9.20
Science & Technology
Penn Engineers Create Carbon Nanopipettes That Are Smaller Than Cells and Measure Electric Current
PHILADELPHIA –- University of Pennsylvania engineers and physicians have developed a carbon nanopipette thousands of times thinner than a human hair that measures electric current and delivers fluids into cells. Researchers developed this tiny carbon-based tool to probe cells with minimal intrusion and inject fluids without damaging or inhibiting cell growth.
Agent Orange Chemical, Dioxin, Attacks the Mitochondria To Cause Cancer, Says Penn Research Team
PHILADELPHIA— Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have demonstrated the process by which the cancer-causing chemical dioxin attacks the cellular machinery, disrupts normal cellular function and ultimately promotes tumor progression.
University of Pennsylvania Study Reveals Inconspicuous Hosts in the Lyme Disease Epidemic
PHILADELPHIA -– A study led by a University of Pennsylvania biologist in the tick-infested woods of the Hudson Valley is challenging the widely held belief that mice are the main animal reservoir for Lyme disease in the U.S.
A Partnership for Global Security: Penn Professor Among Six Experts to Outline Plan for Worldwide Biosecurity
PHILADELPHIA -- Harvey Rubin, director of the University of Pennsylvanias Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response, is among six internationally recognized experts who have authored a five-point roadmap for the global community to enhance worldwide biosecurity.
Penn Engineering to Receive Multi-Million-Dollar Design Technology Package from PACE Consortium
PHILADELPHIA - The School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania will receive an in-kind hardware and software contribution totaling approximately $70 million in commercial value from Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education, or PACE, a consortium comprised of General Motors, EDS, Hewlett Packard, Siemens PLM Software, Sun Microsystems a
Robert W. Carpick Named Director of Penn's Nanotechnology Institute
Robert W. Carpick has been appointed Penn Director of the Nanotechnology Institute. Carpick is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Three University of Pennsylvania Professors Named 2007 AAAS Fellows
PHILADELPHIA - Three faculty members of the University of Pennsylvania have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Penn's Autonomous Car "Little Ben" Advances to the Finals of the DARPA Urban Challenge
PHILADELPHIA - "Little Ben," the autonomous vehicle engineered by University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University faculty and students to drive itself, has advanced to the finals of the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.
“Heftier” Atoms Reduce Friction at the Nanoscale, Study Led By Penn Researcher Reveals
PHILADELPHIA - A research team led by a University of Pennsylvania mechanical engineer has discovered that friction between two sliding bodies can be reduced at the molecular, or nanoscale, level by changing the mass of the atoms at the surface. Heavier atoms vibrate at a lower frequency, reducing energy lost during sliding.
Penn Veterinarian Completes NIH Collaboration in First-Ever Sequencing of Domestic Cat Genome
PHILADELPHIA - A multi-center, National Institutes of Health-funded report that appears in the scientific journal Genome Research details the first assembly, annotation and comparative analysis of the domestic cat genome, Felis catus. A University of Pennsylvania researcher is on the team.
In the News
National Geographic
This tiny fish can recognize itself in a mirror. Is it self-aware?
PIK Professor Michael Platt commented on an animal sentience study. While he found the research “fascinating and well-executed,” he pointed out that the study doesn’t necessarily confirm that animals have a human-like sense of self.
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Quartz India
Google sees gold in Indian languages
The Wharton School’s Kartik Hosanagar weighed in on Nevlekha, a new platform from Google that uses AI to render PDFs in Indian languages editable, making them easier to share online. “It’s only one of a series [of moves] Google will need if it hopes to penetrate the hundreds of millions of Indians,” said Hosanagar.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Should Philly join New York City in capping Uber and Lyft?
Erick Guerra of the School of Design weighed in on the effects of ride-sharing apps on cities, saying, “I’m confident Uber and Lyft have contributed in some small way to the increase in congestion but not nearly as much as the economic growth and increase in population.”
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Independent
Radio: Incredible dignity in the face of a terrible tragedy
Lauren Sallan of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed “mass extinction events,” defined as “an event that wipes out biodiversity at orders of magnitude far above what we call ‘background extinction’—wiping out, say, 60 percent of species or species that wouldn't be expected to die off.”
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“PBS NewsHour”
An 11-year-old changed election results on a replica Florida state website in under 10 minutes
The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Matt Blaze discussed a hacking experiment, saying it was “not surprising that these precocious, bright kids would be able to do it because the websites that are on the internet are vulnerable…. What was interesting is just how utterly quickly they were able to do it.”
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Wired.co.uk
Why people can't resist the viral lure of the Kiki Challenge
Damon Centola of the Annenberg School for Communication explained the phenomenon of dangerous viral challenges: “Slightly dangerous or slightly risky challenges may have the best combination of high-enough riskiness to make it easy to create emotional excitement about participating, but low-enough risk that they can spread with only moderate levels of social reinforcement.”
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Reuters
Viral content-vaccine scandal test Beijing’s grip on information control
The Annenberg School for Communication’s Kecheng Fang discussed the Chinese government’s failed attempts to suppress discourse about current events on WeChat, a popular messaging platform. “This is a guerrilla war. The government cannot tackle it just like it does traditional media,” said Fang.
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The New York Times
Worker ants: You could have been queens
The Perelman School’s Roberto Bonasio discussed the difficulties of studying insulin signaling in ants. The relevant genes, said Bonasio, are involved in numerous bodily functions, making it tough to isolate their role in differentiating queens from workers.
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The Washington Post
Testosterone boost feeds U.S. men’s hunger for luxury products, study indicates
Researchers at the Wharton School found that men who were given doses of testosterone expressed more interest in high-status goods. However, the study authors also noted that “status signals are not universal” and that results may vary between cultures.
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Technical.ly Philly
The Drone From This Penn Spinout Can Fly Inside Mines Without Maps or GPS
Exyn Technologies will be sending out a drone to explore a Latin American mine using only its own onboard sensors. The startup, which originated in Penn’s GRASP lab, was cofounded by Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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