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What the EPA limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in water mean
A glass of water being poured.

Image: iStock/Byjeng

What the EPA limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in water mean

Brianne Callahan of the Water Center explains the new regulations on PFAS, plus how they might affect consumer water bills, health, and more.

Michele W. Berger

Understanding the Northeast earthquake
Photograph of a seismograph reading following an earthquake.

Last week people in the Northeast experienced a rare earthquake that registered a magnitude of 4.8. To learn more about the mechanics of earthquakes and this occurrence, Penn Today spoke with David Goldsby of the School of Arts & Sciences and Robert Carpick of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

(Image: iStock/allanswart)

  • Q&A

    • Understanding the Northeast earthquake

    Last week, people in the Northeast experienced a rare earthquake that registered a magnitude of 4.8. Penn Today spoke with David Goldsby of the School of Arts & Sciences and Robert Carpick of the School of Engineering and Applied Science about the event.
    Total solar eclipse
    the solar eclipse surrounded by its corona

    Sliski's composite image of the solar eclipse, with plumes located above and below the poles of the stars, red prominences located near the edge of the sun (at 11 and 8 o'clock), and with one extensions each to the east and west of the solar disc. This data will be compared to predictive models to better refine the current understanding of the sun (Image credit: David Sliski). 

    Total solar eclipse

    Gary Bernstein and Bhuvnesh Jain speak with Penn Today about the significance of the coming total eclipse.
    Once a spy satellite, now a telescope with an eye on the cosmos
    spy satellite in lab with blue background

    (On homepage) Engineers at Ball Aerospace, one of Roman’s industrial partners, installed and aligned the element wheel assembly into the observatory’s Wide Field Instrument. The assembly will help Roman solve some of the most profound mysteries in astrophysics. When light bounces off and is concentrated by the main and secondary mirrors of Roman, it will move through a component called the element wheel. After being focused and filtered, this light will hit a big array of sensors that captures the light to form an image. Depending on their research needs, astronomers can use special science filters to pick out certain types of light for their studies.

    (Image: Courtesy of Ball Aerospace)

    Once a spy satellite, now a telescope with an eye on the cosmos

    Researchers from Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences are part of a collaboration to develop Hubble’s wide-eyed cousin, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
    Dark Energy Survey uncovers clues to universe’s complexity
    an image of a spiral galaxy

    An image of NGC 1365 collected by the Dark Energy Survey. Also known as the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC 1365 is an example of a spiral galaxy and is located about 56 million light-years away. (Image: DECam, DES Collaboration)

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    Dark Energy Survey uncovers clues to universe’s complexity

    The decade-long effort reveals findings consistent with standard cosmological models, but open to more complex interpretations.
    The Endangered Species Act at 50
    herring swimming

    (On homepage) River herring, also known as alewives, swim in a stream in Franklin, Maine. The fish were once headed for the endangered species list but have been making a comeback in some U.S. states.

    (Image: AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

    The Endangered Species Act at 50

    Ahead of the anniversary, experts from four schools across the University share their thoughts on the landmark legislation.

    Kristen de Groot

    The alchemy behind the diamond: Unearthing baseball’s beloved mud
    Shravan Pradeep places a baseball on microscopy slide.

    Postdoctoral researcher Shravan Pradeep of Penn Engineering is conducting experiments to understand the flow and grip properties of the Major League Baseball’s “magic mud” in order to reverse engineer the mud and offer a mechanistic understanding of its inner workings.

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    The alchemy behind the diamond: Unearthing baseball’s beloved mud

    Researchers at Penn are working on cracking the code behind Major League Baseball’s “Magic Mud.”
    Climate scientist Michael Mann makes a home at Penn
    Michael Mann on Penn's campus

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  • Q&A

    • Climate scientist Michael Mann makes a home at Penn

    Known for his “hockey stick” graph that hammered home the dramatic rise of the warming climate, the climate scientist is now making his mark on Penn’s campus, both through his science and his work on communicating the urgent need for action on the climate crisis.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    A modern history of ancient trees, through the lens of climate change
    jared farmer sitting on a bench on college green

    Jared Farmer, history professor and chair of graduate studies. (Image: Eric Sucar, University of Pennsylvania).

  • Q&A

    • A modern history of ancient trees, through the lens of climate change

    Historian Jared Farmer discusses his new book, “Elderflora,” looking at why humans have no trouble looking at the ancient past but can’t seem to envision the deep future, and what trees can teach us.

    Kristen de Groot