Through
4/26
Science & Technology
Penn Engineering and Steppingstone Scholars launch a STEM equity and innovation lab
Penn Engineering and Steppingstone Scholars launch a STEM equity and innovation lab
Penn Engineering and Steppingstone will begin developing a new blended AP Computer Science course for the fall 2021 semester, in which engineering students will create online content modules to supplement high school classroom instruction.
New insights into autoimmune disease
New insights into autoimmune disease
According to research by the School of Dental Medicine’s George Hajishengallis and colleagues, novel insights into a pathway that restrains the immune response opens up new avenues for treating inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.
An ecosystem of innovation fosters tech-based solutions to COVID-19 challenges
An ecosystem of innovation fosters tech-based solutions to COVID-19 challenges
Clinicians, engineers, and IT specialists work together at Penn on innovations that help doctors provide the best care for patients amid continued social distancing and coronavirus restrictions.
Evidence of broadside collision with a dwarf galaxy discovered in the Milky Way
Evidence of broadside collision with a dwarf galaxy discovered in the Milky Way
“Shell structures,” the result of a collision with another galaxy nearly 3 billion years, have been confirmed in the Milky Way galaxy for the first time.
Declines in shellfish species on rocky seashores match climate-driven changes
Declines in shellfish species on rocky seashores match climate-driven changes
Mussels, barnacles, and snails are declining in the Gulf of Maine, according to a new paper by biologists Peter Petraitis of the School of Arts & Sciences and Steve Dudgeon of California State University, Northridge. Their 20-year dataset reveals that the populations’ steady dwindling matches up with the effects of climate change on the region.
Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases
Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases
The specialized field of neuroscience, optogenetics, shows clinical promise for conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s. But before human trials can get fully underway, the field must better understand a crucial intermediate step, aided by 45 labs in nine countries sharing information.
Contact tracing: A piece of a multilayered campus public health strategy
Contact tracing: A piece of a multilayered campus public health strategy
With the goal of mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and supporting the community with health guidance and information, contact tracing is part of Penn’s systemic approach to keeping the campus healthy during the pandemic.
Five Penn faculty elected to the National Academy of Medicine
Five Penn faculty elected to the National Academy of Medicine
Five faculty from Penn are among the newest members of the National Academy of Medicine: William Beltran of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Matthew McHugh of the School of Nursing, and Ronald DeMatteo, Raina Merchant, and Hongjun Song of the Perelman School of Medicine.
One step closer to new devices for quantum computing
One step closer to new devices for quantum computing
New research from Penn Engineering describes a new type of ‘quasiparticle’ and topological insulator, opening up new opportunities and future applications into new photonic devices.
Nanoparticles can turn off genes in bone marrow
Nanoparticles can turn off genes in bone marrow
Using specialized nanoparticles, researchers from Penn Engineering and MIT have developed a way to turn off specific genes in cells of bone marrow, which play an important role in producing blood cells.
In the News
The Washington Post
Forecast group predicts busiest hurricane season on record with 33 storms
A research team led by Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences is predicting the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season will produce the most named storms on record, fueled by exceptionally warm ocean waters and an expected shift from El Niño to La Niña.
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Technical.ly Philly
Penn professor on gen AI’s rapacious use of energy: ‘One of the defining challenges of my career’
Benjamin Lee of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that hardware and infrastructure costs are growing at high rates for generative AI.
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SciTechDaily
Satellite images capture extraordinary flooding in the United Arab Emirates
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences explains how three low-pressure systems formed a train of storms that battered the United Arab Emirates.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
My Climate Story: Philly students take science from abstract to personal
The “My Climate Story” project at the Environmental Humanities Department helps students and teachers learn about climate change’s impact in everyday backyards, with remarks from Bethany Wiggin. The idea is credited to María Villarreal, a College of Arts and Sciences second-year from Tampico, Mexico.
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Associated Press
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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Big Think
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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Salon.com
“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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CNET
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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Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
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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Vox.com
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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