11.27
Science & Technology
Uniting against an invisible foe
Uniting against an invisible foe
All across the University, researchers have launched new areas of study, reaching across disciplinary boundaries to make stunning progress in combating COVID-19.
Design-minded strategies for greener, healthier indoor spaces
Design-minded strategies for greener, healthier indoor spaces
Insights on the evolution of modern building design, how to improve ventilation while reducing energy usage, and ways that architects are supporting their communities with simple, design-based solutions.
Using lung-on-a-chip technology to find treatments for chlorine gas exposure
Using lung-on-a-chip technology to find treatments for chlorine gas exposure
The new lung-on-a-chip platforms will help better understand how chlorine damages lung tissues and to discover specific biomarkers of chlorine gas-induced lung injury.
Penn Trustees approve design for the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology
Penn Trustees approve design for the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology
Additional support from P. Roy Vagelos and Diana T. Vagelos helps to expand the building project which will consolidate the University’s existing and future energy research.
Five things to know about the promising COVID-19 vaccine news
Five things to know about the promising COVID-19 vaccine news
Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine, whose work is a key factor helping to enable two vaccines in late stages of testing, sheds light on the biology behind them and on his predictions about next steps in vaccine development and approval.
Parasitic worms offer ‘the missing link’ on the dual nature of a key immune regulator
Parasitic worms offer ‘the missing link’ on the dual nature of a key immune regulator
Whether the signaling molecule IL-33 wakes up or turns down the immune response depends on what cell type releases it, School of Veterinary Medicine researchers found.
How Microsoft and Sony’s new consoles improve game technology
How Microsoft and Sony’s new consoles improve game technology
Marking the launch of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, Penn professors and lecturers explain the significance of the new console hardware hitting the market this holiday.
At the intersection of water, equity, and climate change
At the intersection of water, equity, and climate change
The Water Center at Penn is collaborating to help guide community decisions to build capacity in water infrastructure.
After the storm, how to make a city more resilient
After the storm, how to make a city more resilient
During a Perry World House virtual event, panelists discussed the lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy and how cities can use these learnings to better recover from extreme weather events and climate change.
Priming the immune system to attack cancer
Priming the immune system to attack cancer
An international team, co-led by the School of Dental Medicine’s George Hajishengallis, showed how immune “training” transforms certain immune cells to target tumors.
In the News
NBC News
Your dog may love you, but doesn't love the sight of your face, study finds
Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine commented on a study that found dogs were more stimulated by seeing other dogs than people. “Mother Nature will not invest in something that is not relevant to survival, either in dog-to-dog or even wolf-to-wolf interactions,” he said. “They use other ways of communicating such as ear position—which can be seen from the front and from behind. The ear position will tell about the mood of the dog. We humans don’t move our ears.”
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NPR
Facebook keeps data secret, letting conservative bias claims persist
PIK Professor Duncan Watts is working with Facebook to analyze its content for bias. "Mostly it's mainstream content," he said. "If anything, there is a bias in favor of conservative content."
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CBS Philadelphia
University of Pennsylvania program training dogs to sniff out spotted lanternfly eggs
Jennifer Essler, a postdoc in the School of Veterinary Medicine, spoke about a new program that trains dogs to detect the presence of spotted lanternfly eggs. “For the dogs, it’s a game, it’s like anything else. They don’t know that they are saving the planet in any way,” she said.
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The Washington Post
Drone maker hurt by US-China rift, opening door to US rivals
Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the challenges of using drones for commercial purposes and about American perceptions of DJI, a China-based drone manufacturer.
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The Hill
Pandemic exposes broadband divide
Christopher Yoo of the Law School spoke about the importance of expanding broadband infrastructure in the U.S. “Investing in infrastructure would be a terrific way to support the economy. It not only spends money but also lays the foundation for future growth and future jobs,” he said.
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CNN
What you need to know about coronavirus on Wednesday, September 2
Kenneth Foster of the School of Engineering and Applied Science debunked conspiracy theories that link 5G networks and radio frequencies to the spread of COVID-19. "There's nothing different in terms of exposure," he said.
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BBC News
Elon Musk to show off working brain-hacking device
Ari Benjamin, a doctoral student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said the biggest stumbling block for brain-to-machine interface technology is the complexity of the human brain. "Once they have the recordings, Neuralink will need to decode them and will someday hit the barrier that is our lack of basic understanding of how the brain works, no matter how many neurons they record from,” he said. "Decoding goals and movement plans is hard when you don't understand the neural code in which those things are communicated."
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Gizmodo
Does your cat actually hate you?
Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about how cats interact with their owners. “Humans are very physical in their relationships—they want to hold their cat, hug their cat, etc. This can be terrible for any animal that doesn’t enjoy your presence, but it’s even worse for cats, because the way in which cats express their preferences is through proximity,” he said.
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Forbes
National Science Foundation invests $104 million to launch four new engineering research centers
Cherie Kagan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the Penn-led IoT4Ag center’s work: “We need new technology to meet the challenges of a world with a growing population and changing climate. We simply need to produce more crops for every drop of water or Joule of energy we’re currently using to realize a food, energy and water-secure future.”
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STAT News
Boosting the promise—and reining in the peril—of COVID-19 preprints
PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno and an AAAS colleague wrote about scientific preprints, web-based publications of yet-to-be-peer-reviewed research findings. “Let’s revel in the knowledge that preprints today are helping researchers share—especially with each other—their latest advances with great ease and speed. At the same time, let’s impose some discipline on our own proclivities to celebrate prematurely or sink into despair,” they wrote.
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