5.21
Science & Technology
With unprecedented threats to nature at hand, how to turn the tide
One million plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction due to human activity, according to a U.N. assessment issued earlier this month. Here, experts highlight the report’s major messages and offer ideas for moving from inertia to action to stem threats to biodiversity.
A new way to fly, built up from the nanoscale
Super-thin “nanocardboard” can levitate using only the power of light, opening the door to tiny flying machines with no moving parts.
A link between mitochondrial damage and osteoporosis
In healthy people, a tightly controlled process balances the activity of osteoblasts, which build bone, and osteoclasts, which break it down. Damage to cells’ mitochondria can make that process go awry, meaning exposure to cigarette smoke, alcohol, environmental toxins can increase the risk of osteoporosis.
Putting mussels to the test
With a mussel hatchery in the future for the Schuylkill River, students in Byron Sherwood’s field biology course used scientific rigor to ask how effectively these filter feeders might render the water clean.
For Philly Tech Week, a showcase for cutting-edge robots
Penn students, faculty, and affiliated entrepreneurs showed off their latest legged robots, drones, automated driving systems, and more at the Pennovation Center as part of the annual celebration of the tech industry in Philadelphia.
A course that showcases the prevalence, and power, of math
The Mathematics in the Media course helps students understand how to use fundamental mathematical approaches to solve real-world problems in a data-driven world.
At Weiss Tech House, a race from idea to prototype in one semester
The student-run incubator hosted its first hardware accelerator this spring, offering cash, mentoring, and access to specialized equipment to four teams.
Cohort of PIP/PEP winners celebrate at luncheon
Nine students received handcrafted certificates at the annual luncheon, held May 3, that recognizes the work of graduating seniors awarded the President’s Engagement and Innovation prizes.
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.”
Applying machine learning to materials science
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are applied to an increasing number of tasks, But using machine learning in materials science, which attempts to design and make materials for use in future technologies, has proven to be more difficult.
In the News
Nature
A DIY approach to automating your lab
Brian Chow of the School of Engineering and Applied Science led a team of Penn undergrads in developing a low-cost plate reader for teaching labs using open-source automation software. “Philosophically, I believe in supporting the open-source-hardware community,” he said.
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Axios
A contest to beat geopolitical “superforecasters”
PIK Professor Philip Tetlock was cited for his “gold standard” performance in a 2015 forecasting contest. Contestants in this year’s contest will have access to all the data on Tetlock’s team’s winning methodology.
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Technical.ly Philly
Leggy bots, flying bots, building bots: Here’s what Penn’s robotics hub is up to
School of Engineering and Applied Science students past and present, including Gavin Kenneally, Daniel Mellinger, Divya Ramesh, Mickey Whitzer, and Chao Liu, were highlighted for their work at the Pennovation Center. Their efforts were showcased at Philly Tech Week.
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Vice
We are not prepared for the next generation of CGI food
The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Chenfanfu Jiang; postdoc Ming Gao; Ph.D. students Joshuah Wolper, Yu Fang, and Minchen Li; and undergrad Jiecong Lu have developed two new approaches to animating dynamic fractures, like bread tearing or cars crashing.
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The New York Times
The microbots are on their way
Marc Miskin of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about his cell-sized microbots, which may one day be used for a variety of purposes ranging from measuring brain networks to cleaning cellphone batteries.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Not ‘a snowball’s chance in you-know-where’: The $1.2 billion King of Prussia rail line is a longshot
Vukan Vuchic of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences said the probability of advancing a King of Prussia train line proposal “strongly depends on who controls the U.S. House and Senate. I think elections next year will be drastically important.”
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The Wall Street Journal
How the U.S. surrendered to China on scientific research
In an op-ed, PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Amy Gadsden and Scott Moore, all of Penn Global, said America’s “lead in science and technology fields has been significantly eroded.” The authors say the U.S. needs to “meet [China’s] strength with strength” by investing in innovation.
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The New York Times
‘Partly alive’: Scientists revive cells in brains from dead pigs
PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno weighed in on an experiment that revived tissue in the brains of dead pigs. “If ever there was an issue that merited big public deliberation on the ethics of science and medicine, this is one.”
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Associated Press
Senior’s weakness for scams may be warning sign of dementia
Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine said a recent study on aging and scam awareness doesn’t prove a link between susceptibility and cognitive decline in seniors. However, Karlawish says, the results “should be a call to action to health care systems, the financial services industry and their regulators.”
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Science
This physicist is trying to make sense of the brain’s tangled networks
Danielle Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science was profiled.
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