Through
11/26
Science & Technology
Researchers from Penn, USGS and the Smithsonian Augment Climate Records Using Fossil Pollen
PHILADELPHIA — Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt’s Nile Delta document the region’s ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time.
Charles L. Kane of Penn Awarded the Dirac Medal for Contributions to Theoretical Physics
PHILADELPHIA – Charles L. Kane of the University of Pennsylvania is among three who have been awarded the 2012 Dirac Medal and Prize by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics.
Penn Researchers and Colleagues Create a Cheaper, Cleaner, More Efficient Catalyst for Burning Methane
PHILADELPHIA — As the world’s accessible oil reserves dwindle, natural gas has become an increasing important energy source. The primary component of natural gas is methane, which has the advantage of releasing less carbon dioxide when it’s burned than do many other hydrocarbon fuels.
High school students go for gold in ‘Robolympics’
The night before the Olympic torch was lit in London, a different sort of international competition was beginning at the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Penn Engineering’s Camp for Girls Grows, Adds Math Classes
PHILADELPHIA — In a ceremony in Levine Hall’s Wu and Chen Auditorium on Aug. 3, the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania graduated its latest class: 70 girls entering the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.
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.
In the News
Rolling Stone
RFK Jr.’s 10 wildest medical theories
Kenneth R. Foster of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says studies haven’t provided clear evidence that exposure to levels of radio frequency energy below accepted limits, such as Wi-Fi, disrupts the blood-brain barrier.
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Scientific American
Grumpy voters want better stories. Not statistics
In a Q&A, PIK Professor Duncan Watts says that U.S. voters ignored Democratic policy in favor of Republican storytelling.
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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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