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Gravity follows Newton and Einstein’s rules, even at cosmic scales
An artist's depiction of two galaxies, side-by-side, swriling at different velocites.

The cosmic microwave background, the faint afterglow of the Big Bang that fills all of space, passes through massive galaxy clusters whose motion slightly alters the light, allowing scientists to measure how fast the clusters are moving toward one another and test how strongly gravity pulls across the largest distances in the universe.

(Image: Courtesy of Lucy Reading/Simons Foundation)

Gravity follows Newton and Einstein’s rules, even at cosmic scales

By tracking galaxy clusters hundreds of millions of lightyears apart, Penn physicist Patricio Gallardo and collaborators find that the laws of gravity written by Newton and Einstein still hold, leaving little doubt that invisible dark matter exists.

3 min. read

Caitlyn Chen’s path to becoming a physician-scientist
Caitlyn Chen.

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Caitlyn Chen’s path to becoming a physician-scientist

The fourth-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, who will pursue medical school after graduation, spent her time at Penn applying deep knowledge of the natural sciences to research more affordable microsensors for medical devices.

3 min. reada

Shujie Yang harnesses sound to build the next generation of microrobotic medicine
Shujie Yang

Shujie Yang is at the frontier of single-cell acoustic manipulation, an emerging field that blends physics, mechanobiology, and medicine.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Shujie Yang harnesses sound to build the next generation of microrobotic medicine

Yang’s lab at Penn Engineering uses precisely-controlled ultrasound waves to develop microscale tools that can manipulate cells, viruses, and soft materials without physical contact.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Building better delivery vehicles for medicine
A machine in Michael Mitchell’s lab.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering

Building better delivery vehicles for medicine

Penn researchers in the Mitchell Lab are modifying lipid nanoparticles, the delivery vehicles for mRNA therapies, to make them more potent, precise, and better tolerated.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Topology helps build more robust photonic networks
(From left) Xilin Feng, Liang Feng, and Tianwei Wu in an engineering lab.

(From left) Xilin Feng, Liang Feng, and Tianwei Wu developed a microring array that allows multiple beams of light to travel simultaneously, protected by topology.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

Topology helps build more robust photonic networks

Researchers at Penn Engineering draw insights from topology to help drive promising, light-based technological advances in computing and communications.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Turning peels into pavers: How Penn designers turn food scraps into biodegradable building materials
Two students working with biodegradable food waste specimens.

At the DumoLab, research associate Yasaman Amirzehni is working to develop a biocomposite suitable for indoor and outdoor cladding applications, which could eventually serve as true structural components like load-bearing columns.

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Turning peels into pavers: How Penn designers turn food scraps into biodegradable building materials

The Weitzman School’s Laia Mogas-Soldevila and Yasaman Amirzehni transform unavoidable food waste—like fruit peels and eggshells, which account for 14.8% of post-consumer restaurant food waste—into durable, biodegradable building materials in collaboration with Penn Dining.

4 min. read

Mapping catalyst failure to advance clean hydrogen fuel production
A car at a hydrogen refueling station.

Image: David McNew via Getty Images

Mapping catalyst failure to advance clean hydrogen fuel production

A new study co-led by computational Penn engineering professor Aleksandra Vojvodic and collaborators offers an unprecedented view of the complicated degradation process of a material based on one of the rarest elements, iridium. Their findings, which show how this catalytic agent breaks down at the atomic scale, pave the way for better hydrogen fuel production.

3 min. read

Five from Penn named 2025 AAAS Fellows
Portraits from left to right, first row: Cherie Kagan, Danny Krashen, George Pappas. Second row: Kai Tan, Patrick Walsh.

(Top, from left) Cherie Kagan, Daniel Krashen, and George Pappas. (Bottom, from left) Kai Tan and Patrick Walsh.

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Five from Penn named 2025 AAAS Fellows

Five faculty researchers representing the School of Arts & Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Perelman School of Medicine have been elected 2025 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows. They are among the nearly 500 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines who are being recognized for distinguished achievements.

3 min. read