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Science & Technology
Penn Researchers Show New Way of Assembling Particles Into Complex Structures
PHILADELPHIA — Many recent advances in microtechnology and nanotechnology depend on microscopic spherical particles self-assembling into large-scale aggregates to form a relatively limited range of crystalline structures.
New Report From Penn’s Fels Institute Explores Growth of Local Governments Using Social Media
PHILADELPHIA – The Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania has released a new report, “The Rise of Social Government: An Advanced Guide and Review of Social Media’s Role in Local Government Operations,” providing hard data about the growing use of social media
Penn-led Study of African Hunter-Gatherers Elucidates Human Variation, Evolution and Interbreeding
PHILADELPHIA — Human diversity in Africa is greater than any place else on Earth. Differing food sources, geographies, diseases and climates offered many targets for natural selection to exert powerful forces on Africans to change and adapt to their local environments.
Penn’s Charles Kane Named Simons Investigator and Awarded $500,000 Grant
PHILADELPHIA — Charles Kane of the University of Pennsylvania has been awarded a five-year, $500,000 grant from the Simons Foundation, as part of its inaugural class of Simons Investigators
Many Protected Areas Face Threats in Sustaining Biodiversity, Penn’s Daniel Janzen and Colleagues Report
PHILADELPHIA — Establishing protection over a swath of land seems like a good way to conserve its species and its ecosystems.
Penn’s Benjamin Horton Working on State-by-state Sea-level Research
PHILADELPHIA — In June, the North Carolina legislature attempted to block a group of local scientists’ findings about how climate change could impact the state via sea-level rise.
Fall course explores stem cell ethics, education
Cellular Reprogramming. Cord-blood banking. Preserving the fertility of young people undergoing cancer treatment. Scenarios such as these are no longer the stuff of science fiction; they are real-life examples of how stem cell science can influence the lives of ordinary people.
Penn Faculty Receive Alternative Energy Project Grants
PHIADELPHIA — Alternative energy research projects involving four faculty members from the University of Pennsylvania have been awarded grants from the Energy Commercialization Institute, a translational-research partnership that draws upon several regional universities.
Penn’s Nader Engheta Receives Electromagnetics Award
PHILADELPHIA — Nader Engheta received the 2012 IEEE Electromagnetics Award at a ceremony Wednesday evening in Chicago. He is the H.
In the News
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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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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“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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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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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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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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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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