Science & Technology

Microscopic view of iron phosphorous trisulfide.

Discovering new ways to control light

Researchers found a magnetic property in a class of materials that enables light manipulation on the nanoscale, with implications for applications such as information storage and energy harvesting.

From Penn Engineering ・

Wind turbines in water, with a sunset in the background.

Talking energy at Penn

Energy Week 2022, hosted by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology, runs April 4-8. It includes student presentations, along with conversations about renewables, energy and the war in Ukraine, and much more.

Michele W. Berger , Lindsey Samahon ・

five students

Five Penn students are 2022 Goldwater Scholars

Five juniors have received 2022 Goldwater Scholarships to pursue research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. Penn's newest Goldwater Scholars are Joshua Chen, Allison Chou, Shriya Karam, Laila Barakat Norford, and Andrew Sontag.

Louisa Shepard ・

Three shapes indicating nanomaterial patterns.

A new class of materials for nanoscale patterning

Recent research demonstrates how a new class of polymers can produce small, precise patterns on the nanometer scale, with future implications for large-scale computer chip fabrication.

Evan Lerner ・



In the News


Daily Beast

Watch this noodle-shaped robot autonomously escape a maze 

Researchers at Penn and North Carolina State University have created a rotini-shaped robot that can tumble through a maze without any help or guidance from a computer or human being.

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NBC News

Triceratops tussle: ‘Big John’ skull shows signs of battle, scientists say

Julie Engiles of the School of Veterinary Medicine commented on new research regarding triceratops anatomy, calling the team’s methodology “elegant and thorough.”

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Scientific American

Where rising seas threaten drinking water, scientists look for affordable solutions

Research led by Allison Lassiter of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design aims to identify water systems along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that are vulnerable to saltwater intrusion. “Besides being unpleasant to drink, salinized water can harm vulnerable populations, including people with hypertension and pregnant women,” she said.

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The New York Times

Ty Haney is doing things differently this time

Kevin Werbach of the Wharton School said “web3,” a block-chain-centered iteration of the internet, won’t be as democratized or utopian as some believe. “There’s a web3 that’s out there which is wonderful and trying to make the world a better place, but just by labeling something web3, it doesn’t mean power dynamics will magically reverse,” Werbach said.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

Got an idea to address the impacts of climate change along the Delaware? You could win money to make it happen

The Penn Program in Environmental Humanities’ Ecotopian Toolkit competition is soliciting proposals for tools to help the greater Philadelphia region address impacts of climate change. “One of the things that the project is really keen to develop is helping Philadelphians, and people really across the whole watershed, understand the ways that the water really connects to them and to their lives,” said Bethany Wiggin.

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Scientific American

Why some fluids flow slower when pushed harder

Paulo Arratia of the School of Engineering and Applied Science commented on a study that explored how fluids flow under different pressures. “Visualizing flow inside a 3-D porous media literally gives a window into something that was impossible to see,” he said. “If you could actually see the molecules stretching and recoiling, that would be wonderful [to] connect the molecular point of view to the microscopic.”

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Popular Science

Even dinosaurs couldn’t escape the sniffles

Ali Nabavizadeh of the School of Veterinary Medicine commented on research that found evidence of respiratory infections in dinosaurs. “This paper provides yet another piece of evidence to show just how modern dinosaurs—the birds—are biologically so similar to their extinct non-avian dinosaurian relatives, even to the point of showing similar diseases,” he said.

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ABC News

Why the global chip shortage threatens the economy, national security and Americans’ ‘status quo’

Morris Cohen of the Wharton School spoke about the semiconductor shortage. "Most consumers didn't know and didn't care where their chips came from: 'You turn the car on, it should go, I don't really care who made the chip and what country it was built in,'" he said. "But now, all of a sudden, these issues become really important, and so I think we become more sensitized to how dependent we are, how interdependent we are, how things can be disrupted."

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BuzzFeed.com

Congress is trying to figure out what to do about crypto’s colossal carbon footprint

Zane Griffin Talley Cooper, a doctoral candidate in the Annenberg School for Communication, said “proof of work” algorithms used to mine and trade cryptocurrencies need to be “intensely regulated.”

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The Guardian

The inner lives of cats: what our feline friends really think about hugs, happiness and humans

Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine said cats are capable of bonding with people, contrary to claims that they’re merely using their owners for food and shelter. “Humans hug and kiss. Dogs become very excited and jump around. Cats don’t do anything like that. They are much more elegant,” he said. “They approach us. They bump their heads. Then they have some contact with us and walk away.”

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