3.30
Science & Technology
The future of innovation in consumer technology
The future of innovation in consumer technology
Wharton’s David Hsu discusses what the recent Consumer Electronics Show says about the consumer technology landscape and what innovations will become prevalent in the future.
Kathie Jin races towards the future with Penn Electric Racing
Kathie Jin races towards the future with Penn Electric Racing
As the mechanical co-lead and operations lead for Penn Electric Racing (PER), a Formula SAE Electric Racing team, Engineering junior Kathie Jin leads a group of eighty students to design, build and race electric cars.
Kirigami designs hold thousands of times their own weight
Kirigami designs hold thousands of times their own weight
A team of researchers found that using the origami-inspired art of paper cutting and folding, it is possible to create super strong models from lightweight soft materials without the need for adhesives or fasteners.
How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient
How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient
Physicists describe how vascular networks, collections of vessels that move fluid, nutrients, and waste, balance robustness with “cost” to create a diverse array of structures and designs.
New astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets
New astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets
A state-of-the-art instrument called NEID, from the Tohono O’odham word meaning “to see,” collected its “first light” and is poised to look for new planets outside the solar system.
Coral reef resilience
Coral reef resilience
With coral reefs under threat from climate change, marine biologist Katie Barott studies how some corals may prove resilient to warming temperatures and acidifying oceans.
Engineers and nurses team up to build inflatable robots
Engineers and nurses team up to build inflatable robots
Penn Engineering and Penn Nursing’s collaboration in this new area of “soft robotics” is critical for designing machines that can safely interact with people in health care settings.
Evan and the chocolate factory
Evan and the chocolate factory
Engineering student Evan Weinstein fixated on the idea of liberating bespoke chocolates from the confines of both the bar and the mold. Rather than cast a chocolate shape, why not build it? Cocoa Press is his solution.
A close look at thin ice
A close look at thin ice
A pairing of theory and experiment led to discovering atomic-scale details of the growth of ice on surfaces, which can inform the design of materials that make ice removal simple and cheaper.
Diving into code to illuminate the history of computing
Diving into code to illuminate the history of computing
Stephanie Dick delves deep into the practice of computer programming and design to shed light on different communities’ attempts to automate reason, knowledge, and proof.
In the News
Vox.com
This AI breakthrough in antibiotics might one day save your life
César de la Fuente of the School of Engineering and Applied Science commented on new MIT research that might speed up antibiotic discovery. “I think it’s a breakthrough in a field of much unmet need,” he said. “After all, no new classes of antibiotics have been discovered for decades. This one is definitely structurally different from conventional antibiotics.”
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“All Things Considered,” National Public Radio
At 25 years, understanding the longevity of Craigslist
Jessa Lingel of the Annenberg School for Communication spoke about the founders of Craigslist. “They’re both just old-school engineer type guys who just really believe in keeping the design as simple and functional as possible,” she said. “[I]t’s never had a competitor that was really able to swallow up its user base. It’s had loyal customers all along, loyal users all along, so it’s just never been forced to adapt.”
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Can algorithms help judges make fair decisions?
Michael Kearns of the School of Engineering and Applied Science said algorithms force us to be more detailed in our decision-making. “You should never expect machine learning to do something for free that you didn’t explicitly ask it to do for you, and you should never expect it to avoid behavior that you want it to avoid that you didn’t tell it explicitly to avoid,” he said.
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The New York Times
Westminster and work: Some show dogs serve, search or soothe
Cynthia Otto of the School of Veterinary Medicine said that a working dog’s appearance is not nearly as important as its drive to seek scents. “They’re not what most would want as your average house pet,” she said.
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Mashable.com
Experts warn smartphone voting is ‘extremely risky,’ yet here it comes
Matt Blaze of the School of Engineering and Applied Science weighed in on a Washington state district’s plans to implement smartphone voting. “This extremely risky decision runs counter to the findings of the authoritative National Academies ‘Securing the Vote’ study, which represents the consensus of experts,” he said.
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The Hill
Critics fear Facebook fact-checkers losing misinformation fight
Eugene Kiely of the Annenberg Public Policy Center spoke about Factcheck.org and how the site manages Facebook content for review.
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Scientific American
Artificial intelligence is rushing into patient care—and could raise risks
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Saurabh Jha of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the potential hazards of using artificial intelligence in medicine.
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The New York Times
Shuttered Philadelphia refinery may get new life after fire
Mark Alan Hughes of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy spoke about the possibility of converting the old Philadelphia refinery into a hybrid plant that also produces renewable fuels. “They’re predicting a steadily declining place for things like the refinery that was,” he said. “The kind of mix that tries to lower the profile of fossil fuel activity is, I think, the most likely outcome.”
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The New York Times
How Narwhal the ‘unicorn’ puppy may have grown a tail on his head
Margret Casal of the School of Veterinary Medicine explained that the puppy with a tail on its face that went viral is likely the result of another embryo that didn’t fully separate in utero.
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Forbes
The real story about organoids: What you should know about ‘brains in a dish’
Hongjun Song of the Perelman School of Medicine explained how brain organoids were developed. “In the last five years scientists figured out how to turn stem cells into 3D cell structures, and eventually [developed] so-called brain organoids, which look like not only cell types in the brain but also cell architectures,” he said.
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