9.30
Science & Technology
Sports, STEM, and science communication
Sports, STEM, and science communication
As a former college basketball player, postdoctoral research fellow John Drazan coordinates sport-science outreach activities that put his unique set of credentials to use.
Tailoring treatment for triple-negative breast cancer
Tailoring treatment for triple-negative breast cancer
Research led by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Rumela Chakrabarti identified a molecular pathway responsible for the disease’s progression and spread.
New scavenger technology allows robots to ‘eat’ metal for energy
New scavenger technology allows robots to ‘eat’ metal for energy
Penn Engineering researchers’ new metal-air scavenger vehicle gets energy from breaking chemical bonds in the aluminum surface it travels over, rather than from batteries.
DIY origami face masks for COVID-19
DIY origami face masks for COVID-19
The professor of materials science and engineering and chemical and biomolecular engineering is leading an effort to design an effective face mask that can be made at home.
How to defend your virtual meeting from uninvited, malicious guests
How to defend your virtual meeting from uninvited, malicious guests
As ‘Zoombombing’ becomes widespread, Penn’s Office of Information Security provides tips on staying secure.
A quick pivot turns an infectious disease class into timely education
A quick pivot turns an infectious disease class into timely education
Students in David Roos’ upper-level biology course had been studying pandemics. Now they get to learn in real time how public health scientists attempt to understand COVID-19.
A new way to study HIV’s impact on the brain
A new way to study HIV’s impact on the brain
Using a newly developed laboratory model of three types of brain cells, Penn and CHOP scientists reveal how HIV infection—as well as the drugs that treat it—can take a toll on the central nervous system.
New feathered dinosaur was one of the last surviving raptors
New feathered dinosaur was one of the last surviving raptors
Dineobellator notohesperus lived 67 million years ago. Steven Jasinski, who recently earned his doctorate from the School of Arts and Sciences working with Peter Dodson, also of the School of Veterinary Medicine, led the effort to describe the find.
A critical enzyme for sperm formation could be a target for treating male infertility
A critical enzyme for sperm formation could be a target for treating male infertility
The protein, SKP1, drives a key transition step in male meiosis, the type of cell division process that results in sperm, School of Veterinary Medicine researchers found.
Takeaways from an overseas epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak
Takeaways from an overseas epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak
John Holmes discussed the epidemiological data on COVID-19 and shared his personal perspectives on the outbreak as a visiting professor working in Northern Italy.
In the News
CBS Philadelphia
University of Pennsylvania program training dogs to sniff out spotted lanternfly eggs
Jennifer Essler, a postdoc in the School of Veterinary Medicine, spoke about a new program that trains dogs to detect the presence of spotted lanternfly eggs. “For the dogs, it’s a game, it’s like anything else. They don’t know that they are saving the planet in any way,” she said.
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The Washington Post
Drone maker hurt by US-China rift, opening door to US rivals
Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the challenges of using drones for commercial purposes and about American perceptions of DJI, a China-based drone manufacturer.
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The Hill
Pandemic exposes broadband divide
Christopher Yoo of the Law School spoke about the importance of expanding broadband infrastructure in the U.S. “Investing in infrastructure would be a terrific way to support the economy. It not only spends money but also lays the foundation for future growth and future jobs,” he said.
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CNN
What you need to know about coronavirus on Wednesday, September 2
Kenneth Foster of the School of Engineering and Applied Science debunked conspiracy theories that link 5G networks and radio frequencies to the spread of COVID-19. "There's nothing different in terms of exposure," he said.
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BBC News
Elon Musk to show off working brain-hacking device
Ari Benjamin, a doctoral student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said the biggest stumbling block for brain-to-machine interface technology is the complexity of the human brain. "Once they have the recordings, Neuralink will need to decode them and will someday hit the barrier that is our lack of basic understanding of how the brain works, no matter how many neurons they record from,” he said. "Decoding goals and movement plans is hard when you don't understand the neural code in which those things are communicated."
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Gizmodo
Does your cat actually hate you?
Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about how cats interact with their owners. “Humans are very physical in their relationships—they want to hold their cat, hug their cat, etc. This can be terrible for any animal that doesn’t enjoy your presence, but it’s even worse for cats, because the way in which cats express their preferences is through proximity,” he said.
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Forbes
National Science Foundation invests $104 million to launch four new engineering research centers
Cherie Kagan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about the Penn-led IoT4Ag center’s work: “We need new technology to meet the challenges of a world with a growing population and changing climate. We simply need to produce more crops for every drop of water or Joule of energy we’re currently using to realize a food, energy and water-secure future.”
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STAT News
Boosting the promise—and reining in the peril—of COVID-19 preprints
PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno and an AAAS colleague wrote about scientific preprints, web-based publications of yet-to-be-peer-reviewed research findings. “Let’s revel in the knowledge that preprints today are helping researchers share—especially with each other—their latest advances with great ease and speed. At the same time, let’s impose some discipline on our own proclivities to celebrate prematurely or sink into despair,” they wrote.
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The Hill
Wealthy households have 25 percent higher carbon impacts than lower-income homes
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about how class affects access to sustainable energy alternatives. “For higher income individuals, it's a function of choice," he said. "For lower income individuals, it's a function of constraints.”
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The New York Times
Who’s a bot? Who’s not?
Sarah Jackson of the Annenberg School for Communication said it’s important to focus on where bots exist within social networks as well as with whom they actually interact. “Even if there are a lot of bots in a network, it is misleading to suggest they are leading the conversation or influencing real people who are tweeting in those same networks,” she said.
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