11/15
Science & Technology
Surface Dislocation Nucleation: Strength Is But Skin Deep at the Nanoscale, Penn Engineers Discover
PHILADELPHIA –- For centuries, engineers have bent and torn metals to test their strength and ductility. Now, materials scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science are studying the same metals but at nanoscale sizes in the form of wires a thousand times thinner than a human hair.
Viruses Evolve To Play By Host Rules, According to University of Pennsylvania Researchers
PHILADELPHIA -- Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University have examined the complete genomes of viruses that infect the bacteria E. coli, P. aeruginosa and L. lactis and have found that many of these viral genomes exhibit codon bias, the tendency to preferentially encode a protein with a particular spelling.
Heightened Weighing Discomfort Among Women May Increase Their Health Risks, Penn Study Indicates
PHILADELPHIA -– A new study from the University of Pennsylvania points to increased health risks for women owing to their higher level of discomfort about being weighed in public. The study showed that college-age females, more than their male counterparts, experience high degrees of discomfort at the prospect of being weighed in the presence of others.
University of Pennsylvania Selects Weiss/Manfredi, M+W Zander to Design Singh Nanotechnology Center
PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Pennsylvania has selected the architectural design firm Weiss/Manfredi along with M+W Zander, an engineering and construction firm that specializes in projects with a scientific focus, to design the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology.
Sarah Tishkoff Named Penn's Newest PIK Professor
PHILADELPHIA -– Sarah Tishkoff, a leading global expert in human genetics, has been named the sixth Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.The announcement was made today by Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ronald Daniels.
Penn Engineers Create Carbon Nanopipettes That Are Smaller Than Cells and Measure Electric Current
PHILADELPHIA –- University of Pennsylvania engineers and physicians have developed a carbon nanopipette thousands of times thinner than a human hair that measures electric current and delivers fluids into cells. Researchers developed this tiny carbon-based tool to probe cells with minimal intrusion and inject fluids without damaging or inhibiting cell growth.
Agent Orange Chemical, Dioxin, Attacks the Mitochondria To Cause Cancer, Says Penn Research Team
PHILADELPHIA— Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have demonstrated the process by which the cancer-causing chemical dioxin attacks the cellular machinery, disrupts normal cellular function and ultimately promotes tumor progression.
University of Pennsylvania Study Reveals Inconspicuous Hosts in the Lyme Disease Epidemic
PHILADELPHIA -– A study led by a University of Pennsylvania biologist in the tick-infested woods of the Hudson Valley is challenging the widely held belief that mice are the main animal reservoir for Lyme disease in the U.S.
A Partnership for Global Security: Penn Professor Among Six Experts to Outline Plan for Worldwide Biosecurity
PHILADELPHIA -- Harvey Rubin, director of the University of Pennsylvanias Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response, is among six internationally recognized experts who have authored a five-point roadmap for the global community to enhance worldwide biosecurity.
Penn Engineering to Receive Multi-Million-Dollar Design Technology Package from PACE Consortium
PHILADELPHIA - The School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania will receive an in-kind hardware and software contribution totaling approximately $70 million in commercial value from Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education, or PACE, a consortium comprised of General Motors, EDS, Hewlett Packard, Siemens PLM Software, Sun Microsystems a
In the News
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
The Independent
Climate scientists fear Trump will destroy progress in his second term – and the outcome could be ‘grim’
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that a second Trump term and the implementation of Project 2025 represents the end of climate action in this decade.
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 →