11/15
Science & Technology
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.
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.
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.
On-campus research to be limited due to COVID-19
On-campus research to be limited due to COVID-19
The Office of the Provost has announced new measures for research activities at Penn in response to COVID-19.
In the News
Scientific American
Grumpy voters want better stories. Not statistics
In a Q&A, PIK Professor Duncan Watts says that U.S. voters ignored Democratic policy in favor of Republican storytelling.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Climate policy under a second Trump presidency
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses how much a president can do or undo when it comes to environmental policy.
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Interesting Engineering
Superhuman vision lets robots see through walls, smoke with new LiDAR-like eyes
Mingmin Zhao of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues are using radio signals to allow robots to “see” beyond traditional sensor limits.
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Technical.ly Philly
A sneak peek inside Penn Engineering’s new $137.5M mass timber building
Amy Gutmann Hall aims to be Philadelphia’s next big hub for AI and innovation while setting a new standard for architectural sustainability.
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Salon.com
Exxon CEO wants Trump to stay in Paris climate accord
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences voices his concern about the possibility that the U.S. could become a petrostate.
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Associated Press
Amid Earth’s heat records, scientists report another bump upward in annual carbon emissions
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that total carbon emissions including fossil fuel pollution and land use changes such as deforestation are basically flat because land emissions are declining.
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The Wall Street Journal
How can we remove carbon from the air? Here are a few ideas
Jennifer Wilcox of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the carbon-removal potential of forestation can’t always be reliably measured in terms of how much removal and for how long.
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Associated Press
California air regulators approve changes to climate program that could raise gas prices
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that many things being credited in California’s new climate program don’t help the climate.
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Times of India
Self shocks turn crystal to glass at ultralow power density: Study
A collaborative study by researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Science has shed new light on amorphization, the transition from a crystalline to a glassy state at the nanoscale.
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Interesting Engineering
U.S. achieves billion-fold power-saving semiconductor tech; could challenge China
A collaborative effort by Ritesh Agarwal of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues has made phase-change memory more energy efficient and could unlock a future revolution in data storage.
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