4/16
Science & Technology
Understanding the Northeast earthquake
Last week, people in the Northeast experienced a rare earthquake that registered a magnitude of 4.8. Penn Today spoke with David Goldsby of the School of Arts & Sciences and Robert Carpick of the School of Engineering and Applied Science about the event.
Penn Electric Racing’s latest race car
Designed and produced by the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s student-run club, REV9 will compete in the annual Formula Society of Automotive Engineers Michigan race in June.
Sherry Gao pushes the boundaries of genetic engineering
The Presidential Penn Compact Associate Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering aims to make gene editing tools like CRISPR more accurate, and encourage first generation students along the way.
Total solar eclipse
Gary Bernstein and Bhuvnesh Jain speak with Penn Today about the significance of the coming total eclipse.
The hidden geometry of learning: Neural networks think alike
New research by Penn engineers illuminates the inner workings of neural networks, opening the possibility of developing hyper-efficient algorithms that could classify images in a fraction of the time.
What the brain reveals in nature’s subtle game of give and take
Research led by Michael Platt uncovers the neural pathways for primate reciprocity, social support, and empathy.
Accelerating CAR T cell therapy: Lipid nanoparticles speed up manufacturing
Penn Engineers have developed a novel method for manufacturing CAR T cells using lipid nanoparticles as delivery vehicles.
‘Behind the Startup’ looks at venture capital and inequality
The new book by Benjamin Shestakofsky is based on 19 months of participant-observation research, rising from intern to middle manager in a tech startup.
Using theater and the arts to empower communities in the energy transition
The arts can be a valuable tool for facilitating dialogue around the energy transition and ensuring community perspectives are represented in policy arenas.
Interfacial phenomena: Samantha McBride’s untapped resource for water sustainability
At her lab, McBride is developing technology that can change the face of water security using a multidisciplinary range of scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, and materials science.
In the News
Here’s why experts don’t think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai’s downpour
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that many people blaming cloud seeding for Dubai storms are climate change deniers trying to divert attention from what’s really happening.
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Can we stop AI hallucinations? And do we even want to?
Chris Callison-Burch of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that auto-regressive generation can make it difficult for language learning models to perform fact-based or symbolic reasoning.
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“Record-shattering” heat wave in Antarctica — yep, climate change is the culprit
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that persistent summer weather extremes like heat waves are becoming more common as people continue to warm the planet with carbon pollution.
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How the solar eclipse will affect solar panels and the grid
Benjamin Lee of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that the electrical grid will have to figure out how to match supply and demand during brief windows where the energy source goes away.
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Scientists struggle to explain ‘really weird’ spike in world temperatures
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that tendencies to exaggerate climate science in favor of “doomist” narratives helps no one except the fossil fuel industry.
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Spring is here very early. That’s not good
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that plant-flowering, tree-leafing, and egg-hatching are all markers associated with spring that are happening sooner.
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Can your personal medical devices be recycled?
A lab at the School of Engineering and Applied Science led the development of a COVID test made from bacterial cellulose, an organic compound.
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Could Florida electric bills go up because of a fuel made from manure?
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that federal and California state subsidies have led to a gold rush of companies trying to get into the business of renewable natural gas around the country.
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Students can soon major in AI at this Ivy League university—it’ll prepare them for ‘jobs that don’t yet exist’
The Raj and Neera Singh Program in Artificial Intelligence at Penn will be the first AI undergraduate engineering major at an Ivy League school, led by George Pappas of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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Pa. environmental, religious and other groups criticize Shapiro plan for ignoring climate change
A study by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design found that Pennsylvania would benefit overall from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
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