Science & Technology

From one gene switch, many possible outcomes

A team of researchers led by Aman Husbands of the School of Arts & Sciences has uncovered surprising ways transcription factors—the genetic switches for genes—regulate plant development, revealing how subtle changes in a lipid-binding region can dramatically alter gene regulation.

Nathi Magubane

Breakthrough in energy-saving process could transform data storage

Researchers led by Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science have discovered a groundbreaking, ultra-low-energy method for creating amorphous materials, which could boost the efficiency of phase-change memory technology, potentially revolutionizing data storage.

Developing kidneys from scratch

Bioengineering professor Alex Hughes tackles the burden of chronic kidney disease by creating kidney tissue from scratch, which could reduce the need for both dialysis and transplantation.

Ian Scheffler

Studying Wikipedia browsing habits to learn how people learn

A collaborative team of researchers analyzed the information-seeking styles of more than 480,000 people from 50 countries and found that gender and education inequality track different types of knowledge exploration. Their findings suggest potential cultural drivers of curiosity and learning.

Nathi Magubane



In the News


Technical.ly Philly

Celebrate Philly’s winners of the 2024 Technical.ly Awards

Jeffrey Babin of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Wharton School is Technical.ly’s 2024 Educator of the Year. The Pennovation Accelerator, a six-week program hosted at the Pennovation Works, is Technical.ly’s 2024 Program of the Year.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Decoding Trump’s climate priorities—or lack thereof

In an opinion essay, Sanya Carley of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design examines the implications and possibilities of Donald Trump’s energy and climate agenda.

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Rolling Stone

RFK Jr.’s 10 wildest medical theories

Kenneth R. Foster of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says studies haven’t provided clear evidence that exposure to levels of radio frequency energy below accepted limits, such as Wi-Fi, disrupts the blood-brain barrier.

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Scientific American

Grumpy voters want better stories. Not statistics

In a Q&A, PIK Professor Duncan Watts says that U.S. voters ignored Democratic policy in favor of Republican storytelling.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

Climate policy under a second Trump presidency

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses how much a president can do or undo when it comes to environmental policy.

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Interesting Engineering

Superhuman vision lets robots see through walls, smoke with new LiDAR-like eyes

Mingmin Zhao of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues are using radio signals to allow robots to “see” beyond traditional sensor limits.

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Technical.ly Philly

A sneak peek inside Penn Engineering’s new $137.5M mass timber building

Amy Gutmann Hall aims to be Philadelphia’s next big hub for AI and innovation while setting a new standard for architectural sustainability.

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Salon.com

Exxon CEO wants Trump to stay in Paris climate accord

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences voices his concern about the possibility that the U.S. could become a petrostate.

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Associated Press

Amid Earth’s heat records, scientists report another bump upward in annual carbon emissions

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that total carbon emissions including fossil fuel pollution and land use changes such as deforestation are basically flat because land emissions are declining.

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The Wall Street Journal

How can we remove carbon from the air? Here are a few ideas

Jennifer Wilcox of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the carbon-removal potential of forestation can’t always be reliably measured in terms of how much removal and for how long.

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