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Science & Technology
Genetic Study Led by University of Pennsylvania and Cornell Clarifies African and African-American Ancestry
PHILADELPHIA –- People who identify as African-American may be as little as 1 percent West African or as much as 99 percent, just one finding of a large-scale, genome-wide study of African and African-American ancestry released today.
Penn Researchers Find Reproductive Germ Cells Survive and Thrive In Transplants, Even Among Species
PHILADELPHIA –- Reproductive researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have succeeded in isolating and transplanting pure populations of the immature cells that enable male reproduction in two species—human spermatogonia and mouse gonocytes.
Antidepressants May Change Personality, Leading to Reduced Depression, Says Penn Collaboration
PHILADELPHIA –- Examining data obtained from a University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University psychology study, researchers at these universities and Northwestern University have reported the first placebo-controlled evidence that antidepressant medications—particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs—can substantially change patients’
Researchers Say Cooperation Is Key to Reducing Greenhouse Gases
PHILADELPHIA — A study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Delaware shows that cooperation between local and regional governments and organizations is crucial to achieve carbon-reduction goals being negotiated in the Copenhagen Conference of the Parties, or COP15, summit.
Penn, Georgia Collaboration Awarded $14.6 Million to Expand Pathogen Database, Expedite Worldwide Research
PHILADELPHIA -– Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Georgia have been awarded a five-year, $14.6 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the US National Institutes of Health, to expand and extend work on the Eukaryotic Pathogen Genome Database Resource, http://EuPathDB.org.
Sea Level Is Rising Along U.S. Atlantic Coast, According to Data Analysis by Penn Environmental Scientists
PHILADELPHIA –- An international team of environmental scientists led by the University of Pennsylvania has shown that sea-level rise along the Atlantic Coast of the United States was 2 millimeters faster in the 20th century than at any time in the past 4,000 years.
Penn Scientists Conduct Novel, 10,000-Year Study of Strata Compaction and Sea-Level Rise on English Coast
PHILADELPHIA –- Environmental scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and Durham University have employed a novel combination of geological and model reconstructions of wetland environments during a 10,000-year period to address spatial variations in sea-level history and provide quantitative estimates of subsidence along the east coast of England.
In the News
Scientists struggle to explain ‘really weird’ spike in world temperatures
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that tendencies to exaggerate climate science in favor of “doomist” narratives helps no one except the fossil fuel industry.
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Spring is here very early. That’s not good
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that plant-flowering, tree-leafing, and egg-hatching are all markers associated with spring that are happening sooner.
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Can your personal medical devices be recycled?
A lab at the School of Engineering and Applied Science led the development of a COVID test made from bacterial cellulose, an organic compound.
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Could Florida electric bills go up because of a fuel made from manure?
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that federal and California state subsidies have led to a gold rush of companies trying to get into the business of renewable natural gas around the country.
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Pa. environmental, religious and other groups criticize Shapiro plan for ignoring climate change
A study by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design found that Pennsylvania would benefit overall from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
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Why don’t we just ban fossil fuels?
Joseph Romm of the School of Arts & Sciences says that stronger action against fossil fuels is essential to save the planet.
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Students can soon major in AI at this Ivy League university—it’ll prepare them for ‘jobs that don’t yet exist’
The Raj and Neera Singh Program in Artificial Intelligence at Penn will be the first AI undergraduate engineering major at an Ivy League school, led by George Pappas of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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We don’t have time for climate misinformation
In a co-written Op-Ed, Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that meaningful decarbonization in the U.S. is in jeopardy of being blocked or slowed if a significant portion of the electorate does not accept the basic scientific facts and implications of climate change.
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Penn to become first Ivy League to offer AI degree, looks to ‘train the leaders’ in emerging field
Penn is the first Ivy League university to offer a degree in artificial intelligence, with remarks from Robert Ghrist of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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A famous climate scientist is in court, with big stakes for attacks on science
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences is suing a right-wing author and a policy analyst for defamation against the “hockey stick” climate change graph.
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