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Science & Technology
Penn Vet, Montreal and McGill Researchers Show How Blood-Brain Barrier Is Maintained
The brain is a privileged organ in the body. So vital to life, the brain is protected from alterations elsewhere in the body by a highly regulated gateway known as the blood-brain barrier, which allows only selected molecules to pass through.
A Day for the Next Generation of Roboticists
At the fifth annual Philly Robotics Expo (PRX) on April 20, several hundred local grade-, middle-, and high-school students poured into the Singh Center for Nanotechnology with their machines in tow.
Penn Study Describes First Steps in Basic Biological Process
Understanding the molecular signals that guide early cells in the embryo to develop into different types of organs provides insight into how tissues regenerate and repair themselves.
Penn Senior Adrian Lievano to Tackle Water Security in Kenya
By Madeleine Stone @themadstone (This is the second in a series of features introducing the inaugural Penn President’s Engagement Prize winners.)
Mentally Stepping Back From Problems Helps Youth Deal With Negative Emotions, Penn Study Says
Adolescence is a time of frequent and intense emotional experiences, but some youth handle their emotions better than others. Why do some young people react adaptively while others ruminate?
Limber Lungs: One Type of Airway Cell Can Regenerate Another Lung Cell Type
A new collaborative study describes a way that lung tissue can regenerate after injury. The team found that lung tissue has more dexterity in repairing tissue than once thought.
Penn Researchers Help Make Maps of the Universe’s Dark Matter
Members of the Dark Energy Survey have released the first in a series of maps that show the concentration of dark matter in the cosmos.
Penn Dental Medicine Launches First Open Online Course
By Sarah Welsh
On the Road, Penn Senior Examines Environmental-Economic Conflict
By Julie McWilliams Aspiring journalist Brennan Cusack set off on a solo cross-country trek last summer to get an insider’s look and to research four instances where environmental and economic interests were at odds.
After the Higgs: Penn Gears Up for New Physics Discoveries at CERN
by Sarah Welsh After a two-year hiatus, the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, is gearing up for its second run. The LHC enabled the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, which gives mass to all particles, but the world’s most complicated scientific apparatus is far from finished
In the News
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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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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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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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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Students can soon major in AI at this Ivy League university—it’ll prepare them for ‘jobs that don’t yet exist’
The Raj and Neera Singh Program in Artificial Intelligence at Penn will be the first AI undergraduate engineering major at an Ivy League school, led by George Pappas of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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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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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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We don’t have time for climate misinformation
In a co-written Op-Ed, Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that meaningful decarbonization in the U.S. is in jeopardy of being blocked or slowed if a significant portion of the electorate does not accept the basic scientific facts and implications of climate change.
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Penn to become first Ivy League to offer AI degree, looks to ‘train the leaders’ in emerging field
Penn is the first Ivy League university to offer a degree in artificial intelligence, with remarks from Robert Ghrist of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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A famous climate scientist is in court, with big stakes for attacks on science
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences is suing a right-wing author and a policy analyst for defamation against the “hockey stick” climate change graph.
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