7.30
Science & Technology
Shifting sands, creeping soils, and a new understanding of landscape evolution
Shifting sands, creeping soils, and a new understanding of landscape evolution
New experiments show that, even when undisturbed, piles of sand grains are in constant motion, challenging theories of how soils and other types of disordered materials behave.
The alternative fuel life of everyday items
The alternative fuel life of everyday items
Researchers in the Goldberg Group, including Karen Goldberg, Vagelos Professor in Energy Research, and Drew Newman, doctoral candidate in chemistry, focus on alternative fuel sources for items that are part of everyday life.
The infrastructure bill could fix trucking for the long haul
The infrastructure bill could fix trucking for the long haul
As the country explores major infrastructure investments, urban truck ports have the potential to increase the fuel efficiency of trucks, reduce air pollution, and improve the lives of truckers who deliver our critical goods.
Paving the way for ‘next-generation’ lithium-ion batteries
Paving the way for ‘next-generation’ lithium-ion batteries
A new study from Penn Engineering details the complex electrochemical process that causes certain types of batteries to degrade, insights that could aid in the design of longer lasting, more efficient batteries in the future.
Designing public institutions that foster cooperation
Designing public institutions that foster cooperation
People are more likely to cooperate with those they see as “good.” Using a mathematical model, School of Arts & Sciences researchers found it’s possible to design systems that assess and broadcast participants’ reputations, leading to high levels of cooperation and adherence.
The use and misuse of race in health care
The use and misuse of race in health care
In a Q&A, PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff, the Perelman School of Medicine’s Giorgio Sirugo, and Case Western Reserve University’s Scott Williams shed light on the “quagmire” of race, ethnicity, genetic ancestry, and environmental factors and their contribution to health disparities.
Pinpointing how cancer cells turn aggressive
Pinpointing how cancer cells turn aggressive
Penn scientists have developed a new method for tracing the lineage and gene expression patterns of metastatic cancer at the single-cell level.
For early amphibians, a new lifestyle meant a new spine
For early amphibians, a new lifestyle meant a new spine
Moving from water to land and back again corresponded with distinct changes in animals’ spinal morphology, according to a new study led by paleontologist Aja Carter.
Connecting a star’s chemical composition and planet formation
Connecting a star’s chemical composition and planet formation
Along with developing a new statistical method for studying exoplanets, researchers from Penn found that the majority of stars in their dataset are similar to the sun, implying that many stars in the Milky Way could host their own Earthlike planets.
Dark Energy Survey interim analysis sheds light on the evolution of the universe
Dark Energy Survey interim analysis sheds light on the evolution of the universe
Analysis of the survey’s first three years of data, which were used to make the most precise 3D map of the universe to date, is a key step towards understanding dark matter and dark energy.
In the News
NPR
More retailers are using AI. What does this mean for privacy?
Joseph Turow of the Annenberg School for Communication weighed in on how machine learning and automation are shaping the job market and consumer privacy.
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Psychology Today
Hyenas inherit their moms’ social connections
Erol Akçay of the School of Arts & Sciences and former postdoc Amiyaal Ilany discussed their research on hyena’s social networks. “We show that a simple process—social inheritance—is important to understanding network structure and dynamics,” said Akçay.
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WESA Radio (Pittsburgh)
More than 1,000 cases of mysterious bird disease reported in Pennsylvania
Scott Weber of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Penn’s Wildlife Futures Program said wildlife veterinarians are concerned about the numerous reports of sick or dead songbirds in the Mid-Atlantic region. “It does seem to be spreading through the U.S. pretty quickly, and spreading to a fairly wide geographical area,” he said.
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NPR
A mysterious illness is killing Mid-Atlantic songbirds
Lisa Murphy of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about the Wildlife Futures Program’s research on the illness killing songbirds in the Mid-Atlantic region. "I think what's especially challenging about this is that it's not localized ... to one specific geographic area [and] it's not localized to one particular bird species,” she said.
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U.S. News & World Report
‘Transmitted down the leash:’ Anxious owners, anxious dogs
James Serpell of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about the reciprocal relationship between pets’ and their owners’ feelings. “You can think of many contexts in which having an animal that can anticipate your thoughts is wonderful, in terms of training or performing tasks for people,” he said. “But in the context of an owner who's experiencing a lot of anxiety, you can see the disadvantage.”
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The New York Times
The hills are alive with the flows of physics
In the lab of Douglas Jerolmack, researchers led by doctoral candidate Nakul Deshpande of the School of Arts & Sciences explored how landscapes gradually move over time.
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MIT Technology Review
These creepy fake humans herald a new age in AI
Aaron Roth of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about synthetic data and privacy concerns. “Just because the data is ‘synthetic’ and does not directly correspond to real user data does not mean that it does not encode sensitive information about real people,” he said.
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6ABC.com
Cyberattack temporarily shuts down JBS meat processing plants, including one in Montgomery County
Gary Althouse of the School of Veterinary Medicine commented on a ransomware attack that targeted one of the largest suppliers of beef, pork, and chicken in the U.S. “With food production, computerized systems are used in most aspects of it. We need to identify where these vulnerabilities are," he said.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
These Penn scientists discovered how the brain engages in imagination
Joseph Kable of the School of Arts & Sciences and alumni Arthur Lee and Trishala Parthasarathi used MRI brain scans to study the neuroscience of imagination.
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Scientific American
A better way to cool ourselves
Dorit Aviv of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design and international collaborators wrote an opinion piece about their work developing a healthier and more sustainable alternative to air conditioning.
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