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Science & Technology
A grant to upgrade Simons Observatory
A grant to upgrade Simons Observatory
Mark Devlin and colleagues have been awarded an NSF grant to upgrade the prominent observatory in the high Atacama Desert in Northern Chile.
Penn welcomes energy justice scholar Sanya Carley
Penn welcomes energy justice scholar Sanya Carley
Carley will be the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning in the Weitzman School with an affiliation with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.
2018 graduate awarded Knight-Hennessy Scholarship
2018 graduate awarded Knight-Hennessy Scholarship
Focused on tackling climate change, 2018 Penn graduate Krish Mehta, from Mumbai, has been awarded a 2023 Knight-Hennessy Scholarship for graduate studies and global leadership training at Stanford University.
Beyond the pipette and the stethoscope, students explore biology’s societal impacts
Beyond the pipette and the stethoscope, students explore biology’s societal impacts
The new Biology and Society course, supported by SNF Paideia, gave biology majors the chance to explore how scientists must contend with subjects such as health equity and vaccine hesitancy.
When robots touch the world
Penn Engineering’s Michael Posa discusses robotics in the age of artificial intelligence, the ambulatory genius of toddlers, navigating the unfamiliar and the elegance of not learning everything.
Moore than meets the eye
Moore than meets the eye
Following the death of Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel and a pioneer in computer processor chips, Penn Today spoke with the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Benjamin C. Lee about Moore’s contributions to technology and the history and rapid evolution of chips.
Four from Penn elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Four from Penn elected to the National Academy of Sciences
The newly elected members, distinguished scholars recognized for their innovative contributions to original research, include faculty from the School of Arts & Sciences, Perelman School of Medicine, Annenberg School for Communication, and Wharton School.
What fossils tell us about the dining habits of dinosaurs
What fossils tell us about the dining habits of dinosaurs
More than a century of research is vividly shared in ‘An Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Feeding Biology’ by Ali Nabavizadeh of the School of Veterinary Medicine and David B. Weishampel of Johns Hopkins University.
Repairing fractured metals for more sustainable construction
Repairing fractured metals for more sustainable construction
Mining, refining, and processing metals commonly used in construction are estimated to contribute around three billion tons of CO2-equivalent emissions. Now, researchers have developed a new metal-healing technique that fully restores previously unrepairable metals, presenting sustainable options for manufacturers.
Celebrating the 2023 President’s Engagement and Innovation Prize winners
Celebrating the 2023 President’s Engagement and Innovation Prize winners
At a special luncheon on campus, President Liz Magill recognized this year’s eight awardees, who she said “exemplify imagination, creativity, grit, and leadership.”
In the News
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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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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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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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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Interesting Engineering
U.S. achieves billion-fold power-saving semiconductor tech; could challenge China
A collaborative effort by Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues has made phase-change memory more energy efficient and could unlock a future revolution in data storage.
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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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