11/15
Science & Technology
A new-to-us mineral
A new-to-us mineral
Reto Gieré of the School of Arts and Sciences and colleagues say the new mineral, isolated from a sample of igneous rock in central Madagascar, may help immobilize nuclear waste.
Tracing the evolutionary origins of fish to shallow ocean waters
Tracing the evolutionary origins of fish to shallow ocean waters
Coral reefs are envisioned as the seats of great biodiversity, but they may not be where all that diversity got its start. In a new study in Science, paleobiologist Lauren Sallan and colleagues reveal that the earliest fish may have diversified in shallower waters near shore.
Charles Kane and Eugene Mele to share Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
Charles Kane and Eugene Mele to share Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
For introducing a new class of materials with unique and useful properties, known as topological insulators, physicists Charles Kane and Eugene Mele will receive the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The award honors “fundamental discoveries…that are transforming our world.”
Drivers of inflammation provide valuable targets for new gum disease therapies
Drivers of inflammation provide valuable targets for new gum disease therapies
A subset of T cells contributes to the inflammation and bone loss that characterizes periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease. According to new research by George Hajishengallis and scientists at the National Institutes of Health, drugs that specifically inhibit these cells may offer an effective therapy.
Multidisciplinary team to develop stem cell-based approaches to restore vision
Multidisciplinary team to develop stem cell-based approaches to restore vision
Gene therapies have had success in treating blindness but can’t save areas of the retina where cells have already died. In a new effort, School of Veterinary Medicine scientists John Wolfe and William Beltran will attempt to develop a stem-cell-based approach that restores vision.
To improve dunes, plant more beach grass
To improve dunes, plant more beach grass
Pairing biology and cinema studies, Bianca Charbonneau and Yoni Gottlieb have produced a light-hearted, informative video that teaches the proper method for planting dune grasses to build a healthier dune ecosystem.
Immune cells involved in triple-negative breast cancer could offer future therapeutic target
Immune cells involved in triple-negative breast cancer could offer future therapeutic target
New research led by Rumela Chakrabarti reveals how immune cells called myeloid-derived immunosuppressor cells contribute to the progression of triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive cancer. Pairing chemotherapy with a drug that blocks these cells may one day help stem its growth.
Electronic research notebooks streamline the scientific method
Electronic research notebooks streamline the scientific method
To do it right, scientific research requires careful record keeping, dutiful repetition of protocols, and, in many cases, free exchange of data. Electronic research notebooks are intended to help researchers up their game and are now available at no charge to the University community through the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Dawn Bonnell.
Making fossils move to build better robots
Making fossils move to build better robots
Aja Carter, a Ph.D. candidate in paleontology, builds robots based on fossilized animals that crawled out of the sea about 300 million years ago. She’s pioneering a new field that she calls paleo-bio-inspired robotics.
A new take on the 19th-century skull collection of Samuel Morton
A new take on the 19th-century skull collection of Samuel Morton
After unearthing and analyzing handwritten documentation from scientist Samuel Morton, doctoral candidate Paul Wolff Mitchell drew a new conclusion about the infamous 19th-century collection: Though Morton accurately measured the brain size of hundreds of human skulls, racist bias still plagued his science.
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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