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Science & Technology
Kirigami designs hold thousands of times their own weight
Kirigami designs hold thousands of times their own weight
A team of researchers found that using the origami-inspired art of paper cutting and folding, it is possible to create super strong models from lightweight soft materials without the need for adhesives or fasteners.
New astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets
New astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets
A state-of-the-art instrument called NEID, from the Tohono O’odham word meaning “to see,” collected its “first light” and is poised to look for new planets outside the solar system.
How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient
How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient
Physicists describe how vascular networks, collections of vessels that move fluid, nutrients, and waste, balance robustness with “cost” to create a diverse array of structures and designs.
Coral reef resilience
Coral reef resilience
With coral reefs under threat from climate change, marine biologist Katie Barott studies how some corals may prove resilient to warming temperatures and acidifying oceans.
Engineers and nurses team up to build inflatable robots
Engineers and nurses team up to build inflatable robots
Penn Engineering and Penn Nursing’s collaboration in this new area of “soft robotics” is critical for designing machines that can safely interact with people in health care settings.
Evan and the chocolate factory
Evan and the chocolate factory
Engineering student Evan Weinstein fixated on the idea of liberating bespoke chocolates from the confines of both the bar and the mold. Rather than cast a chocolate shape, why not build it? Cocoa Press is his solution.
A close look at thin ice
A close look at thin ice
A pairing of theory and experiment led to discovering atomic-scale details of the growth of ice on surfaces, which can inform the design of materials that make ice removal simple and cheaper.
Diving into code to illuminate the history of computing
Diving into code to illuminate the history of computing
Stephanie Dick delves deep into the practice of computer programming and design to shed light on different communities’ attempts to automate reason, knowledge, and proof.
Eight new pups report for duty
Eight new pups report for duty
Eight black Labrador retrievers, just 12 weeks old, are already deep into their training at the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Working Dog Center.
Researchers use a material’s ‘memory’ to encode unique physical properties
Researchers use a material’s ‘memory’ to encode unique physical properties
A new study shows that, as materials age, they “remember” prior stresses and external forces, which scientists and engineers can then use to create new materials with unique properties.
In the News
Mashable.com
Experts warn smartphone voting is ‘extremely risky,’ yet here it comes
Matt Blaze of the School of Engineering and Applied Science weighed in on a Washington state district’s plans to implement smartphone voting. “This extremely risky decision runs counter to the findings of the authoritative National Academies ‘Securing the Vote’ study, which represents the consensus of experts,” he said.
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The Hill
Critics fear Facebook fact-checkers losing misinformation fight
Eugene Kiely of the Annenberg Public Policy Center spoke about Factcheck.org and how the site manages Facebook content for review.
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The New York Times
Shuttered Philadelphia refinery may get new life after fire
Mark Alan Hughes of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy spoke about the possibility of converting the old Philadelphia refinery into a hybrid plant that also produces renewable fuels. “They’re predicting a steadily declining place for things like the refinery that was,” he said. “The kind of mix that tries to lower the profile of fossil fuel activity is, I think, the most likely outcome.”
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Scientific American
Artificial intelligence is rushing into patient care—and could raise risks
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Saurabh Jha of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the potential hazards of using artificial intelligence in medicine.
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The New York Times
How Narwhal the ‘unicorn’ puppy may have grown a tail on his head
Margret Casal of the School of Veterinary Medicine explained that the puppy with a tail on its face that went viral is likely the result of another embryo that didn’t fully separate in utero.
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Forbes
The real story about organoids: What you should know about ‘brains in a dish’
Hongjun Song of the Perelman School of Medicine explained how brain organoids were developed. “In the last five years scientists figured out how to turn stem cells into 3D cell structures, and eventually [developed] so-called brain organoids, which look like not only cell types in the brain but also cell architectures,” he said.
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The New York Times
You got a brain scan at the hospital. Someday a computer may use it to identify you
Aaron Roth of the School of Engineering and Applied Science commented on research that paired MRI scans with facial recognition software. “It is clear that eventually this will be a worrying attack” on stored medical data, he said.
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Inside Higher Ed
Twitter’s gender imbalance
Rachel Werner of the Perelman School of Medicine authored a study that found that while men and women use Twitter at equal rates, the site has not reduced gender disparities in academia overall.
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PBS
Study finds kittens bond with their human caregivers like babies do
Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine advised readers to keep in mind that while babies and kittens are similar, they’re not analogous; scientific findings about one may not hold true for the other. “We should be open-minded about the idea that there are other variables [at play],” he said.
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The Hill
R&D, not Greenland, can solve our rare earth problem
Research into rare earth metals by Eric Schelter, Patrick Carroll, Ph.D. student Justin Bogart, and alumnus Connor Lippincott of the School of Arts and Sciences was cited.
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