Social Networks, Political Polarization and Climate Change
Damon Centola, associate professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and Penn Engineering, uses formal and computational models of social networks to study collective human dynamics. As the Director of the Network Dynamics Group and a member of the Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences, he uses online experiments to study how changes to […]
Penn Researchers Discover that Class of Neurological Disorders Share Common 3D Genome Folding Pattern
In a study led by Jennifer Phillips-Cremins, Assistant Professor in Bioengineering, researchers have found another common thread linking nearly all of the TNR expansion diseases: the complicated 3D patterns that the DNA is folded into in order to fit in the nucleus of the cell.
Mapping the Ocean With Marine Robots
M. Ani Hsieh’s robotics lab investigates how to use ocean currents as a natural energy source for marine robots, which would enable widespread exploration.
Guinness Recognizes Piccolissimo as World’s Smallest Self-Powered Flying Robot
Guinness World Records has officially recognized Piccolissimo as the World’s Smallest Self-Powered Flying Robot. Italian for “tiniest,” Piccolissimo is the brain child of Matt Piccoli, a graduate student in professor Mark Yim’s ModLab.
Undergraduate Summer Research Projects Honored at Annual Symposium
Penn Engineering is home to several summer research programs for undergraduates, three of which come together to honor their participants’ accomplishments working under faculty and graduate student advisors and contributing to their research projects. The LittleJohn and Rachleff Scholars programs are open to Penn Engineering students in all departments, while SUNFEST, supported by the National […]
The Snow Graphics in ‘Frozen’ Can Predict the Mechanics of Real Avalanches
When a slab of snow cracks and slides down a slope, the exact size and shape of the resulting avalanche is hard to predict. The sliding slab is denser than the snow underneath it, giving the system a mix of solid and liquid properties. Chenfanfu Jiang, assistant professor in the Department of Computer and Information […]
How Behavior Spreads: The Science of Complex Contagions
Damon Centola, associate professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and Penn Engineering, uses formal and computational models of social networks to study collective human dynamics. As the Director of the Network Dynamics Group and a member of the Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences, he uses online experiments to study how changes to […]
Dental Plaque is No Match for Catalytic Nanoparticles
Combine a diet high in sugar with poor oral hygiene habits and dental cavities, or caries, will likely result. The sugar triggers the formation of an acidic biofilm, known as plaque, on the teeth, eroding the surface. Early childhood caries is a severe form of tooth decay that affects one in every four children in […]
New GRASP Project Aims to Leverage ‘Embodied Intelligence’ via a Robotic Squirrel
It takes about a year before human infants master their own motor skills well enough to walk. Legged robots don’t have it so easy. Only the most advanced can walk with a smooth, natural gait, and even those can be stymied by a small pile of rubble or sand. A team of researchers, led from […]
Paris Perdikaris Predicts Complex Outcomes of Physical Systems
Since the days of Isaac Newton, scientists have been monitoring and predicting the movements of falling apples, heavenly bodies, ocean currents and just about anything that can go from point A to point B. These models have grown increasingly complex, but so have the physical phenomena they depict. Now the mechanisms behind cutting-edge technology, in […]