4.21
Science & Technology
Researchers reach new heights with light-based levitation
Researchers reach new heights with light-based levitation
Penn researchers are working to engineer nanoscale features on ultra-lightweight materials, finding the ideal combination that will allow those materials to lift themselves into the air using the energy provided by light.
Niko Simpkins: At the nexus of engineering and music
Niko Simpkins: At the nexus of engineering and music
For Niko Simpkins, a musician who performs, produces, and engineers his own tracks, the most exciting processes combine structure and flexibility, creativity, and rigor. As a third-year student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, he sees his mechanical engineering education as a framework for problem solving that might serve him across a broad set of endeavors, and for now, he’s more interested in learning than narrowing to any one particular career path.
New bioprinting technique allows for complex microtissues
New bioprinting technique allows for complex microtissues
Researchers at the School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated a new bioprinting technique that enables the bioprinting of spatially complex, high-cell-density tissues.
Five Penn faculty named 2021 Sloan Research Fellows
Five Penn faculty named 2021 Sloan Research Fellows
The fellowship recognizes extraordinary U.S. and Canadian researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of scientific leaders.
From animals to people and back again
From animals to people and back again
Penn researchers are studying the propensity of SARS-CoV-2 to cross between species, and they are working to protect people, pets, and wildlife from COVID-19 infection.
The world’s first general purpose computer turns 75
The world’s first general purpose computer turns 75
The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), built at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, sparked the “birth of the computer age” thanks to a team of women programmers.
GRASP Lab’s coolest robot yet
GRASP Lab’s coolest robot yet
The Lab’s latest GRASP Lab’s latest modular robotic system is a series of units made out of blocks of ice. These robots could be deployed to research in the Antarctic, or even an extraterrestrial planet.
An ‘electronic nose’ to sniff out COVID-19
An ‘electronic nose’ to sniff out COVID-19
Through a newly funded grant, researchers across the University are developing a device that can rapidly detect COVID-19 based on the disease’s unique odor profile.
Penn Dental, Penn Engineering unite to form Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry
Penn Dental, Penn Engineering unite to form Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry
The new Center will bring the two schools together to accelerate the development of new solutions and devices to address unmet needs in oral health.
Unlocking the power of a molecule’s spin
Unlocking the power of a molecule’s spin
New research provides a theoretical framework that could help experimentalists better control chemical reactions, with possible implications for recycling rare earth metals.
In the News
The Conversation
Neuralink’s monkey can play Pong with its mind. Imagine what humans could do with the same technology
Anna Wexler of the Perelman School of Medicine expressed skepticism about Neuralink, a company developing brain-machine interfaces. “Neuroscience is far from understanding how the mind works, much less having the ability to decode it,” she said.
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6ABC.com
University of Penn nursing student co-creates product to help frontline workers care for patients in the dark
Anthony Scarpone-Lambert, a senior in the School of Nursing, spoke about the wearable nightlight he helped develop. The invention allows nurses to check on patients at night without turning on bright white lights. "On average, patients regularly report poor quality of sleep as their number one complaint during hospitalization," he said.
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The New York Times
Biden’s push for electric cars: $174 billion, 10 years and a bit of luck
John Paul MacDuffie of the Wharton School spoke about the push to develop a robust charging network for electric vehicles in the U.S. “It is, famously, one of the ways that China has become the No. 1 country in E.V.s on most dimensions,” he said.
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MIT Technology Review
Keeping COVID vaccines cold isn’t easy. These ideas could help
Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine and Michael Mitchell of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about efforts to develop new ways to keep temperature-sensitive COVID-19 vaccines cold during shipment.
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Philadelphia Business Journal
Strella Biotechnology, whose backers include Mark Cuban, expands its presence at Pennovation Works
Strella Biotechnology, a company developing technology to reduce food spoilage, has moved into a 2,000 square foot space at the Pennovation Lab. The company’s founders won the $100,000 Penn President’s Innovation Prize in 2019.
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The Atlantic
Why celebrities are agog over this tiny climate think tank
Zane Cooper, a doctoral candidate in the Annenberg School for Communication, said all networked computation, including cryptocurrency, is powered by fossil fuels and harmful to the environment. “Bitcoin reveals a fundamental truth about the relationship between computing and energy,” he said.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Wolf administration to buy half of state government’s electricity from solar
Mark Hughes of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy said Pennsylvania’s solar fields will provide jobs and tax revenue and move the state toward clean energy. “You want to make it hip, you want to make it cheap—but eventually you’re going to have to make it mandatory,” he said.
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The New York Times
Black NFL players want new advocate in concussion settlement
PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts said algorithms can reflect the biases of their creators. “Technology can be used to promote equality or perpetuate inequality. It depends on who’s in control of it and what data they are putting into the algorithms,” she said.
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Newsweek
7 women scientists who defied the odds and changed science forever
Ashley Wallace of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about Kizzmekia Corbett, a viral immunologist who co-developed Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. "The pandemic exposed layers of racial disparities in medical treatment and clinical research, resulting in conversations surrounding the effects of how COVID-19 disproportionately infects and kills people of color," said Wallace. "Dr. Corbett is not only advancing science but she is also using her voice and platform to contribute to these conversations."
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The Atlantic
How female frogs tune out useless, noisy males
Amritha Mallikarjun, a postdoc in the School of Veterinary Medicine, weighed in on a study that found that female frog lungs can not only amplify the mating calls of male frogs but also muffle noises from other species. “It seems incredibly smart,” she said. “They’re taking sounds that aren’t interesting and trying to reduce them.”
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