11/15
Science & Technology
Self-healing liquid brings new life to battery alternative
Self-healing liquid brings new life to battery alternative
In Penn engineers’ new anode design, gallium repeatedly melts and solidifies, “healing” the cracks that would otherwise gradually decrease the battery’s ability to hold a charge.
Innovation at ‘Cellicon Valley’
Innovation at ‘Cellicon Valley’
Key facts and figures about ongoing efforts towards translating discoveries and ideas into products and businesses at the Penn Center for Innovation.
Computer-generated antibiotics and biosensor Band-Aids
Computer-generated antibiotics and biosensor Band-Aids
For Penn synthetic biologist César de la Fuente and his team, these concepts aren’t some far-off ideal. They’re projects already in progress, and they have huge real-world implications should they succeed.
Where math meets biology
Where math meets biology
Through his research, Yoichiro Mori, the Calabi-Simons Visiting Professor of Mathematics and Biology, demonstrates how mathematical theories can provide insights into complex, living systems.
Three Penn faculty named 2019 AAAS Fellows
Three Penn faculty named 2019 AAAS Fellows
Three from Penn have been named to the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s newest class of Fellows: Carolyn Gibson of the School of Dental Medicine, Sampath Kannan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Ellen Puré of the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Strella Biotechnology tackles food waste by ‘hacking the fruit’
Strella Biotechnology tackles food waste by ‘hacking the fruit’
President’s Innovation Prize awardees Katherine Sizov and Malika Shukurova are expanding their startup and confronting $1 trillion of food waste with their novel biosensing technology.
A missing link in haze formation
A missing link in haze formation
Hazy days don’t just block the view; they mean the air contains particulate matter that can compromise human health. Chemists have discovered a way that alcohols can balance out the formation of new particles, a finding that could improve the accuracy of air-quality forecasts.
Predicting treatment outcome for leishmaniasis
Predicting treatment outcome for leishmaniasis
In a study of patients treated in Brazil, a team led by School of Veterinary Medicine researchers identified genetic factors and features of the infection itself that predict whether patients will respond to treatment.
Google’s claims of quantum supremacy: Groundbreaking, overhyped, or both?
Google’s claims of quantum supremacy: Groundbreaking, overhyped, or both?
A Q&A with Lee Bassett, a scientist who works on quantum computing platforms, with insights into this feat of engineering and what the future might hold for this fast-paced field of research.
Inspiring young women in STEM
Over two days, nearly two dozen female STEM role models at Penn welcomed more than 100 high school students and teachers to campus as part of the Girls Advancing in STEM (GAINS) Initiative Conference on campus.
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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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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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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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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The Independent
Climate scientists fear Trump will destroy progress in his second term – and the outcome could be ‘grim’
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that a second Trump term and the implementation of Project 2025 represents the end of climate action in this decade.
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