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Science & Technology
Digitized plant collection to answer how living in a megalopolis affects flora
Digital records of the roughly 800,000 plant specimens from five mid-Atlantic states will create a digital herbarium, a database covering 400 years of native flora.
Detecting distant stars: Q&A with Jose Maria Diego and Jesús Vega
While observing an exploding star in a galaxy cluster billions of light-years away, two visiting scholars noticed a curious speck of light in their images. The light was from an ancient star more than 9 billion years ago, the most distant star ever detected.
Leveraging Penn’s expertise to meet challenges in the water sector
A conference on campus brings together The Water Center at Penn and city officials and community members across the country to find solutions for better water utilities and access.
Bringing health innovation to life
The Penn Center for Health, Devices and Technology weds health care professionals with visionary ideas and the technological know-how to build innovative medical devices.
Mathematical model explains why metastasis can occur even when cancer is caught early
Researchers are uncovering the unique nature of individual cancer "communities" and how they evolve, and applying math models to understand their growth.
Paving the way for safer smaller batteries and fuel cells
A new solid polymer electrolyte may be the key to making energy storage devices like lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries more efficient.
Technology, aging patients, and the people who care for them
In a quest to ease the care process for older adults and the very sick, as well as their family-member caregivers, PIK professor George Demiris is studying the intersection of smart-home technologies and health informatics.
Immune system function in the microgravity of space
Researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Perelman School of Medicine are developing a technology to better understand how microgravity negatively affects immune system function.
A virtual world for an ancient society
Anthropologist Clark Erickson has made a career of studying humans’ effect on their physical landscapes—past and present.
Science and politics: a Q&A with Molly Sheehan
The School of Engineering and Applied Science postdoc researcher discusses what fascinates her about science, her unique path in science and technology, and the role scientists should play in political office.
In the News
“PBS NewsHour”
An 11-year-old changed election results on a replica Florida state website in under 10 minutes
The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Matt Blaze discussed a hacking experiment, saying it was “not surprising that these precocious, bright kids would be able to do it because the websites that are on the internet are vulnerable…. What was interesting is just how utterly quickly they were able to do it.”
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Wired.co.uk
Why people can't resist the viral lure of the Kiki Challenge
Damon Centola of the Annenberg School for Communication explained the phenomenon of dangerous viral challenges: “Slightly dangerous or slightly risky challenges may have the best combination of high-enough riskiness to make it easy to create emotional excitement about participating, but low-enough risk that they can spread with only moderate levels of social reinforcement.”
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Reuters
Viral content-vaccine scandal test Beijing’s grip on information control
The Annenberg School for Communication’s Kecheng Fang discussed the Chinese government’s failed attempts to suppress discourse about current events on WeChat, a popular messaging platform. “This is a guerrilla war. The government cannot tackle it just like it does traditional media,” said Fang.
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The New York Times
Worker ants: You could have been queens
The Perelman School’s Roberto Bonasio discussed the difficulties of studying insulin signaling in ants. The relevant genes, said Bonasio, are involved in numerous bodily functions, making it tough to isolate their role in differentiating queens from workers.
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The Washington Post
Testosterone boost feeds U.S. men’s hunger for luxury products, study indicates
Researchers at the Wharton School found that men who were given doses of testosterone expressed more interest in high-status goods. However, the study authors also noted that “status signals are not universal” and that results may vary between cultures.
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Technical.ly Philly
The Drone From This Penn Spinout Can Fly Inside Mines Without Maps or GPS
Exyn Technologies will be sending out a drone to explore a Latin American mine using only its own onboard sensors. The startup, which originated in Penn’s GRASP lab, was cofounded by Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn Makes Third Big Biotech Bet, Helping to Raise $53M for Carisma
Cancer-fighting biotech company Carisma Therapeutics Inc. is the latest addition to Penn’s recently-announced investment plan. Roy Rosin, CIO at Penn Medicine, said, “Penn’s commitment is pretty exciting for this region.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn Invests $50 million in Biotech in a Bold Bid to Build Philly’s Innovation Cluster
Kevin B. Mahoney of the Perelman School of Medicine and UPHS confirmed Penn’s plans to invest in biotech companies, with long-range goals “to create jobs, synergy and an innovation cluster around Penn technology and spin outs.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Philly’s First Maker Faire: A Summer Carnival of Innovation
The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Dean Vijay Kumar, Dan Koditschek, and Mark Yim were participants in Sunday’s Maker Faire, hosted at Pennovation.
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Nature
Microsoft’s Purchase of GitHub Leaves Some Scientists Uneasy
Post-doc Daniel Himmelstein of the Perelman School of Medicine discussed problematic elements of GitHub’s model. “Regardless of the Microsoft acquisition, GitHub, as a centralized and closed company, possesses a dangerous level of control over the open-source ecosystem,” said Himmelstein.
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