12.1
Science & Technology
Solving complex problems with purpose
Solving complex problems with purpose
Senior Angelica Padilla, who recently completed research through the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter undergraduate summer program, shares her passion for fluid mechanics.
A conversation with Doug Jerolmack
A conversation with Doug Jerolmack
In the latest episode of Penn Today’s ‘Office Hours’ podcast series, a chat with Doug Jerolmack that ranges from geophysics to taco shops.
A society’s cultural practices shape the structure of its social networks
A society’s cultural practices shape the structure of its social networks
Biologists Erol Akçay and Marco Smolla used mathematical models to show that societies that favor generalists, who have a wide range of skills, are less well-connected than those societies that favor specialists, who are highly skilled at a smaller number of traits.
Training the next generation of globally minded researchers
Training the next generation of globally minded researchers
As part of the Research and Education in Active Coatings Technologies for the Human Habitat program, students conduct fundamental research on materials that can improve lives while engaging in international collaborations and educational activities.
A wearable new technology moves brain monitoring from the lab to the real world
A wearable new technology moves brain monitoring from the lab to the real world
The portable EEG created by PIK Professor Michael Platt and postdoc Arjun Ramakrishnan has potential applications from health care to sports performance.
Materials for a more sustainable future
Materials for a more sustainable future
Using a collaborative approach and their expertise in fundamental chemical research, new Chemistry Department faculty member Thomas Mallouk and his group address challenges faced by engineers and materials scientists.
Five insights into how the brain works
Five insights into how the brain works
As the Center for Neuroscience & Society celebrates 10 years, founding director Martha Farah reflects on the array of research from its faculty, on subjects from brain games to aggression.
How to make a better water filter? Turn it inside out
How to make a better water filter? Turn it inside out
Penn engineers describe a novel approach for making antimicrobial nanoscale water filters while demonstrating new approaches that can be used to develop a broad range of materials.
Blinking eye-on-a-chip used for disease modeling and drug testing
Blinking eye-on-a-chip used for disease modeling and drug testing
Penn Engineering’s Dan Huh and Jeongyun Seo built an eye model that could imitate a healthy eye and an eye with dry eye disease, allowing them to test an experimental drug without risk of human harm.
Minding the gap between mass transit and ride-hailing apps
Minding the gap between mass transit and ride-hailing apps
With support from the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, doctoral students Caitlin Gorback and Summer Dong are researching how services like Uber and Lyft are changing our transport habits, cities, and environments.
In the News
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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The New York Times
You got a brain scan at the hospital. Someday a computer may use it to identify you
Aaron Roth of the School of Engineering and Applied Science commented on research that paired MRI scans with facial recognition software. “It is clear that eventually this will be a worrying attack” on stored medical data, he said.
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Inside Higher Ed
Twitter’s gender imbalance
Rachel Werner of the Perelman School of Medicine authored a study that found that while men and women use Twitter at equal rates, the site has not reduced gender disparities in academia overall.
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PBS
Study finds kittens bond with their human caregivers like babies do
Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine advised readers to keep in mind that while babies and kittens are similar, they’re not analogous; scientific findings about one may not hold true for the other. “We should be open-minded about the idea that there are other variables [at play],” he said.
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The Hill
R&D, not Greenland, can solve our rare earth problem
Research into rare earth metals by Eric Schelter, Patrick Carroll, Ph.D. student Justin Bogart, and alumnus Connor Lippincott of the School of Arts and Sciences was cited.
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Smithsonian Magazine
Women scientists were written out of history. It’s Margaret Rossiter’s lifelong mission to fix that
M. Susan Lindee of the School of Arts and Sciences praised academic Margaret Rossiter’s research on women’s contributions to science. “We have to look at her past work carefully,” said Lindee, “and re-examine all those brilliant strategies that women used to contest institutional power, which was oriented around preventing them from succeeding.”
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Earth Magazine
Researchers find no link between testosterone and a lack of cognitive empathy
New research by Gideon Nave of the Wharton School found that, contrary to past research, increased testosterone levels do not impair men’s ability to empathize. “We found that there is no evidence to support this effect of testosterone, but that doesn’t rule out any possible effects,” said Nave. “From what we know, though, it seems that if testosterone does have an influence, the effect is complex, not linear.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Breeding has shaped dogs’ brains, MRI scans reveal
Wilfried Mai of the School of Veterinary Medicine weighed in on a study that analyzed cognitive differences between dog breeds. “The paper demonstrates very nicely differences in brain morphology with either reduction or hypertrophy [larger size] of certain brain areas that are known to be associated with specific behaviors,” he said.
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WESA Radio (Pittsburgh)
Wheels, drones and Rescue Randy: DARPA robotics competition puts mine rescue to the test
A four-legged robot from the School of Engineering and Applied Science was among robots performing underwater search and rescue in a competition. “They're doing everything completely autonomously, so every step they take is kind of a minor victory for us,” said C. J. Taylor. “We always feel that we could do better. We learn so much from each of these events and that gives us new ideas about things that we want to try.”
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