11/15
Science & Technology
Dry conditions may have helped a new type of plant gain a foothold on Earth
Dry conditions may have helped a new type of plant gain a foothold on Earth
Plants reap energy from the sun using two photosynthesis pathways, C3 and C4. A new study led by Haoran Zhou, Erol Akçay and Brent Helliker suggests that water availability drove the expansion of C4 species, which may help to explain how different plant lineages came to be distributed on the planet today.
This startup wants to revolutionize the future of biofabrication
This startup wants to revolutionize the future of biofabrication
Before the fall of 2012, Orkan Telhan and Karen Hogan didn’t even know each other. Fast forward six years, and the Penn duo has created budding startup Biorealize, with not one—but two—transformative products.
Sniffing for science
Sniffing for science
In the “Citizen Science” course at the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Working Dog Center, Meghan Ramos and Tessa Seales work with dog owners to enhance their pups’ scent detection skills, with an eye toward bolstering the Center’s research.
Getting science right in the fake news era
Getting science right in the fake news era
Over his career as a science journalist, Carl Zimmer has seen legitimate science reporting denied and illegitimate science news taken as fact. In advance of a talk at Penn, Zimmer discusses the problem of misinformation and offers tips for avoiding being fooled by bogus science stories.
Johnson & Johnson lands at Penn
JPOD @ Philadelphia officially launched at Pennovation Works on Nov. 1, expanding the region’s ever-evolving innovation ecosystem.
Two apps target cancer risk in marginalized populations
Two apps target cancer risk in marginalized populations
The tech-based mobile health interventions from Nursing’s Anne Teitelman focus on preventive health actions, including the HPV vaccine.
Designing autonomous robots that change shape to adapt to challenging environments
Designing autonomous robots that change shape to adapt to challenging environments
Researchers at Penn’s ModLab have developed SMORES-EP, a robotic system capable of giving machines increasing autonomy. A recent paper details their work.
How plants cope with stress
How plants cope with stress
With climate change comes drought, and with drought comes higher salt concentrations in the soil. Brian Gregory and graduate student Stephen Anderson have identified a mechanism by which plants respond to salt stress, a pathway that could be targeted to engineer more adaptable crops.
Promoting innovative, reproducible science: Penn’s Research Excellence Initiative
Promoting innovative, reproducible science: Penn’s Research Excellence Initiative
The two-year effort includes electronic research notebooks, a research symposium, and a task force of faculty and students, all spearheaded by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.
Want to reduce emissions? Start in the gut of a cow
Want to reduce emissions? Start in the gut of a cow
As concern about climate change rises, Dipti Pitta of the School of Veterinary Medicine is working to develop innovative strategies to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
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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