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Planet orbiting a star

First Earth-size planet discovered in another star's 'habitable zone'

4/18/14

A team of astronomers that includes Penn State scientists has discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the "habitable zone," the distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the surface of an orbiting planet. The discovery was made with NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. The discovery of this Earth-size planet, now named Kepler-186f, confirms -- for the first time -- that planets the size of Earth exist in the habitable zone of stars other than our Sun.

light lab-tiles

Under some LED bulbs whites aren't 'whiter than white'

4/18/14

For years, companies have been adding whiteners to laundry detergent, paints, plastics, paper and fabrics to make whites look "whiter than white," but now, with a switch away from incandescent and fluorescent lighting, different degrees of whites may all look the same, according to experts in lighting.

African honeybee on a red flower

East African honeybees are safe from invasive pests … for now

4/16/14

Several parasites and pathogens that devastate honeybees in Europe, Asia and the United States are spreading across East Africa, but do not appear to be impacting native honeybee populations at this time, according to an international team of researchers.

Dr. Jane Wilburne

$1.9M grant will help build teaching, learning capacity at Penn State Harrisburg

4/16/14

Dr. Jane M. Wilburne, associate professor of mathematics education in Penn State Harrisburg’s Teacher Education Program, has received a $1.875 million Eligible Partnership Project grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The three-year award supports partnerships with and professional development opportunities for local school districts to provide innovative, research-based, approaches to improve student teaching experiences.

childs hand

Inhibited children become anxious adults

4/16/14

Koraly Pérez-Edgar's work over the years has demonstrated that extreme shyness observed in children is often a predictor of anxiety later in life. She says that the way shy children behave will evolve as they grow up, "but they can remain uncomfortable in their own skin in new social situations." Pérez-Edgar runs the University's Cognition, Affect, and Temperament Lab.

Probing Question: How were the Egyptian pyramids built?

4/15/14

The Aztecs, Mayans, and ancient Egyptians were three very different civilizations with one very large similarity: pyramids. However, of these three ancient cultures, the Egyptians set the standard for what most people recognize as classic pyramid design: massive monuments with a square base and four smooth-sided triangular sides, rising to a point. (The Aztecs and Mayans built their pyramids with tiered steps and a flat top.)

Ellysa Cahoy

Penn State awarded Mellon grant to study personal scholarly archiving

4/15/14

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a grant of $440,000 to Penn State. The two-year project in collaboration with George Mason University will build upon the 2012-13 research led by Ellysa Stern Cahoy, education librarian, studying how faculty managed and archived their scholarly information collections. Over the next two years, Stern Cahoy, in collaboration with Sean Takats, associate professor of history at George Mason University and director of research projects at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, will direct software development to enhance how faculty organize and archive information, including their own scholarly publications.

Concussions in Athletics book cover

Semyon Slobounov publishes book on concussions in athletics

4/14/14

Semyon (Sam) Slobounov, professor of kinesiology and neurosurgery at Penn State, has published a book, titled "Concussions in Athletics: From Brain to Behavior." The book offers state-of-the-art clinical guidance on diagnosing and treating concussion, the latest research findings and implications written by an international panel of experts and advanced brain imaging findings to delineate the hidden symptoms of concussion.

buck for CWD research

Researchers identify terrain likely to attract wasting disease-infected deer

4/10/14

A study of the spread of chronic wasting disease among white-tailed deer in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania found that infected deer tend to cluster in low-lying open and developed areas. These results suggest that state wildlife management agencies should concentrate surveillance efforts in such topography and landscapes, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

orange, round, bumpy 3-D model

Sunlight generates hydrogen in new porous silicon

4/10/14

Porous silicon manufactured in a bottom-up procedure can be used to generate hydrogen from water using solar energy, according to a team of Penn State mechanical engineers, who also see applications for batteries, biosensors and optical electronics as outlets for this new material.

Disadvantaged environments affect genetic material, study finds

4/8/14

Children experiencing chronic stress from a disadvantaged life have shorter telomeres than their advantaged peers, according to a study led by Dr. Daniel Notterman, vice dean for research and graduate studies, and professor of pediatrics, and biochemistry and molecular biology, Penn State College of Medicine.

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