Science & Technology

High school students go for gold in ‘Robolympics’

The night before the Olympic torch was lit in London, a different sort of international competition was beginning at the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Penn Engineering’s Camp for Girls Grows, Adds Math Classes

PHILADELPHIA — In a ceremony in Levine Hall’s Wu and Chen Auditorium on Aug. 3, the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania graduated its latest class: 70 girls entering the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.

Penn Researchers Show New Way of Assembling Particles Into Complex Structures

PHILADELPHIA — Many recent advances in microtechnology and nanotechnology depend on microscopic spherical particles self-assembling into large-scale aggregates to form a relatively limited range of crystalline structures.

New Report From Penn’s Fels Institute Explores Growth of Local Governments Using Social Media

PHILADELPHIA – The Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania has released a new report, “The Rise of Social Government: An Advanced Guide and Review of Social Media’s Role in Local Government Operations,” providing hard data about the growing use of social media

Penn-led Study of African Hunter-Gatherers Elucidates Human Variation, Evolution and Interbreeding

PHILADELPHIA — Human diversity in Africa is greater than any place else on Earth. Differing food sources, geographies, diseases and climates offered many targets for natural selection to exert powerful forces on Africans to change and adapt to their local environments.

Penn’s Charles Kane Named Simons Investigator and Awarded $500,000 Grant

PHILADELPHIA — Charles Kane of the University of Pennsylvania has been awarded a five-year, $500,000 grant from the Simons Foundation, as part of its inaugural class of Simons Investigators

Many Protected Areas Face Threats in Sustaining Biodiversity, Penn’s Daniel Janzen and Colleagues Report

PHILADELPHIA — Establishing protection over a swath of land seems like a good way to conserve its species and its ecosystems.

Penn’s Benjamin Horton Working on State-by-state Sea-level Research

PHILADELPHIA — In June, the North Carolina legislature attempted to block a group of local scientists’ findings about how climate change could impact the state via sea-level rise.

Fall course explores stem cell ethics, education

Cellular Reprogramming. Cord-blood banking. Preserving the fertility of young people undergoing cancer treatment. Scenarios such as these are no longer the stuff of science fiction; they are real-life examples of how stem cell science can influence the lives of ordinary people.