11/15
Science & Technology
Penn Vet Professor’s Work in the Lab Aims to Improve Surgical Results
By Patrick Ammerman Oftentimes the most important scientific work is accomplished via serendipity; by following up on an unexpected finding and uncovering an entirely new area of research.
Penn Study Shows How Some Intestinal Cells Resist Chemotherapy and Radiation
When treating cancer with chemotherapy and radiation, decisions about dose must walk a fine line between attacking cancerous cells and preserving healthy ones. Overly aggressive radiation therapy to the torso, for example, can damage the epithelial cells that line the intestines, leading to chronic gastrointestinal problems.
Where Ideas Go to Work: Penn Celebrates Grand Opening of Pennovation Center
Describing it as an “unprecedented” project, an “iconic new landmark,” and Penn’s “window into our future,” University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann, joined by David L.
Penn's John Farrar, Elliot Hersh and Rosemary Polomano to Receive 2016 One Health Award
John T. Farrar of the Perelman School of Medicine, Elliot V.
Meet Piccolissimo: The World’s Smallest Self-powered Controllable Flying Vehicle
Technology tends to move toward the bigger and better, cramming more and more features into a given product. But sometimes, less is more.
Penn Engineers’ Network Analysis Uncovers New Evidence of Collaboration in Shakespeare’s Plays
The question of whether William Shakespeare truly wrote every word in every scene of his plays has been circulating since the time of The Bard himself.
Penn to Celebrate Ribbon Cutting for New Innovation Hub, Pennovation Center
University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann and David L. Cohen, chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees, invite Penn students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees and friends, as well as the region’s business and tech community, to a ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony from 12:30 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.
AI Predicts Human Rights Trial Outcomes, According to Penn, UCL, Sheffield Study
Artificial intelligence methods developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, University College London and the University of Sheffield accurately predicted the results of judicial decisions from the European Court of Hu
Penn and Michigan Researchers Discover New Rules for Quasicrystals
Crystals are defined by their repeating, symmetrical patterns and long-range order. Unlike amorphous materials, in which atoms are randomly packed together, the atoms in a crystal are arranged in a predictable way. Quasicrystals are an exotic exception to this rule.
Penn’s Genomics Curriculum Makes the Latest Science Accessible to High Schoolers
By Patrick Ammerman A new University of Pennsylvania effort is bringing genomics into high school classrooms through a free online resource. The goal is to make it easier for science teachers to incorporate the latest advances in science into their curricula.
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →