4/22
Science & Technology
Penn Vet Team Identifies a Gene Responsible for Male Infertility and a Respiratory Disorder
PHILADELPHIA — A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has characterized a protein responsible for sperm tail formation that, when missing, causes male infertility, brain abnormalities and other problems in mice.
Penn to Offer Online Classes via Coursera
PHILADELPHIA –- The University of Pennsylvania will join Princeton University, the University of Michigan, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University in partnering with Coursera, an online education platform, to make Web-based courses available free and to improve teaching on campuses.
Five Penn Professors Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
PHILADELPHIA — Five professors from the University of Pennsylvania are among the 220 elected to the 2012 class of members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Penn Nourish International to Engage With Nicaragua on Sustainable Health Resource Project
Penn Nourish International and the Wake Forest chapter of Nourish have teamed up to conduct a service project at a Nicaraguan health clinic this summ
Three University of Pennsylvania Professors Receive 2012 Guggenheim Fellowships
PHILADELPHIA – Jamal J.
Penn Vet Pathologists Uncover the Fate of Stranded Marine Mammals
Perry Habecker’s claim to fame? He’s the only Pennsylvania pathologist to have autopsied a “Pennsylvania” manatee.
Penn Hosts Africa Study Abroad Orientation
What is an International SOS card? Are pre-departure vaccinations required for some foreign travel? What to pack? When traveling abroad, it’s always better to know before you go.
Penn and Haverford Sign Agreement to Fast-track Undergrads Into Penn Engineering Master’s Programs
PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania and Haverford College are launching a new program that will allow undergraduates at Haverford to gain early admission into a master’s degree program offered by Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. The arrangement effectively allows Haverford stu
New Penn Dental Researcher George Hajishengallis Gets at the Root of Gum Disease
PHILADELPHIA — Trained as a dentist in Greece, George Hajishengallis, one of the newest faculty members at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, was happy enough with the idea of practicing dentistry there.
Penn engineers participate in two $10 million projects
Anyone who has used a computer can attest to the massive strides software has made over the last few decades. But those on the programming side—the people who create computer software—have had a different experience.
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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