11/15
Science & Technology
Soft robots gain new strength
Soft robots gain new strength
Penn Engineers have developed a clutch 63 times stronger than current electroadhesive clutches, making soft robots stronger and safer and making virtual reality gloves feel more real.
People and places at Penn: Research
People and places at Penn: Research
From Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall to the Schuylkill River, four researchers share their science and their spaces.
Tackling the ethical considerations of dementia research
Tackling the ethical considerations of dementia research
Alzheimer’s research poses tricky questions. Bedside-nurse-turned-bioethicist Emily Largent wants to answer them, and to improve the lives of Alzheimer’s patients.
Minimally invasive method tracks how the brain spends energy
Penn researchers have developed a new technique for monitoring the brain’s metabolic rate of oxygen consumption, a measure of the brain’s consumption of energy.
An evolving animal health emergency
An evolving animal health emergency
More than 52 million birds in the U.S. have been affected by an outbreak of avian influenza. Researchers at the School of Veterinary Medicine are supporting Pennsylvania’s diagnostic work and launching new investigations to better understand the virus.
Penn awarded grant to promote inclusive excellence in STEM teaching and learning
Penn awarded grant to promote inclusive excellence in STEM teaching and learning
With support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Penn is embarking on a six-year effort to enhance inclusivity and belonging in undergraduate STEM education.
Tiny swimming robots can restructure materials on a microscopic level
Tiny swimming robots can restructure materials on a microscopic level
Penn Engineers are working to make controlling microscopic processes, such as transporting drugs to tumors for precise therapies, faster, safer, and more reliable through the use of microrobots.
At COP27, Penn showcased its diverse climate expertise on the world stage
At COP27, Penn showcased its diverse climate expertise on the world stage
More than 30 representatives from the University traveled to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for two weeks of negotiations at this year’s United Nations climate change conference.
Stable, faster computer memory storage
Stable, faster computer memory storage
Researchers in the School of Arts & Sciences offer a new explanation for how certain materials can be grown on silicon and offer stable information storage at the nanometer scale for smaller, faster, more multifunctional processors.
Who, What, Why: Sociologist Wendy Roth on genetic ancestry tests and race perception
Who, What, Why: Sociologist Wendy Roth on genetic ancestry tests and race perception
With funding from the National Institutes of Health, Roth plans to explore how people view others who change their racial identity based on results from at-home DNA kits.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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