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The human side of clean energy

The human side of clean energy

In their new book “Power Lines: The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition,” Sanya Carley and David Konisky ask what happens to the people left behind in America’s energy transition.

From Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

2 min. read

Understanding the climate record through objects
Melissa Charenko stands in front of art in her office.

In her office, Melissa Charenko has paintings by artist Jill Pelto that depict the kind of climate proxies Charenko writes about in her new book, such as sediment cores containing pollen grains.

nocred

Understanding the climate record through objects

Melissa Charenko’s new book shares the history of how 20th-century scientists used climate “proxies”—such as tree rings and fossil pollen—to understand past climates, which has implications for future climate action.

3 min. read

Letting the sunshine in and monitoring stormwater runoff
Tree saplings next to the solar panels.

Trees planted next to the solar panels are enhancing stormwater runoff infiltration.

(Image: The Water Center at Penn)

Letting the sunshine in and monitoring stormwater runoff

As the buzz around renewable energy grows louder, a research endeavor led by the Water Center at Penn exemplifies of how addressing energy demands goes hand-in-hand with tackling water challenges.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

2 min. read

A serendipitous find leads to lifesaving discoveries
Fluorescent imaging of glioblastoma under a microscope.

Image: Kyosuke Shishikura

A serendipitous find leads to lifesaving discoveries

A Penn-led team has revealed a how hydralazine, one of the world’s oldest blood pressure drugs and a mainstay treatment for preeclampsia, works at the molecular level. In doing so, they made a surprising discovery—it can also halt the growth of aggressive brain tumors.

3 min. read

Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines
Hannah Yamagata, Research Assistant Professor Kushol Gupta and postdoctoral fellow Marshall Padilla, holding 3D-printed models of nanoparticles in a lab.

(From left) Doctoral student Hannah Yamagata, research assistant professor Kushol Gupta, and postdoctoral fellow Marshall Padilla holding 3D-printed models of nanoparticles.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines

New research involving Penn Engineering shows detailed variation in lipid nanoparticle size, shape, and internal structure, and finds that such factors correlate with how well they deliver therapeutic cargo to a particular destination.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

How a coral stiffens its skeleton on demand
Chenhao Hu holds up a 3D-printed model of a sclerite.

Penn Engineering doctoral student Chenhao Hu holding a 3D-printed model of a sclerite, the tiny mineral particles that make up the coral’s skeleton and whose unique shape allows the organism to tune its own stiffness.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

How a coral stiffens its skeleton on demand

Researchers at Penn Engineering have discovered how a coral’s skeleton compacts itself to ward off danger, a novel discovery of “granular jamming” in a living organism.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Penn Vet’s Wildlife Futures seek to unravel the mystery of the disappearing barn owl
Jennifer Grell holding a barn owl.

Penn Vet student Jennifer Grell is gaining wildlife field work experience with Penn Vet’s Wildlife Futures Program.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Vet News)

Penn Vet’s Wildlife Futures seek to unravel the mystery of the disappearing barn owl

A multiyear study looks at the causes of declining populations, which will help inform conservation efforts in the future.

2 min. read

A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise
A researcher walking through a glacier in Greenland.

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A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise

For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim’s massive calving events don’t behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.

5 min. read

Where water meets artificial intelligence
A large body of water with a large drop of water superimposed over it.

Image: Floriana via Getty Images

Where water meets artificial intelligence

As part of the new Water-AI Nexus Center of Excellence collaboration, The Water Center at Penn is helping answer key questions around technology and sustainability.

From Omnia

2 min. read

A ‘Rosetta stone’ for molecular systems
Prashant Purohit (left) and Penn Engineering’s Celia Reina (right) in front of a whiteboard.

Penn Engineering’s Prashant Purohit (left) and Celia Reina.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

A ‘Rosetta stone’ for molecular systems

Penn Engineering’s Prashant Purohit (left) and Celia Reina (right), in collaboration with recent doctoral graduate Travis Leadbetter, have spent years developing a mathematical “Rosetta stone” that can translate molecular movements into predictions of larger effects.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read