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amphibian population declining

Study confirms U.S. amphibian populations declining at rapid rate

5/22/13

The first-ever estimate of how fast frogs, toads and salamanders in the United States are disappearing from their habitats reveals they are vanishing at an alarming and rapid rate. The study, conducted over the last decade by U.S. Geological Survey scientists and collaborators, includes contributions by a Penn State wildlife population ecologist.

Sensor descends down a hole in the ice as part of the installation of the IceCube telescope.

Record-breaking high-energy particles detected by telescope buried in Antarctic

5/17/13

A massive telescope buried in the Antarctic ice has detected 28 extremely high-energy neutrinos -- elementary particles that likely originate outside our solar system. Two of these neutrinos had energies many thousands of times higher than the highest-energy neutrino that any man-made particle accelerator has ever produced, according to a team of IceCube Neutrino Observatory researchers that includes Penn State scientists. These new record-breaking neutrinos had energies greater than 1,000,000,000,000,000 volts or, as the scientists say, 1 peta-electron volt (PeV).

GridSTAR Net Zero Energy Demonstration Project underway at The Navy Yard

GridSTAR Net Zero Energy Demonstration Project under way at The Navy Yard

5/13/13

A powerful collaboration of researchers, manufacturers and economic development officials are embarking on a groundbreaking demonstration project for smart-grid, net zero energy buildings called the GridSTAR Center — a Smart Energy Campus initiative at The Navy Yard in Philadelphia. Spearheaded by Penn State with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), the GridSTAR Net Zero Energy Demonstration Structure is the first phase of the GridSTAR Center.

female student crossing police line at mock crime scene

Probing Question: Do women dominate the field of forensic science?

5/7/13

Exhuming corpses, analyzing bloodstained clothing, collecting "crime scene insects" (yes, maggots)...these are some of the grittier realities of life as a forensic scientist. Yet defying the stereotype that females tend to be squeamish about such things, an entire generation of young women have become entranced by the profession. In fact, they've pursued this career in such numbers that—unlike almost every other scientific discipline—one could argue that the booming field of forensic science is a female domain.

AMON globe logo

AMON: An Eye on the Universe

5/6/13

AMON stands for Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network. Its mission is to form a network of high-energy observatories across the globe that will search for previously unseen astrophysical signals and send alerts to more traditional telescopes in order to corroborate the possible celestial events.

2 young men with game controllers

Leadership emerges spontaneously during games

4/29/13

Video game and augmented-reality game players can spontaneously build virtual teams and leadership structures without special tools or guidance, according to researchers. Players in a game that mixed real and online worlds organized and operated in teams that resembled a military organization.

Biofuel lab at Penn State

Changing cellulose-forming process may tap plants' biofuel potential

4/26/13

Changing the way a plant forms cellulose may lead to more efficient, less expensive biofuel production, according to Penn State engineers. "What every biofuel manufacturer wants to do is to get to the sugars," said Jeffrey Catchmark, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering. "But the structure of cellulose itself can be an obstacle."

Chibuzo Anojulu in the Penn State Lehigh Valley biology lab

Lehigh Valley student selected for three-year NSF research program

4/23/13

Chibuzo Anojulu, a sophomore at Penn State Lehigh Valley, has been selected to participate in the Society for Developmental Biology's (SDB) Choose Development program. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Choose Development pairs undergraduate students from across the United States with leading researchers in developmental biology for a long-term professional development and research training project.

Three men posing near molecular-beam epitaxy machinery

Penn State researching ways to improve computer speed, efficiency

4/9/13

Nitin Samarth, Penn State professor of physics, is trying to speed up tomorrow's computers while keeping them from overheating. The solution he is working on is to develop new materials for radically new and super-fast kinds of transistors that rely on magnetism, instead of on the flow of electrons. This new way of computing is called "spintronics."

Civil engineering's Rajabipour wins NSF CAREER grant

4/8/13

Farshad Rajabipour, assistant professor of civil engineering in the College of Engineering at Penn State, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award.

hand holding a square of flexible-circuit film

Flexible electronics could transform the way we make and use electronic devices

4/8/13

It may sound like an interesting laboratory curiosity, but researchers hope to print flexible electronics on plastic film the same way we print ink on newspapers. In October 2011, Penn State began a multi-year research project in flexible electronics with Dow Chemical Corporation. Scientists at the University's Materials Research Institute who are investigating this field's potential -- and its challenges -- explain their work.

Composite of a supernova's remnants

White-dwarf star, blown apart in 1604, now reveals new secrets

4/8/13

New detections of X-rays from a white-dwarf star that exploded as a supernova in 1604 will help astronomers to better understand the important class of stars known as "Ia supernovae," which are used to probe the distant universe. David Burrows, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State, is a member of the research team that made the discovery.

Student and professor solve astronomical mystery

4/4/13

To ordinary folks, stars in the galaxy may seem like tiny specks of light. But to Penn State Brandywine Professor Timothy Lawlor and undergraduate researcher Nick Rufo, one of those bright balls of gas is actually more massive than scientists originally reported and holds implications for understanding the evolution of the universe.

