4/22
Science & Technology
Making better decisions with AI
Kaustubh Sridhar, a doctoral student in Electrical and Systems Engineering, aims to improve autonomous agents in the real world with more accurate decision-making programming.
A twist on atomic sheets to create new materials
A collaborative team of physicists in the School of Arts & Sciences have found that putting a twist on tungsten disulfide stacks illuminates new approaches to manipulate light.
Carbon capture and common misconceptions: A Q&A with Joe Romm
In a conversation with Penn Today, Joe Romm casts a sobering light on “solutions” to curb climate change.
A centimeter-scale quadruped leverages curved-crease origami
Researchers led by Cynthia Sung in Penn Engineering have crafted a more simplified approach to the design and fabrication of these robots.
Scientists observe composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time
The findings could enable engineers to more reliably manufacture next-generation materials by combining different nanocrystals.
The alchemy behind the diamond: Unearthing baseball’s beloved mud
Researchers at Penn are working on cracking the code behind Major League Baseball’s “Magic Mud.”
Uncovering the role of skin microbiome and immune response in cutaneous leishmaniasis
Two new studies led by Phillip Scott of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Elizabeth Grice of the Perelman School of Medicine demonstrate how bacteria found in leishmaniasis skin lesions and an associated immune response drive disease burden and treatment failure—and suggest new possibilities for treatment of the parasitic disease.
Leveraging the body’s postal system to understand and treat disease
An interdisciplinary team of researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Perelman School of Medicine, and School of Arts & Sciences has developed a technique that allows for characterization of both individual carrier and cargo for clinically important molecules.
The Detkin Lab’s collaborative playground
At Penn Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, the Peter Detkin Lab blends laboratory, classroom, and makerspace.
Study shows promise for iNKT cell platform to treat cancer
Researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Perelman School of Medicine have shown that invariant natural killer T cells from a healthy donor can persist in MHC-mismatched canines, demonstrating a reliable platform to inform human clinical trials.
In the News
Here’s why experts don’t think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai’s downpour
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that many people blaming cloud seeding for Dubai storms are climate change deniers trying to divert attention from what’s really happening.
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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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