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Science & Technology
Penn's Autonomous Car "Little Ben" Advances to the Semi-Finals of the DARPA Urban Challenge
PHILADELPHIA - "Little Ben," the autonomous vehicle engineered by University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University faculty and students to drive itself has advanced to the semi-finals of the DARPA Urban Challenge.
University of Pennsylvania Engineers Force Open Novel Protein Targets Within Stem Cells and Blood Cells
PHILADELPHIA - Applying physical stress to cells, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated that everyday forces can alter the structure of proteins tucked within cells, unfold them and expose new targets in the fight against disease.
Penn's MAGPI Unit to Facilitate Global Multicast of "Live Earth" Concert Using Internet2 Technology
WHAT: A live multicast of the "Live Earth" concert series, a global event featuring a 24-hour series of eight concerts that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people in support of a global movement to solve the climate crisis.
A New Technique for Building Nanodevices in the Lab: Electron beam "carves" the world's smallest devices
PHILADELPHIA -- Physicists at the University of Pennsylvania are using a new technique to craft some of the tiniest metal nanostructures ever created, none larger than 10 nanometers, or 10,000 times smaller than the width of a single human hair.
Here Comes the Sun: University of Pennsylvania Awarded DOE Funding to Increase Use of Solar Power
PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have been awarded part of a $22.7 million grant to improve the capture, conversion and use of solar energy. The project is a multi-center effort funded by the Department of Energy and aimed at increasing the amount of solar power in the nation's energy supply.
Penn Physicists Develop a Carbon Nanotube Aeroegel Optimizing Strength, Shape and Conductivity
PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have created low-density aerogels made from carbon nanotubes, CNTs, that are capable of supporting 8,000 times their own weight. The new material also combines the strength and ultra-light, heat-insulating properties of aerogels with the electrical conductivity of nanotubes.
Penn Physicists Develop Force Law for Granular Impacts: Sand, Other Granular Matter's Behavior Is Better Defined
PHILADELPHIA -- Sand. A single grain is tiny, but solid, and shares the physical properties of other solid matter. But pack or transport millions of grains together - as modern society does with coffee grounds, flour and industrial chemicals - and granular materials act differently, baffling engineers. They take the shape of their containers and flow freely, like liquids.
University of Pennsylvania Adopts Windows Live @ edu to Deliver Communications Platform to Students
PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Pennsylvania has partnered with Microsoft to enhance the communications platform it offers to many of its students.
Penn's Weiss Tech House Announces Student Inventors Headed to PennVention Competition Finals
PHILADELPHIA -- Ten teams of student inventors have been selected to present their prototypes of innovative technologies at the University of Pennsylvania's third annual PennVention competition on April 6 at Penn's Weiss Tech House. Finalists will compete for more than $60,000 in cash and prizes and a chance to launch their products to market.
Energy Working Group at Penn Hosts Mini-Symposium on Sustainable Energy
WHO: Energy Working Group at Penn, a multi-disciplinary group of University of Pennsylvania scientists and engineersGeorge Crabtree, senior scientist and director of the materials science division of the Argonne National Laboratory Joanne Milliken, director of the U.S. Energy Department hydrogen program
In the News
Politico.com
Climate cash pours into election swing region. Will it help Harris?
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that capturing methane to make hydrogen is trading a short-lived pollutant for a permanent pollutant in the form of carbon dioxide.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
As colleges grapple with AI’s pitfalls, U. of Delaware uses technology to transform faculty lectures into interactive study aides
Penn will be the first Ivy League school to launch a new undergraduate degree in artificial intelligence. PIK Professor Duncan Watts and colleagues built the Media Bias Detector, which uses artificial intelligence to scan news articles for tone and bias.
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NPR
Why the U.S. government is spending $7 billion on solar for low-income homes
Sanya Carley of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the Solar for All program could have an impact far beyond its projected 900,000 low-income households.
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NBC News
More colleges are offering AI degrees—could they give job seekers an edge?
Penn will offer a major in AI starting this fall, with remarks from rising third-year Emma Twitmyer of Wayne, Pennsylvania.
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Technology.org
Shedding light on cellular metabolism to fight disease
Yihui Shen of the School of Engineering and Applied Science talks about her newly established lab where she aims to advance the molecular precision of coherent Raman imaging to allow researchers to understand the minutia of metabolism and open doors to new cancer treatments and therapies.
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NPR
If you get an offer to buy a carbon offset, experts say this is what you should know
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that a carbon offset represents a promise that someone’s money is going toward an action that will reduce or remove planet-heating pollution.
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Forbes
Artificial expectations? Time to get real about AI
Benjamin Lee of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that the rate and depth of adoption for generative AI has been slower than many anticipated.
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Fox 29 (Philadelphia)
Global tech outage: South Jersey Boy Scout troop stuck overseas due to airline impact of outage
Benjamin Lee of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says there need to be contingency plans to cover ongoing vulnerabilities of critical computer infrastructure.
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EdSurge
An education chatbot company collapsed. Where did the student data go?
Rob Nelson of the Provost’s Office says that it’s too soon in the development of generative AI tools to scale up one idea to a whole school district or college campus.
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CNN
A detailed look at children’s brains might show how sex and gender are different, new study says
A study co-authored by Dani S. Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science finds that sex and gender map onto largely distinct parts of the brain.
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