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New process cleanly extracts oil from tar sands and fouled beaches

3/17/11

A new, more environmentally friendly method of separating oil from tar sands has been developed by a team of researchers at Penn State. This method, which utilizes ionic liquids to separate the heavy viscous oil from sand, also is capable of cleaning oil spills from beaches and separating oil from drill cuttings, the solid particles that must be removed from drilling fluids in oil and gas wells. To watch a video about the research, visit http://bit.ly/dKMca9 online.

amphibian population declining

Study confirms U.S. amphibian populations declining at rapid rate

5/22/13

The first-ever estimate of how fast frogs, toads and salamanders in the United States are disappearing from their habitats reveals they are vanishing at an alarming and rapid rate. The study, conducted over the last decade by U.S. Geological Survey scientists and collaborators, includes contributions by a Penn State wildlife population ecologist.

Sensor descends down a hole in the ice as part of the installation of the IceCube telescope.

Record-breaking high-energy particles detected by telescope buried in Antarctic

5/17/13

A massive telescope buried in the Antarctic ice has detected 28 extremely high-energy neutrinos -- elementary particles that likely originate outside our solar system. Two of these neutrinos had energies many thousands of times higher than the highest-energy neutrino that any man-made particle accelerator has ever produced, according to a team of IceCube Neutrino Observatory researchers that includes Penn State scientists. These new record-breaking neutrinos had energies greater than 1,000,000,000,000,000 volts or, as the scientists say, 1 peta-electron volt (PeV).

GridSTAR Net Zero Energy Demonstration Project underway at The Navy Yard

GridSTAR Net Zero Energy Demonstration Project under way at The Navy Yard

5/13/13

A powerful collaboration of researchers, manufacturers and economic development officials are embarking on a groundbreaking demonstration project for smart-grid, net zero energy buildings called the GridSTAR Center — a Smart Energy Campus initiative at The Navy Yard in Philadelphia. Spearheaded by Penn State with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), the GridSTAR Net Zero Energy Demonstration Structure is the first phase of the GridSTAR Center.

female student crossing police line at mock crime scene

Probing Question: Do women dominate the field of forensic science?

5/7/13

Exhuming corpses, analyzing bloodstained clothing, collecting "crime scene insects" (yes, maggots)...these are some of the grittier realities of life as a forensic scientist. Yet defying the stereotype that females tend to be squeamish about such things, an entire generation of young women have become entranced by the profession. In fact, they've pursued this career in such numbers that—unlike almost every other scientific discipline—one could argue that the booming field of forensic science is a female domain.

AMON globe logo

AMON: An Eye on the Universe

5/6/13

AMON stands for Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network. Its mission is to form a network of high-energy observatories across the globe that will search for previously unseen astrophysical signals and send alerts to more traditional telescopes in order to corroborate the possible celestial events.

2 young men with game controllers

Leadership emerges spontaneously during games

4/29/13

Video game and augmented-reality game players can spontaneously build virtual teams and leadership structures without special tools or guidance, according to researchers. Players in a game that mixed real and online worlds organized and operated in teams that resembled a military organization.

Biofuel lab at Penn State

Changing cellulose-forming process may tap plants' biofuel potential

4/26/13

Changing the way a plant forms cellulose may lead to more efficient, less expensive biofuel production, according to Penn State engineers. "What every biofuel manufacturer wants to do is to get to the sugars," said Jeffrey Catchmark, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering. "But the structure of cellulose itself can be an obstacle."

Chibuzo Anojulu in the Penn State Lehigh Valley biology lab

Lehigh Valley student selected for three-year NSF research program

4/23/13

Chibuzo Anojulu, a sophomore at Penn State Lehigh Valley, has been selected to participate in the Society for Developmental Biology's (SDB) Choose Development program. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Choose Development pairs undergraduate students from across the United States with leading researchers in developmental biology for a long-term professional development and research training project.

Three men posing near molecular-beam epitaxy machinery

Penn State researching ways to improve computer speed, efficiency

4/9/13

Nitin Samarth, Penn State professor of physics, is trying to speed up tomorrow's computers while keeping them from overheating. The solution he is working on is to develop new materials for radically new and super-fast kinds of transistors that rely on magnetism, instead of on the flow of electrons. This new way of computing is called "spintronics."

Civil engineering's Rajabipour wins NSF CAREER grant

4/8/13

Farshad Rajabipour, assistant professor of civil engineering in the College of Engineering at Penn State, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award.

hand holding a square of flexible-circuit film

Flexible electronics could transform the way we make and use electronic devices

4/8/13

It may sound like an interesting laboratory curiosity, but researchers hope to print flexible electronics on plastic film the same way we print ink on newspapers. In October 2011, Penn State began a multi-year research project in flexible electronics with Dow Chemical Corporation. Scientists at the University's Materials Research Institute who are investigating this field's potential -- and its challenges -- explain their work.

Composite of a supernova's remnants

White-dwarf star, blown apart in 1604, now reveals new secrets

4/8/13

New detections of X-rays from a white-dwarf star that exploded as a supernova in 1604 will help astronomers to better understand the important class of stars known as "Ia supernovae," which are used to probe the distant universe. David Burrows, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State, is a member of the research team that made the discovery.