Science & Technology

Penn Researchers Show ‘Neural Fingerprints’ of Memory Associations

PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers have long been interested in discovering the ways that human brains represent thoughts through a complex interplay of electrical signals.  Recent improvements in brain recording and statistical methods have given researchers unprecedented insight into the physical processes underlying thoughts.  For example, researchers have begun to show that it is possib

Evan Lerner

Penn Researchers’ Study of Phase Change Materials Could Lead to Better Computer Memory

PHILADELPHIA -- Memory devices for computers require a large collection of components that can switch between two states, which represent the 1’s and 0’s of binary language. Engineers hope to make next-generation chips with materials that distinguish between these states by physically rearranging their atoms into different phases.

Evan Lerner

T Cells ‘Hunt’ Parasites Like Animal Predators Seek Prey, a Penn Vet-Penn Physics Study Reveals

PHILADELPHIA — By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement strategy to track down parasites that is similar to strategies that predators such as monkeys, sharks and blue-fin tu

Katherine Unger Baillie



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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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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CNBC

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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