11/15
Science & Technology
Penn Engineers Show Key Feature for Modeling How Cells Spread in Fibrous Environments
One area of research within mechanobiology, the study of how physical forces influence biological processes, is on the interplay between cells and their environment and how it impacts their ability to grow and spread.
Penn Physicists Discover Why Drying Liquid Crystal Drops Leave Unusual ‘Coffee Rings’
In previous papers, University of Pennsylvania physicists investigated the “coffee ring effect,” the ring-shaped stain of particles left after drops of coffee evaporate. In one paper, they learned how to undo this effect by altering particle shape.
Two Types of Empathy Elicit Different Health Effects, Penn Psychologist Shows
When a close friend shares bad news, our instinct is to help. But putting ourselves in a friend’s shoes, imagining how we would feel if we were the one suffering, may have detrimental effects on our own health, according to a new study led by the University of Pennsylvania’s Anneke E. K. Buffone.
Penn Researchers Receive $9.25M Grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to Study Cellular Mechanisms of Concussion and Ways to Improve Recovery
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation announced today it has awarded a $9.25 million grant to Penn researchers to study the underlying mechanisms of concussion and help uncover potential clinical interventions that could improve recovery.
Penn/CHOP Study Will Translate Objective Diagnostic Measures for Sports-related Concussion Across the Lab, Clinic and Field
How can physicians and engineers help design athletic equipment and diagnostic tools to better protect teenaged athletes from concussions?
Encouraging Philadelphia high school students to ‘Tech It Out’
Tech It Out Philly introduces high school students to different topics in computer science, such as web development, robotics, circuitry, and hardware.
Penn Physicists Investigate How Hatchetfish Camouflage in the Deep Sea
The midwater region of the ocean is the largest habitat by volume in the world, making up 99 percent of Earth’s livable space. It’s home to a myriad of occupants, many of which have evolved peculiar abilities to allow them to survive.
Social Ties Boost Longevity in Female Macaques, Penn-led Study Finds
In a huge study of female rhesus macaques, a team of researchers led by the University of Pennsylvania’s Michael Platt found those with many close female relatives have a higher life expectancy.
Penn Doctoral Student Probes the Secrets of Ancient Carbon in Tropical Soils
Soil holds the largest terrestrial pool of carbon on the planet, with tropical soils containing the most carbon of any type. Activities that cause soil to release its hold on this carbon can thus increase levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and augment the effects of climate change.
Netter Center at Penn Announces Community Partnership Award Recipients
The Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania has announced that Richard Pepino and the School District of Philadelphia are the recipients of the second annual Netter Center Faculty-Community
In the News
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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Associated Press
California air regulators approve changes to climate program that could raise gas prices
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that many things being credited in California’s new climate program don’t help the climate.
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Times of India
Self shocks turn crystal to glass at ultralow power density: Study
A collaborative study by researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Science has shed new light on amorphization, the transition from a crystalline to a glassy state at the nanoscale.
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Interesting Engineering
U.S. achieves billion-fold power-saving semiconductor tech; could challenge China
A collaborative effort by Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues has made phase-change memory more energy efficient and could unlock a future revolution in data storage.
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