11/15
Science & Technology
Konrad Kording Appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor
Konrad Kording has been named a Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Fossil ‘Winged Serpent’ Is a New Species of Ancient Snake, Penn Doctoral Student Finds
An ancient sink hole in eastern Tennessee holds the clues to an important transitional time in the evolutionary history of snakes. Among the fossilized creatures found there, according to a new paper co-authored by a University of Pennsylvania paleontologist, is a new species of snake that lived 5 million years ago.
National Academy of Sciences Elects Four Penn Professors
Four faculty members from the University of Pennsylvania have been elected members of the National Academy of Sciences for “their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
English prof’s new book a study of the business of Romantic poetry
A late summer storm looming in 2009, Michael Gamer, an associate professor in the Department of English, turned off both his office desktop and his laptop, making sure both were unplugged in order to safeguard against any electrical surges.
Penn Science Diplomacy Group Fosters Collaborations That Cross Borders
A 1975 photograph captured the historic handshake between American astronaut Thomas Stafford and Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov after their spacecrafts joined together in orbit.
Penn Researchers Quantify the Changes That Lightning Inspires in Rock
Benjamin Franklin, founder of the University of Pennsylvania, is believed to have experimented with lightning’s powerful properties using a kite and key, likely coming close to electrocuting himself in the process.
Penn Senior William Fry Aims to Revolutionize the Software Industry
While University of Pennsylvania student William Fry was studying abroad in Germany, he came across a common problem in software development.He had been freelancing in programming to earn extra money but found that a lot of the jobs he was doing were very redundant: developers have to rewrite the same code over and over again, and it still costs the client the same amount of money.
Penn Team Identifies Genetic Target for Growing Hardier Plants Under Stress
The function of a plant’s roots go well beyond simply serving as an anchor in the ground. The roots act as the plant’s mouth, absorbing, storing and channeling water and nutrients essential for survival.
University of Pennsylvania to Celebrate Launch of Penn Center for Health, Devices and Technology
On May 2, 2017, the University of Pennsylvania will celebrate the launch of the Penn Center for Health, Devices and Technology, or Penn Health-Tech, a University-wide effort to advance Penn’s world-class breakthroughs into new devices and health technologies to meet the world’s most pressing health care needs.
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
The Independent
Climate scientists fear Trump will destroy progress in his second term – and the outcome could be ‘grim’
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that a second Trump term and the implementation of Project 2025 represents the end of climate action in this decade.
FULL STORY →