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How fungi make a key medicinal molecule
A petri dish of fungal matter in a lab.

Image: Bella Ciervo

How fungi make a key medicinal molecule

New research from Penn Medicine has uncovered the catalyst that creates a compound in fungi whose derivatives are applied to treatments for cancer and inflammation.

Ian Scheffler

Robert Gifford’s breakthroughs in real-time system safety
Flight control panel on a plane.

Image: iStock/Razvan Dimitriu

Robert Gifford’s breakthroughs in real-time system safety

The doctoral candidate with the Penn Research in Embedded Computing and Integrated Systems Engineering Center at Penn Engineering is revolutionizing real-time systems on modern multicore computers.

From Penn Engineering

Q&A: Dean Kumar and the ‘drone’ sightings
Picture of a drone flying lit nighttime cityscape

For more than a month, residents in New Jersey, parts of Pennsylvania, and New York have spotted unidentified flying objects, which local residents refer to as “drones,” hovering over neighborhoods, critical infrastructure and even restricted sites. To learn more about the mysterious flying objects, Penn Today spoke with local expert Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

(Image: Courtesy of iStock/Naypong)

Q&A: Dean Kumar and the ‘drone’ sightings

Penn Engineering Dean Vijay Kumar discusses the mysterious flying objects, or “drones,” hovering around parts of the East Coast.
A lipid nanoparticle delivers an mRNA cure for preeclampsia
Kelsey Swingle working in a lab.

Kelsey Swingle at work in the lab of Michael Mitchell.

(Image: Kevin Monko)

A lipid nanoparticle delivers an mRNA cure for preeclampsia

Doctoral student Kelsey Swingle developed a lipid nanoparticle that delivers an mRNA therapeutic that reduces maternal blood pressure through the end of gestation and improves fetal health and blood circulation in the placenta.

Melissa Pappas

An illuminating celebration to a brighter, greener future
The exterior of the Vagelos building lit up with dramatic lighting.

The new Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology boasts adaptable laboratory spaces to support the dynamic needs of pioneering research.

nocred

An illuminating celebration to a brighter, greener future

Members of the Penn community celebrated an energy research milestone: the unveiling of the new Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology.
Mapping molecular arrangements to pave the way for better catalytic systems
Bright spots represent individual catalyst molecules captured under cryogenic conditions to prevent clustering.

Eric Stach of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues used neural networks to better identify the characteristics of catalysts that drive the creation of liquid fuels from sunlight. Shown here: The arrangement of a catalyst molecule, as observed under cryogenic conditions. The bright spots represent individual or small groups of molecules immobilized on a surface and the cryogenic temperature helps minimize clustering caused by the electron beam during imaging, allowing scientists to study the molecule’s distribution more accurately.

(Image: Sungho Jeon)

Mapping molecular arrangements to pave the way for better catalytic systems

The Stach Group in Penn Engineering led a collaborative team identifying how chemical catalysts drive the creation of liquid fuels from sunlight, paving the way for more efficient removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
A greener, cleaner way to extract cobalt
A large setup infrastructure for mining gold and other minerals in Australia.

(Image: Alfio Manciagli)

A greener, cleaner way to extract cobalt

Penn researchers led a collaborative effort pioneering safer, more sustainable technique to extract elements critical to battery-powered technologies. Findings pave the way for getting value from materials that would otherwise be considered waste.
How are companies really using AI?
Two developers working on computer screens.

Image: iStock/RossHelen

How are companies really using AI?

Wharton’s Stefano Puntoni talks about the key findings of a new report that reveals a seismic shift in firms’ attitudes and uses of AI in just a short time.

From Knowledge at Wharton

Teaching robots common sense, empathy and other forms of intelligence
A person programming a robotic arm with a laptop.

Image: iStock/gorodenkoff

Teaching robots common sense, empathy and other forms of intelligence

Antonio Loquercio, an assistant professor in electrical and systems engineering, explores the potential that robots can have in answering fundamental questions on decision-making.

Melissa Pappas

Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi is a 2025 Rhodes Scholar
Om Gandhi.

Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi has been awarded a 2025 Rhodes Scholarship. 

(Image: Courtesy of Om Gandhi)

Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi is a 2025 Rhodes Scholar

Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi, from Barrington, Illinois, has been awarded a 2025 Rhodes Scholarship, which funds tuition and a living stipend for graduate study at the University of Oxford in England. He is among 32 American Rhodes Scholars, and an expected 100 worldwide.