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Science & Technology
Penn Science Café Presents ‘Your Brain: An Ever-changing Network’
WHO: Danielle BassettSkirkanich Assistant Professor of InnovationDepartment of BioengineeringDepartment of Electrical and Systems EngineeringSchool of Engineering and Applied Science
Blacklegged tick populations have expanded via migration
Lyme disease cases are on the rise, with diagnoses occurring in areas that were historically Lyme-free. Scientists attribute the spread to the fact that populations of blacklegged ticks, which carry the bacteria that causes the disease, now flourish in areas once thought to be devoid of ticks.
Penn Researchers Answer Question about Nematode Behavior: Nature, Nurture, or Physics?
By Sarah Welsh Nature versus nurture is an age-old question in biology, centering on whether a given trait is determined by an organism’s genes or by its environment. Most times the answer is “both,” but research at the University of Pennsylvania has found one trait in particular that is not easily described by either.
Penn Research Helps Show That Attention, Imagination Equally Important for Creativity
The role that attention plays in generating new and useful ideas is controversial among neuroscientists. Some neuroimaging studies have shown that creativity involves more cognitive control, or focused attention. Other studies have shown it involves less.
Penn Team Identifies Gene Responsible for Some Cases of Male Infertility
In the most severe form of male infertility, men do not make any measurable levels of sperm. This condition, called azoospermia, affects approximately 1 percent of the male population and is responsible for about a sixth of cases of male infertility.
New Penn Center Will Investigate the Physics of Cancer Via $10M NIH Grant
Investigators at a new University of Pennsylvania research center will focus on key physical principles that underpin cancer’s development and growth.
Probing the Universe’s ‘Dark’ Secrets
A team of physicists and astronomers from around the globe are on a five-year mission to answer fundamental questions about our universe: Why are galaxies clustered the way they are? Why are they moving apart faster and faster, instead of gravity slowing them down?
First Place Finish for Penn’s Electric Race Car
Penn Electric Racing has taken home top honors at an international competition.
President's Engagement Prize-Winners Launch Social Impact Projects
Though they graduated mere weeks ago, five members of Penn’s Class of 2015 have already begun projects destined to make a profound impact on individuals and communities around the world, with support from the President’s Engagement Prizes.
Penn Research Simplifies Recycling of Rare-earth Magnets
Despite their ubiquity in consumer electronics, rare-earth metals are, as their name suggests, hard to come by. Mining and purifying them is an expensive, labor-intensive and ecologically devastating process.
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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