, and more
Artist-in-residence Mike Tanis and physicist Randall Kamien use kirigami, literally “cut paper,” to better grasp scientific concepts and to solve real-world challenges.
Up, up, and away
Up, up, and away
Mark Devlin and his team behind BLAST are about to embark on another scientific adventure in Antarctica, this time measuring how stars form in our galaxy.
Charles Kane and Eugene Mele to share Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
Charles Kane and Eugene Mele to share Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
For introducing a new class of materials with unique and useful properties, known as topological insulators, physicists Charles Kane and Eugene Mele will receive the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The award honors “fundamental discoveries…that are transforming our world.”
Learn from the experts with the Penn Science and Lightbulb Cafes
Learn from the experts with the Penn Science and Lightbulb Cafes
The lecture series, hosted by the School of Arts and Sciences, offers a casual setting in which researchers can present their work and engage with the attendees during a Q&A period, giving a glimpse into the research at Penn.
First particle tracks seen in prototype for international neutrino experiment
First particle tracks seen in prototype for international neutrino experiment
Neutrinos are the most abundant, and most mysterious, type of matter in the universe. Physicists from the School of Arts and Sciences had a hand in designing a massive instrument, the ProtoDUNE, that has detected the first evidence of these particles of matter.
In the News
The New York Times
Harrison White, groundbreaking (and inscrutable) sociologist, dies at 94
Randall Collins of the School of Arts & Sciences and PIK Professor Duncan J. Watts discuss the career of the late Harrison White, a theoretical physicist-turned-sociologist.
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The Scientist
Artificial chromosomes for disease modeling
A study by Ben Black of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues used a new technique for synthesizing chromosomes to introduce panels of genes into disease models, facilitating drug testing.
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Live Science
Scientists propose ‘missing’ law for the evolution of everything in the universe
Stuart Kauffman of the Perelman School of Medicine comments on a study that proposed a missing scientific law identifying “universal concepts of selection” that drive evolution.
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The Wall Street Journal
Russia aims to restore prestige in race to moon’s south pole
Benjamin L. Schmitt of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Weitzman School of Design says that sentiment in the scientific and astronaut communities has begun to shift toward a future in which NASA and Roscosmos are no longer close partners.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Nine women who changed science are featured in a new Philly exhibit
A new exhibit at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia celebrates the late Mildred Cohn, a biochemist at the Perelman School of Medicine who fought to reduce discrimination in academia.
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Inc.
Neuroscience explains why Bill Gates’ weird reading trick is so effective
A study by Penn researchers working in physics, neuroscience, and bioengineering found that people instinctively seek patterns and similarities in the data they absorb.
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