Science & Technology

For the last century, the concept of crystals has been a mainstay of solid-state physics. Crystals are paragons of order; crystalline materials are defined by the repeating patterns their constituent atoms and molecules make.

Nancy Minyanou’s interest in Argentina was sparked in high school, and now this summer the rising junior at the University of Pennsylvania is fulfilling a vision for breaking down barriers and expanding her knowledge about the country in the Penn Summer Abroad program in Buenos Aires. 

Dana Graves of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine is this year’s recipient of the International Association of Dental Research’s Distingui

Angiogenesis, the sprouting of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, is essential to the body’s development. As organs grow, vascular networks must grow with them to feed new cells and remove their waste. The same process, however, also plays a critical role in the onset and progression of many cancers, as it allows the rapid growth of tumors.

Daniel Janzen of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Biology in the School of Arts & Sciences was chosen to receive a 2014 Blue Planet Prize

When a woman experiences a stressful event early in pregnancy, the risk of her child developing autism spectrum disorders or schizophrenia increases. Yet how maternal stress is transmitted to the brain of the developing fetus, leading to these problems in neurodevelopment, is poorly understood. 

In conjunction with the first White House Maker Faire being held today, the University of Pennsylvania signed a joint letter along with more than 150 other institutions, pledging support to foster a “generation of makers.” The letter details the need for young tinkerers, inventors and entrepreneurs to bring life to future innovations.

Draw a line with a pencil and it’s likely that somewhere along that black smudge is a material that earned two scientists the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. The graphite of that pencil tip is simply multiple layers of carbon atoms; where those layers are only one atom thick, it is known as graphene.

Minh Nguyen, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts & Sciences, has received the 2014 Sabin Metal Ron Bleggi Award from the International Precious Metals Institute.

The human body is comprised of roughly 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. In healthy people, these bacteria are typically harmless and often helpful, keeping disease-causing microbes at bay. But, when disturbances knock these bacterial populations out of balance, illnesses can arise. Periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease, is one example.