Physics | Penn Today

Remembering the past while looking forward

As the nation celebrates the Apollo 11 mission, a look at Penn’s connection to the historic event and how the Moon impacts science, politics, and culture.

blue and yellow swirls of light around a large dark spiral

Unique electrical properties in quantum materials can be controlled using light

New research on Weyl semimetals, a class of quantum materials, unlocks unique quantum properties that can be used to create light-controlled electronic devices in the future.

A squid’s eye view

Alison Sweeney of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed the complex structure of squids’ eyes, which have special lenses that allow for crisp vision in dark water. “The resolution of their eyes is approaching that of humans, their retinas are much more sensitive than ours are to light, and if you dig into the nitty-gritty of how nature figured it out, I’m forever blown away at the level of nuance to get it to work.”

Vijay Balasubramanian sitting next to BioPond

A conversation with Vijay Balasubramanian

In the latest episode of Penn Today's ‘Office Hours’ podcast series, a casual chat with Professor of Physics Vijay Balasubramanian.

Five events to watch for in June

The summer months around campus kick off with West Philadelphia Porchfest, arts performances at The Woodlands, and Penn Museum’s latest CultureFEST.

Stories of Penn scientists: David Rittenhouse

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of his observations of the 1769 transit of Venus, a glimpse into the story of the man whose name became synonymous with astronomy and mathematics.

a person adjusting a lens on an optics table

The next generation of optical communication with nanophotonics

Research from the lab of Bo Zhen is pushing the boundaries of optics by using fundamental physics to address many of the real-world challenges faced by engineers.

portraits of eugene mele and nancy speck

Two Penn faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Eugene Mele of the School of Arts and Sciences and Nancy Speck of the Perelman School of Medicine are welcomed into the Academy for their “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”

Sophomore Chloe Cho and juniors Lauren Duhamel, Srinivas Mandyam and Abigail Poteshman.

Four Penn undergraduates receive Goldwater Scholarships

Four Penn undergraduates have been awarded Goldwater Scholarships to pursue research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. Sophomore Chloe Cho and juniors Lauren Duhamel, Srinivas Mandyam and Abigail Poteshman.

Making sense of string theory

A Q&A with theoretical physicists Mirjam Cvetic and Ling Lin about what string theory is and how their recent discovery of a “quadrillion solutions” might change the course of the field.

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