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The Healthy Mom Zone, a personalized, digital platform for maintaining healthy weight gain during pregnancy, is being tested by Penn State researchers thanks to a new, $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Credit: M_a_y_a/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

June 07, 2023

$3M grant to aid researchers testing pregnancy weight-management platform
Lora Weiss, senior vice president for research, has been selected to serve as director of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Research and Development Office. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

June 06, 2023

Lora Weiss selected to serve as CHIPS R&D director
An online survey and associated map will help vineyard owners, farmers, researchers and extension educators track infestations of spotted lanternflies, such as these adults feeding on grape vines. Credit: Erica Smyers / Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

June 06, 2023

Penn State Extension launches spotted lanternfly survey for the 2023 season
Andrew Read will assume the role of senior vice president for research at Penn State on April 1, 2024, after serving in the role in an interim capacity. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

June 06, 2023

Andrew Read named interim senior vice president for research
Penn State alumna and NIH scientist Martha Nelson gave a presentation about transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among deer and humans at the 2023 Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease conference held at Penn State in May. Credit: Michelle Bixby / Penn State. Creative Commons

June 06, 2023

Heard on Campus: Martha Nelson on the SARS-CoV-2 virus in deer

June 04, 2023

Elon Musk’s brain implant company is approved for human testing. How alarmed should we be?
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation was started by America's first astronauts and has grown its support from their successors. Credit: Adobe Stock. All Rights Reserved.

June 02, 2023

Penn State junior Ian Rivera earns Astronaut Scholarship

June 01, 2023

Protein can sort rare earth elements better than current mining practices
Lauren McPhillips, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and of agricultural and biological engineering, and students survey vegetation characteristics of green stormwater infrastructure. These nature-based solutions for stormwater management are becoming more common in cities as they look to address local water quality and quantity issues. Credit: Kelby Hochreiter / Penn State. Creative Commons

June 01, 2023

Penn State 3rd in US and 40th globally in Times Higher Education Impact Rankings
Controlling feral swine can be logistically difficult and costly due to the large areas they traverse, their early reproductive age and their large litter sizes. Credit: Meredith Boatman. All Rights Reserved.

June 01, 2023

Predictive models show wildlife managers where to find destructive feral swine
Left to right Deanna Behring, State College Borough council member; Ilona Ballreich, manager of the Penn State Sustainable Communities Collaborative; and Ezra Nanes, State College mayor. Credit: Sustainability Institute. All Rights Reserved.

June 01, 2023

Sustainability Institute recognized for service to State College Borough
Erika Machtinger, assistant professor of entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, discussed tick dragging during a fieldwork session at the recent “Vector Biology Boot Camp." Credit: Michael Houtz, College of Agricultural Sciences. All Rights Reserved.

June 01, 2023

‘Vector Biology Boot Camp’ empowers disease professionals

May 31, 2023

Bacterial protein outperforms humans in separating rare earth elements
Joseph Cotruvo Jr., associate professor of chemistry at Penn State, holds a sample of a clay containing rare earths. His lab and their collaborators have previously developed a process to use a natural protein discovered by his group to recover rare earths from these types of sources. In a recent study, the team focused on separation of rare earths and discovered a new protein that can sort one rare earth from another. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

May 31, 2023

A protein mines, sorts rare earths better than humans, paving way for green tech
Penn State researchers developed a low-cost approach to design and develop sensors for human biomarkers, including for the monomeric C-reactive protein, illustrated here. This protein is involved in chronic inflammatory conditions such as heart disease and arthritis. Credit: Wirestock/iStock. All Rights Reserved.

May 31, 2023

Penn State engineers report low-cost human biomarker sensor designs
A new study provides insight into how a long string of connected proteins called a polyprotein in the SARS-CoV-2 virus is cleaved apart by a protease called Mpro, an important step during virus replication. Using an imaging technique called cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), the research team proposes that the stepwise cleavage process is dictated by the polyprotein's structure. Top left: Cryo-EM image of the Mpro and polyprotein complex (greyscale, particles of the complex are indicated by green circles). Top middle and right: 2D-class averages of the complex. Bottom: Cryo-EM density map of the complex (gray transparent) shows the densities of the polyprotein (dashed oval) outside from the recognition site binding Mpro (green and cyan). Credit: Murakami Laboratory / Penn State. Creative Commons

May 30, 2023

Essential process for SARS-CoV-2 viral replication visualized
From left, Yu Tai Chung, recipient of the Staff Leadership Award; Alexandria Kinder, recipient of the Staff Morale Award; Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi; Matt Jones, recipient of the Staff Excellence Award; and Terra Ingram, USAC chair. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

May 30, 2023

University Staff Advisory Council announces 2023 staff award winners 

May 29, 2023

Cold weather poses challenges for Pennsylvania fruit growers
Jiaxing Chen, a bioinformatics and genomics doctoral student at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, is part of the Penn State research team to create the first protein-based nano-computing agent that functions as a circuit. Credit: Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences / Penn State. Creative Commons

May 26, 2023

Protein-based nano-‘computer’ evolves in ability to influence cell behavior

May 23, 2023

Why do people like spicy food?
Many orchids grow on trees. A new extensive study of the genetic relationships among orchids clarifies the relationships among orchid groups and reveals that the flower’s ability to grow on other plants evolved independently multiple times. Credit: Hong Ma (left and right), Xibing Guo (center). All Rights Reserved.

May 23, 2023

Orchids’ ability to grow on other plants independently evolved multiple times

May 19, 2023

The Impact Of Climate Technologies On The Fashion Industry

May 18, 2023

Genetic background sways effects of autism-linked mutation
Anyone interested in learning how to grow hydroponic vegetables on a small scale can get advice from experts by viewing a Penn State Extension webinar called “Hydroponics Growers School 101.” Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

May 17, 2023

Learn how to grow hydroponic vegetables on a small scale