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Science & Technology
In hot water: Coral resilience in the face of climate change
Over a decade, researchers from Penn studied coral species in Hawaii to better understand their adaptability to the effects of climate change.
More than skin deep: A molecular and mechanistic look at pigmentation variation
A new collaborative study offers a better understanding of genes and variants responsible for skin color, providing insights into human evolution and local adaptation.
Shu Yang manipulates materials to create climate change-fighting inventions
The Joseph Bordogna Professor and chair of Materials Science and Engineering has introduced simple yet effective technologies, including kirigami-inspired structures that aid in breast reconstruction, to the manipulation of knots to create stronger sutures.
Dark Energy Survey uncovers clues to universe’s complexity
The decade-long effort reveals findings consistent with standard cosmological models, but open to more complex interpretations.
How Penn Medicine is changing the world with mRNA
Vaccines are just the beginning of the potential for messenger RNA, the Nobel Prize-winning technology.
Microrobots: An emerging biomedical trend
In a Q&A with Penn Today, Hyun (Michel) Koo of the School of Dental Medicine and Edward Steager of the School of Engineering and Applied Science discuss the emerging trend of microrobots in healthcare.
Exchanging climate knowledge at COP28
More than two dozen researchers from schools and centers across the University traveled to Dubai for the UN’s annual climate change conference.
Exploring the role of science communication in democracy
Philosophy Ph.D. student Vanessa Schipani taught the SNF Paideia course Science Communication in Democracy, based on her dissertation research.
Fifth national climate assessment emphasizes mitigation
The latest National Climate Assessment highlights historic emissions reductions and outlines new guidance for achieving a net-zero emissions pathway.
Celebrating innovation and impact
Now in its tenth year of operation, the Penn Center for Innovation marked innovation achievements from fiscal year 2023 with highlights and awards.
In the News
Can we stop AI hallucinations? And do we even want to?
Chris Callison-Burch of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that auto-regressive generation can make it difficult for language learning models to perform fact-based or symbolic reasoning.
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“Record-shattering” heat wave in Antarctica — yep, climate change is the culprit
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that persistent summer weather extremes like heat waves are becoming more common as people continue to warm the planet with carbon pollution.
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How the solar eclipse will affect solar panels and the grid
Benjamin Lee of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that the electrical grid will have to figure out how to match supply and demand during brief windows where the energy source goes away.
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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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