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Science & Technology
Bringing health innovation to life
The Penn Center for Health, Devices and Technology weds health care professionals with visionary ideas and the technological know-how to build innovative medical devices.
Immune system function in the microgravity of space
Researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Perelman School of Medicine are developing a technology to better understand how microgravity negatively affects immune system function.
Technology, aging patients, and the people who care for them
In a quest to ease the care process for older adults and the very sick, as well as their family-member caregivers, PIK professor George Demiris is studying the intersection of smart-home technologies and health informatics.
A virtual world for an ancient society
Anthropologist Clark Erickson has made a career of studying humans’ effect on their physical landscapes—past and present.
Science and politics: a Q&A with Molly Sheehan
The School of Engineering and Applied Science postdoc researcher discusses what fascinates her about science, her unique path in science and technology, and the role scientists should play in political office.
An innovative approach to better energy storage
A Penn/Drexel research team has engineered a way to manipulate nanomaterials to stand up vertically on a scale that has potential for industrial applications.
Stem cell signaling drives mammary gland development and, possibly, breast cancer
A connection between mammary stem cells and macrophages, a type of immune cell, is crucial for mammary gland development, and may also figure into the biology of breast cancer.
A chemotherapy companion to save thousands of lives
A trio of Penn students created the startup Sanguis, producing an inexpensive, portable blood cell counting device.
Earthquakes at the nanoscale
Scientists have gotten better at predicting where earthquakes will occur, but they’re still in the dark about when they will strike and how devastating they will be. Penn researchers hope to tackle this by investigating the laws of friction at the smallest possible scale, the nanoscale.
With second FDA approval, the transformative power of CAR-T is multiplied
After last year’s approval to treat pediatric lymphoma, the latest indication will expand the number of patients that can be treated with personalized cell therapy almost tenfold.
In the News
Nature
Microsoft’s Purchase of GitHub Leaves Some Scientists Uneasy
Post-doc Daniel Himmelstein of the Perelman School of Medicine discussed problematic elements of GitHub’s model. “Regardless of the Microsoft acquisition, GitHub, as a centralized and closed company, possesses a dangerous level of control over the open-source ecosystem,” said Himmelstein.
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The Washington Post
The Cybersecurity 202: We Surveyed 100 Experts. A Majority Rejected the FBI's Push for Encryption Back Doors
Matt Blaze of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke out against the FBI’s call to weaken encryption. “Strong encryption is absolutely critical for keeping our data safe from criminals. This is especially important for mobile devices such as cellphones, which are easily lost or stolen,” said Blaze.
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The Guardian
Tesla Fatal Crash: 'Autopilot' Mode Sped Up Car Before Driver Killed, Report Finds
The School of Design’s Erick Guerra said a Tesla crash was “clearly a technology failure.” Commenting on Tesla’s autopilot feature, Guerra said that “the technology is just not up to doing as much as people hope it can do.”
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Reuters
RPT-INSIGHT-Software and Stealth: How Carmakers Hike Spare Parts Prices
Aaron Roth of the School of Engineering and Applied Science discussed the continued use of software to establish the highest prices consumers are willing to pay, a common practice in retail and manufacturing.
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The Bees of Bandelier, Snail Memories, and the State of Science
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center was interviewed for a podcast about media coverage of the “so-called crisis in science.” (Audio)
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The New York Times
G.D.P.R., a New Privacy Law, Makes Europe World’s Leading Tech Watchdog
Michael Kearns of the School of Engineering and Applied Science weighed in on the E.U.’s advancements in cybersecurity and consumer privacy.
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Foreign Affairs
Keep CRISPR Safe
President Amy Gutmann and PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno of the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences co-authored an article emphasizing the importance of letting “global scientific and biological ethics communities” lead the charge in facilitating the implementation of gene-editing technology.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn's Electric Race Car Team Seeks Fourth Title in Four Years
Eighty undergrads from a variety of departments, including Connor Sendel of the Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, are building an electric car with four-wheel drive with hopes of winning two competitions this June.
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Gizmodo
Astronaut Scott Kelly's DNA Did Not 'Change in Space' the Way You Think
The Perelman School of Medicine’s Mathias Basner joined the chorus of sleep experts dismissing initial reports that 7 percent of astronaut and identical twin Scott Kelly’s DNA “changed” while in space.
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The Verge
Crypto.com Is Not for Sale
After purchasing the domain name crypto.com in 1993, Matt Blaze of the School of Engineering and Applied Science has had to repeatedly fend off attempts by cryptocurrency enthusiasts to purchase the website for upwards of seven figures. Blaze has refused to sell, warning against the use of cryptocurrency as “investment vehicles.”
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