11/15
Science & Technology
Magnetic microrobots use capillary forces to coax particles into position
Magnetic microrobots use capillary forces to coax particles into position
A new study shows how microscopic robots, remotely driven by magnetic fields, can use capillary forces to manipulate objects floating at the interface between two liquids.
Looking to mud to study how particles become sticky
Looking to mud to study how particles become sticky
A collaboration of geophysicists and fluid mechanics experts led to a fundamental new insight into how tiny ‘bridges’ help particles of all kinds form aggregates.
With a protein ‘delivery,’ parasite can suppress its host’s immune response
With a protein ‘delivery,’ parasite can suppress its host’s immune response
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii need not infect a host immune cell to alter its behavior, according to a new study from the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Engineers collaborate to create electroadhesive grippers
Engineers collaborate to create electroadhesive grippers
A collaborative team has developed a method for electroadhesion—which exploits the same phenomenon as static cling—to manipulate microscale objects.
A roadblock for disease-causing parasites
A roadblock for disease-causing parasites
Activating a mosquito’s immune system can prevent it from transmitting the parasites that cause canine heartworm and human lymphatic filariasis, according to new research from the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Penn senior Srinivas Mandyam awarded Churchill Scholarship
Penn senior Srinivas Mandyam awarded Churchill Scholarship
Mandyam will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in physics, mathematics, and biophysics, along with a master’s in physics; the scholarship awards him a year of graduate research study in physics at the University of Cambridge.
What we do and don’t know about the novel coronavirus
What we do and don’t know about the novel coronavirus
Experts from the Vet School, Med School, and Center for Public Health Initiatives provide insight into the new disease outbreak.
Penn nanoparticles are less toxic to T cells engineered for cancer immunotherapy
Penn nanoparticles are less toxic to T cells engineered for cancer immunotherapy
By using messenger RNA across the T cell’s membrane via a nanoparticle instead of a DNA-rewriting virus on extracted T cells, CAR T treatments could have fewer side effects.
A better building block for creating new materials
Researchers describe a new way to synthesize organic “Legos,” a chemical framework that can be easily modified and controlled to create new materials with unique properties.
The future of innovation in consumer technology
The future of innovation in consumer technology
Wharton’s David Hsu discusses what the recent Consumer Electronics Show says about the consumer technology landscape and what innovations will become prevalent in the future.
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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