11/15
Science & Technology
A bad bout of flu triggers ‘taste bud cells’ to grow in the lungs
A bad bout of flu triggers ‘taste bud cells’ to grow in the lungs
The discovery of these seemingly out-of-place sensing cells may lend insight into possibilities for protecting lung function in people who experience severe influenza infections.
Engineering an accurate, affordable model for turbulence in air and space travel
Engineering an accurate, affordable model for turbulence in air and space travel
Unreliable computer models are holding aerospace back. George Ilhwan Park is trying to break the jam with critical work on super-small currents.
STEM legacies: Five researchers reflect on the women who inspire them
STEM legacies: Five researchers reflect on the women who inspire them
For Women’s History Month, Penn faculty share their perspectives on enterprising women in STEM who have been sources of inspiration in a field with a large gender imbalance.
Bacterial population growth rate linked to how individual cells control their size
Bacterial population growth rate linked to how individual cells control their size
Developed at Penn, a theoretical model from a new area of research at the interface of math, physics, and biology describes how individual parameters can influence population-level dynamics.
Women in Physics Group inspires the next generation of physicists and astronomers
Women in Physics Group inspires the next generation of physicists and astronomers
Students had the opportunity to interact with a world-renowned astronomer during a day of informal get-togethers, networking events, and physics lectures at the annual conference.
Western bias in human genetic studies is ‘both scientifically damaging and unfair’
Western bias in human genetic studies is ‘both scientifically damaging and unfair’
In a commentary in the journal Cell, PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff and Giorgio Sirugo shine a light on the lack of ethnic diversity represented in genomic studies, and the consequences for health and medicine.
‘A Swiss cheese-like material’ that can solve equations
‘A Swiss cheese-like material’ that can solve equations
Engineering professor Nader Engheta and his team have demonstrated a metamaterial device that can function as an analog computer, validating an earlier theory.
Fostering a ‘culture of innovation’
Fostering a ‘culture of innovation’
Penn President Amy Gutmann opened McKinsey’s first-ever “Innovation Night,” held at the Penn Museum on Thursday, March 14. It’s a testament to the University’s critical, visionary role in Philadelphia.
Groundbreaking chemistry research at record speeds
The state-of-the-art High-Throughput Experimentation Laboratory helps chemistry researchers make new discoveries in record time.
Green labs group strives to make science more sustainable
Green labs group strives to make science more sustainable
With a Green Labs working group, Elicia Preston of the Perelman School of Medicine and the University’s Sustainability Office in Facilities and Real Estate Services are striving to make the pursuit of scientific research a more eco-friendly endeavor.
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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