10.21
Science & Technology
Can social media networks reduce political polarization on climate change?
A study from the Annenberg School for Communication shows that exposure to anonymous, bipartisan social networks can lead liberals and conservatives to improve their forecasting of global-climate trends.
Mentoring tomorrow’s biomedical researchers
This year, 41 students took part in the Summer Undergraduate Internship Program, a 10-week residential program that aims to steer biomedicine and biological science students toward Ph.D. programs.
Knockdown and replace: A gene therapy twofer to treat blindness
More than 150 different mutations in the light-sensing molecule rhodopsin can cause retinitis pigmentosa, characterized by a progressive loss of night and peripheral vision, and a team of researchers have developed a treatment for the condition. Successful results in dogs set the stage for testing in humans.
Mapping the ocean with marine robots
M. Ani Hsieh’s robotics lab investigates how to use ocean currents as a natural energy source for marine robots, which would enable widespread exploration.
Guinness recognizes Piccolissimo as world’s smallest self-powered flying robot
Created in professor Mark Yim’s ModLab, with graduate student Matt Piccoli, the world’s smallest flying robot can carry the weight of a small camera or sensor, with just two moving parts achieving directional control.
The snow graphics in ‘Frozen’ can predict the mechanics of real avalanches
The Department of Computer and Information Science’s Chenfanfu Jiang recently published a study in Nature Communications that accurately models slab avalanches, bringing realistic natural phenomena to movies and practical applications for scientific predictions.
Cancer cells send out ‘drones’ to battle the immune system from afar
Checkpoint inhibitor therapies have made metastatic melanoma and other cancers a survivable condition, but only for some patients. Researchers uncovered a novel mechanism by which tumors suppress the immune system, raising the possibility that a straightforward blood test could predict which patients could respond to immunotherapy.
New GRASP project aims to leverage ‘embodied intelligence’ via a robotic squirrel
A team of engineers from Penn's GRASP lab has designed a mechanical squirrel with "embodied intelligence," capable of pulling off parkour feats using multi-sensory adaptation to interact with its surroundings.
Bringing reliable power to all of India
Doing so requires a just and sustainable energy transition and common but differentiated responsibilities among nations to mitigate effects of energy systems on climate change.
Dental plaque is no match for catalytic nanoparticles
A recent study found that nanoparticles can break down dental plaque with nanoparticles that target biofilms, preventing tooth decay in humans and animal models without damaging surrounding oral tissue.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn physicists win $3 million Breakthrough Prize
The School of Arts and Sciences’ Charles Kane and Eugene Mele have been awarded the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their work developing a two-dimensional topological insulator, which forces electrons to travel in an orderly fashion. The material could some day be used to improve energy efficiency.
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Smithsonian Magazine
Scientists break the rules of reproduction by breeding mice from single-sex parents
The Perelman School of Medicine’s Marisa Bartolomei offered commentary on same-sex reproductive experiments, which have proven easier in bimaternal than bipaternal pairings.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Guess what these young dinosaurs ate when their parents weren’t looking
Peter Dodson of the School of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences offered commentary on young dinosaurs’ ability to independently forage for vegetation. “It seems like a pretty fair bet that there wasn’t parental care,” said Dodson.
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The New York Times
Life with no males? These termites show that it’s possible
Tanya Dapkey of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed asexual termites, saying there was much to learn from “societies in nature run without any input from males.”
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
A Philly-Pittsburgh Hyperloop? State House resolution calls for feasibility study
Megan Ryerson of the School of Design discussed the feasibility and wisdom of investing in Hyperloop lines between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. “… It could really change the distribution of economic activities across cities that, right now, we think of as so distant,” said Ryerson.
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National Geographic
This tiny fish can recognize itself in a mirror. Is it self-aware?
PIK Professor Michael Platt commented on an animal sentience study. While he found the research “fascinating and well-executed,” he pointed out that the study doesn’t necessarily confirm that animals have a human-like sense of self.
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Quartz India
Google sees gold in Indian languages
The Wharton School’s Kartik Hosanagar weighed in on Nevlekha, a new platform from Google that uses AI to render PDFs in Indian languages editable, making them easier to share online. “It’s only one of a series [of moves] Google will need if it hopes to penetrate the hundreds of millions of Indians,” said Hosanagar.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Should Philly join New York City in capping Uber and Lyft?
Erick Guerra of the School of Design weighed in on the effects of ride-sharing apps on cities, saying, “I’m confident Uber and Lyft have contributed in some small way to the increase in congestion but not nearly as much as the economic growth and increase in population.”
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Independent
Radio: Incredible dignity in the face of a terrible tragedy
Lauren Sallan of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed “mass extinction events,” defined as “an event that wipes out biodiversity at orders of magnitude far above what we call ‘background extinction’—wiping out, say, 60 percent of species or species that wouldn't be expected to die off.”
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“PBS NewsHour”
An 11-year-old changed election results on a replica Florida state website in under 10 minutes
The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Matt Blaze discussed a hacking experiment, saying it was “not surprising that these precocious, bright kids would be able to do it because the websites that are on the internet are vulnerable…. What was interesting is just how utterly quickly they were able to do it.”
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