11/15
Science & Technology
Four from Penn awarded Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research
Four from Penn awarded Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research
Faculty from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Perelman School of Medicine were honored at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration for a healthier planet
Cross-disciplinary collaboration for a healthier planet
The Environmental Innovations Initiative announces a third round of funded research communities to catalyze interdisciplinary research at Penn, investigating issues from regenerative agriculture to project-based learning for global climate justice.
Major players block China’s access to advanced chip materials for developing AI
Major players block China’s access to advanced chip materials for developing AI
Japan and the Netherlands join the U.S. and Taiwan in restricting exports to China of advanced artificial intelligence and chip-making technologies.
Five from Penn elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023
Five from Penn elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023
Faculty from the School of Arts & Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Graduate School of Education, and Perelman School of Medicine are recognized this year for contributions to physics, engineering and technology, education, economics, and microbiology and immunology.
New findings reveal the most detailed mass map of dark matter
New findings reveal the most detailed mass map of dark matter
Research led by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration maps the universe’s cosmic growth supporting Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Daeyeon Lee delivers lecture on reconnecting in and out of the classroom
Daeyeon Lee delivers lecture on reconnecting in and out of the classroom
Lee, the Evan C Thompson Term Chair for Excellence in Teaching, recently delivered the 2023 Evan C Thompson Lecture, focusing on how to improve students’ sense of community.
Four Penn students are 2023 Goldwater Scholars
Four Penn students are 2023 Goldwater Scholars
Goldwater Scholarships are awarded to students planning research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering.
To protect children online, researchers call for cross-disciplinary collaboration
To protect children online, researchers call for cross-disciplinary collaboration
A team of neuroscientists and legal experts, including Gideon Nave of the Wharton School, published a perspective in Science drawing attention to the need to develop science-backed policies that take into account children’s vulnerabilities in the digital world.
The Big Bang at 75
The Big Bang at 75
Theoretical physicist Vijay Balasubramanian discusses the 75th anniversary of the alpha-beta-gamma paper, what we know—and don’t know—about the universe and the “very big gaps” left to discover.
Who, What, Why: Devin Carroll and his robot made of tree branches
Who, What, Why: Devin Carroll and his robot made of tree branches
Ph.D. student Devin Carroll designs robots from materials found in nature; his latest modular device is made of tree branches, strings, and a motor.
In the News
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
Interesting Engineering
U.S. achieves billion-fold power-saving semiconductor tech; could challenge China
A collaborative effort by Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues has made phase-change memory more energy efficient and could unlock a future revolution in data storage.
FULL STORY →