11/15
Science & Technology
Penn’s 2016 Summer Undergraduate Research Group Grant Winners Announced
The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania has announced the inaugural recipients of the Summer Undergraduate Research Group Grant. Alison Buttenheim and Mark Devlin have been selected by a committee comprised of faculty members representing all 12 of Penn’s schools.
Penn Team Restores Memory Formation Following Sleep Deprivation in Mice
Pulling an all-nighter may seem like a good way to cram before a test, yet science tells us memory suffers when sleep is sacrificed. A new study suggests that it doesn’t have to.
Penn’s Jane Willenbring to Study Soil Metals for Geology and Gardeners
At first glance, it might seem that community gardening and beryllium isotopes have little in common.
Penn Psychologists Study Intense Awe Astronauts Feel Viewing Earth From Space
Picture Earth at the center of a frame. The planet looks unassuming, a fleck, its blue-and-white marbling stark against a black interstellar backdrop. Yet the image likely evokes some reaction. Now imagine seeing this view from space.
Three University of Pennsylvania Professors Awarded 2016 Guggenheim Fellowships
University of Pennsylvania political scientist Diana Mutz, music professor Timothy Rommen and theoretical
Three University of Pennsylvania Students Win Goldwater Scholarships
University of Pennsylvania students Elyse Chase, Kevin Chen and Jordan Doman have won Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, awarded annually to juniors and sophomores interested in careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering research.
Penn Engineering Launches PERCH, a New Research Facility at the Pennovation Center
The School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania has launched PERCH, the Penn Engineering Research and Collaboration Hub, a new research facility in the forthcoming Pennovation Center.
Penn Engineers Develop First Transistors Made Entirely of Nanocrystal ‘Inks’
The transistor is the most fundamental building block of electronics, used to build circuits capable of amplifying electrical signals or switching them between the 0s and 1s at the heart of digital computation. Transistor fabrication is a highly complex process, however, requiring high-temperature, high-vacuum equipment.
Penn Senior Vaishak Kumar to Launch Agriculture Extension Project in India
(This is the first in a series of features introducing the 2016 President's Engagement Prize winners.)
Penn Fels Policy Research Initiative Announces Interdisciplinary Grants
The Fels Policy Research Initiative in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania has announced five inaugural collaborative grants for as much as $15,000 each, designed to further interdisciplinary partnerships.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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