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Rural and urban communities need different policies to boost economic mobility

The farther away from a city a person is raised, the more likely they are to climb the economic ladder. Economists also found that community characteristics associated with upward mobility actually have different effects in rural and urban locations.

Research

Saving the Bay

8/20/18

Nutrient pollution is a major issue affecting water quality around the world: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency names it “one of America's most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems.” The Chesapeake Bay, with some 64,000 square miles of land draining into a shallow, narrow body of water just 200 miles long, is in some respects a worst-case scenario. Over the last 10 years, Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has taken a lead role in solving this problem.

Research advances state-of the-art vibration analysis of carbon nanotube

8/17/18

Research by Robert Hudson, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering, and Alok Sinha, professor of mechanical engineering, has resulted in computationally efficient methods to predict the vibratory behavior of carbon nanotubes with inevitable defects.

Using mushrooms as a prebiotic may help improve glucose regulation

8/16/18

Researchers showed that feeding white button mushrooms to mice changed the composition of gut microbes to produce more short chain fatty acids, specifically propionate from succinate. Previous research has shown that succinate and propionate can change the expression of genes needed to manage glucose production. A better understanding this connection between mushrooms and gut microbes in mice could one day pave the way for new diabetes treatments and prevention strategies for people.

Using social media to solve social problems

8/16/18

A National Science Foundation-funded Penn State project will evaluate the accuracy of using Twitter data to represent populations across different demographic groups.

People with autism may not have trouble focusing on people in photos

8/15/18

While people with autism may avoid eye contact in one-on-one conversations, they may not avoid looking at people in photos, according to Penn State researchers.

New clues into how ‘trash bag of the cell’ traps and seals off waste

8/15/18

New insights have been gained into how an important process within the cell traps and seals off waste -- much like a trash bag -- before carting it off to be recycled, according to a new study.

Self-control develops gradually in adolescent brain

8/14/18

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Different parts of the brain mature at different times, which may help to explain impulsive behaviors in adolescence, suggest researchers from Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh.

Scarlet macaw DNA points to ancient breeding operation in Southwest

8/13/18

Somewhere in the American Southwest or northern Mexico, there are probably the ruins of a scarlet macaw breeding operation dating to between 900 and 1200 C.E., according to a team of archaeologists who sequenced the mitochondrial DNA of bird remains found in the Chaco Canyon and Mimbres areas of New Mexico.

graph showing cycles thermal conductivity

Thermal switch discovered in engineered squid-based biomaterials

8/13/18

Tuning materials for optimal optical and electrical properties is becoming commonplace. Now, researchers and manufacturers may be able to tune materials for thermal conductivity by using a squid-inspired protein made of multiple DNA repeats.

Community-based conservation management has positive effect on wildlife

8/13/18

Putting land management in the hands of local communities helps the wildlife within, according to new research by Penn State biologist Derek Lee.

College students may face pressures from opioid epidemic's secondary effects

8/11/18

Even college students who are not directly suffering from opioid abuse and addiction may be caught up in secondary effects from the epidemic. A team of Penn State Lehigh Valley researchers found that about one in five college students reported in a survey that they knew someone who was addicted to pain medications, and nearly a third said they knew somebody who overdosed on painkillers or heroin. This may cause worry and anxiety above and beyond the typical financial and academic stress that college students face, the researchers added.

side by side mosquito heads one with black eyes on with white eyes

New technology improves CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in mosquitoes, other species

8/9/18

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A technology designed to improve CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in mosquitoes and other arthropods succeeds with a high degree of efficiency, while eliminating the need for difficult microinjection of genetic material, according to researchers.

Allentown Morning Call: September 17, 2018
Local Colleges Researching Spotted Lanternfly
Research involving the potential of gene silencing spotted lanternflies is being conducted at PSU-LV.
Fast Company: September 12, 2018
It’s never too late for your career to peak
Researchers discover that you can do the best work of your professional life at any moment.

Other Voices

Birth, deaths and collisions of stars
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's Ultraviolet Optical Telescope (UVOT) recently delivered its 1 millionth image, writes Penn State's Michael Siegel.
from:
The Conversation
GM mosquitoes to prevent disease
Using methods like CRISPR researchers are genetically modifying mosquitoes with the goal of curbing disease transmission, writes Penn State's Jason Rasgon.
from:
The Conversation

Find out more about Penn State research

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The blog that tells the stories behind the news of research and creative activity at Penn State. We are a team of writers in the Research Communications unit at the University.

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Rural and urban communities need different policies to boost economic mobility

Research

Research

Saving the Bay

Research advances state-of the-art vibration analysis of carbon nanotube

Using mushrooms as a prebiotic may help improve glucose regulation

Using social media to solve social problems

People with autism may not have trouble focusing on people in photos

New clues into how ‘trash bag of the cell’ traps and seals off waste

Self-control develops gradually in adolescent brain

Scarlet macaw DNA points to ancient breeding operation in Southwest

Thermal switch discovered in engineered squid-based biomaterials

Community-based conservation management has positive effect on wildlife

College students may face pressures from opioid epidemic's secondary effects

New technology improves CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in mosquitoes, other species

Diverse symbionts of reef corals have endured since 'age of dinosaurs'

NSF award to shine more light on proteins

Hemingway Letters Project receives three-year NEH grant

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