4/22
Science & Technology
Kindness, Charitable Behavior Influenced by Amygdala, Penn Research Reveals
The amygdala, a small structure at the front end of the brain’s temporal lobe, has long been associated with negative behaviors generally, and specifically with fear. But new research from Michael Platt, the James S.
Your Brain’s Take on Public Health Campaigns
Mass media campaigns have proven to influence people’s health-related decision making—for better or for worse. Effective messaging has helped millions quit smoking, exercise more, and eat better, while failed campaigns have backfired, sometimes even causing those with unhealthy habits to dig deeper into their vices.
Eye-on-a-Chip Represents New Way To Do Disease Research
A clump of cells in a Petri dish may have the same DNA as their counterparts in the body, but most of the similarities end there.
Penn Researchers Make Thinnest Plates That Can Be Picked Up by Hand
Scientists and engineers are engaged in a global race to make new materials that are as thin, light and strong as possible. These properties can be achieved by designing materials at the atomic level, but they are only useful if they can leave the carefully controlled conditions of a lab.
Gene Pair Plays Crucial Role in Colon Cancer, Penn Vet Team Shows
Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and researchers are hard at work to understand the disease’s complex molecular underpinnings.
HIV/AIDS Drugs Interfere With Brain’s ‘Insulation,’ Penn-CHOP Team Shows
Antiretroviral therapies, or ART, have enabled people with HIV and AIDS to live much longer lives, transforming what was considered a death sentence into a chronic condition. Yet concerns for these patients remain.
Teens Know Dangers of Driving and Cellphone Use, Yet Do It Anyway, Penn Research Shows
What happens when “Tom Hanks,” “Tom Cruise” and “Kesha” sit around a table? When the talkers are actually teens using researcher-requested pseudonyms they chose to anonymously discuss their driving habits, the results are surprising, maybe even more so than if the real celebrities got together.
Penn Researchers Discover Why E. coli Move Faster in Syrup-like Fluids Than in Water
Swimming in a pool of syrup would be difficult for most people, but for bacteria like E. coli, it’s easier than swimming in water. Scientists have known for decades that these cells move faster and farther in viscoelastic fluids, such as the saliva, mucus, and other bodily fluids they are likely to call home, but didn’t understand why.
Penn’s Engheta and Ghrist Earn National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowships
When the Department of Defense offers researchers the chance to think big and take risks, and provides the funding to back it up, scientists tend to get really excited.
In the News
Associated Press
Here’s why experts don’t think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai’s downpour
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that many people blaming cloud seeding for Dubai storms are climate change deniers trying to divert attention from what’s really happening.
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Big Think
Can we stop AI hallucinations? And do we even want to?
Chris Callison-Burch of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that auto-regressive generation can make it difficult for language learning models to perform fact-based or symbolic reasoning.
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Salon.com
“Record-shattering” heat wave in Antarctica — yep, climate change is the culprit
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that persistent summer weather extremes like heat waves are becoming more common as people continue to warm the planet with carbon pollution.
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CNET
How the solar eclipse will affect solar panels and the grid
Benjamin Lee of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that the electrical grid will have to figure out how to match supply and demand during brief windows where the energy source goes away.
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Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Scientists struggle to explain ‘really weird’ spike in world temperatures
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that tendencies to exaggerate climate science in favor of “doomist” narratives helps no one except the fossil fuel industry.
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Vox.com
Spring is here very early. That’s not good
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that plant-flowering, tree-leafing, and egg-hatching are all markers associated with spring that are happening sooner.
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The New York Times
Can your personal medical devices be recycled?
A lab at the School of Engineering and Applied Science led the development of a COVID test made from bacterial cellulose, an organic compound.
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Tampa Bay Times
Could Florida electric bills go up because of a fuel made from manure?
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that federal and California state subsidies have led to a gold rush of companies trying to get into the business of renewable natural gas around the country.
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WESA Radio (Pittsburgh)
Pa. environmental, religious and other groups criticize Shapiro plan for ignoring climate change
A study by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design found that Pennsylvania would benefit overall from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
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The New York Times
Why don’t we just ban fossil fuels?
Joseph Romm of the School of Arts & Sciences says that stronger action against fossil fuels is essential to save the planet.
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