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UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe
The Guardian

UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe

In a statement for the Simons Observatory, Mark Devlin of the School of Arts & Sciences says that new telescopes and researchers from the UK will make a significant addition to their efforts to examine the origins of the universe.

Liquid crystals bring robotics to the microscale
Physics World

Liquid crystals bring robotics to the microscale

In collaboration with the University of Ljubljana, Kathleen Stebe of the School of Engineering and Applied Science has built a swimming microrobot that paddles by rotating liquid crystal molecules.

What it’s like to be stationed at a particle accelerator
Inside the particle accelerator.

A photo from the installation of the detector. The large silver and orange striped tubes are the solenoid magnet, which is the largest toroidal magnet ever constructed. It provides a magnetic field of up to 3.5 Tesla. Now that Run 3 has started, the magnet is on even when we researchers are working underground, so they are required to use non-magnetic tools. (Image: Courtesy of Gwen Gardner and Lauren Osojnak)

What it’s like to be stationed at a particle accelerator

Gwen Gardner and Lauren Osojnak, Ph.D. candidates in physics, describe their work as part of the Penn ATLAS team at the Large Hadron Collider.

Blake Cole

The new math of wrinkling
Quanta Magazine

The new math of wrinkling

Eleni Katifori of the School of Arts & Sciences is credited for her work simulating wrinkle patterns, which were crucial to an overall theory of geometric wrinkle prediction.

Exploring what it means to be curious
Book cover of Curious Minds: The Power of Connection by Perry Zurn and Dani S. Bassett along side image of the two scholars

Exploring what it means to be curious

In a new book “Curious Minds: The Power of Connection,” Penn’s Dani S. Bassett and twin sibling Perry Zurn weave together history, linguistics, network science, neuroscience, and philosophy to unpack the concept of curiosity.

Katherine Unger Baillie

When curved materials flatten, simple geometry can predict the wrinkle patterns that emerge
A circular cutout with wrinkles forming in many patterns.

A circular cutout of a thin spherical cap carefully deposited onto a pool of water. The sheet forms a complex pattern of wrinkles to accommodate the change in geometry from a sphere to a plane. (Image: Monica Ripp, Paulsen Lab, Syracuse University)

When curved materials flatten, simple geometry can predict the wrinkle patterns that emerge

The findings—from a collaboration between Penn, Syracuse, and the University of Illinois Chicago—have a range of implications, from how materials interact with moisture to the way flexible electronics bend.

Michele W. Berger

A novel method for monitoring the ‘engine’ of pregnancy
fetus in the uterus showing connection to placenta

A novel method for monitoring the ‘engine’ of pregnancy

By combining optical measurements with ultrasound, researchers were able to study oxygen levels in the placenta, paving the way for a better understanding of this complex, crucial organ.

Erica K. Brockmeier, Katherine Unger Baillie

A new connection between topology and quantum entanglement
two figures, one showing a three dimensional polygon and another graph with four intersecting planes

A new connection between topology and quantum entanglement

The theoretical work led by physicist Charles Kane reveals an unexpected link between two major principles in physics that may inform future experimentation and an understanding of how to harness quantum information.

Katherine Unger Baillie