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Science & Technology
Robots to the rescue
Penn researchers created a fleet of robots to navigate unknown underground environments as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Subterranean Challenge.
Estrogen’s opposing effects on mammary tumors in dogs
Estrogen’s role in canine mammary cancer is more complex than previously understood. New findings may help explain why dogs spayed at a young age are more likely to develop more aggressive cancers.
Bringing ideas to life through experimental physics
Researchers in the lab of Liang Wu are generating data to gain a better understanding of the properties of quantum materials. Their fundamental research can lead to applications ranging from better optoelectronic devices to quantum computers.
After President’s Innovation Prize, InstaHub has even more spark
Since earning the award in April, Michael Wong hasn’t looked back. Each day he’s growing his startup to promote a greener tomorrow.
By the Numbers: Dark matter
Key facts and figures about the unseen matter that remains one of cosmology’s greatest unsolved mysteries.
Customizable ‘bundlemers’ poised to become new material building blocks
New research describes a novel type of synthetic polymer subunits that form rigid structures that could be used in applications ranging from high-performance fibers to superstrong materials.
Talk on the future of U.S./India relations caps India symposium
A daylong symposium highlighting Penn research in India wrapped up with a keynote conversation between the Lauder Institute’s Jim McGann and former U.S. Ambassador Richard Verma.
Microscale rockets can travel through cellular landscapes
A new study from the lab of Thomas Mallouk shows how microscale “rockets,” powered by acoustic waves and an on-board bubble motor, can be maneuvered through 3D landscapes of cells and particles using magnets.
A focus on environmental inequities
A Penn symposium will confront issues of inequitable access to a clean and safe environment and the unequal burden borne by vulnerable communities, particularly low-income and underrepresented minority populations, when it comes to environmental threats.
Magnets sustainably separate mixtures of rare earth metals
Chemists at Penn have identified a new approach for purifying rare earth metals, crucial components of technology that require environmentally-damaging mining procedures.
In the News
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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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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Why don’t we just ban fossil fuels?
Joseph Romm of the School of Arts & Sciences says that stronger action against fossil fuels is essential to save the planet.
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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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We don’t have time for climate misinformation
In a co-written Op-Ed, Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that meaningful decarbonization in the U.S. is in jeopardy of being blocked or slowed if a significant portion of the electorate does not accept the basic scientific facts and implications of climate change.
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Penn to become first Ivy League to offer AI degree, looks to ‘train the leaders’ in emerging field
Penn is the first Ivy League university to offer a degree in artificial intelligence, with remarks from Robert Ghrist of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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A famous climate scientist is in court, with big stakes for attacks on science
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences is suing a right-wing author and a policy analyst for defamation against the “hockey stick” climate change graph.
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