News
Jan 27, 2022
Faculty member appointed to AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility
Jennifer Wagner, Penn State assistant professor of law, policy and engineering in the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs, was appointed to serve on the American Association for the Advancement of Science Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility
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Jan 26, 2022
The Symbiotic Podcast returns live with 'game-changer' David Hughes
After a year’s hiatus, the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences’ Symbiotic Podcast returns at noon on Thursday, Jan. 27, featuring a livestreamed conversation with David Hughes, Huck chair in global food security, professor of entomology and biology, and founder of PlantVillage.
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Jan 25, 2022
Omicron genetics and early transmission patterns are characterized in new study
The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 diverged from previous SARS-CoV-2 variants as a result of adaptive evolution, in which beneficial mutations are passed on to future generations through natural selection, rather than through recombination between previous variants, according to a large international team of researchers. The study, which published recently in Nature, is the first to describe the genomic profile of Omicron and explore the origins of the variant.
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Jan 24, 2022
Penn State biologists explore the secrets of the warbler genome
Looking through binoculars at the trees in their backyards during the pandemic, many brand-new birders may have been surprised by the diversity of visitors stopping by — finches, jays and warblers in an astounding array of yellows, blues and reds.
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Jan 21, 2022
Mining for knowledge: Scientists identify bee that can aid black cherry recovery
A ground-nesting bee family — commonly known as miner bees — could play a heightened role in rebuilding black cherry populations in Pennsylvania and beyond, according to Penn State entomologists who investigated pollinators’ contributions to the valuable hardwood species.
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Jan 19, 2022
Latest NSF rankings show breadth and depth of Penn State research
Penn State’s research enterprise ranks 22nd in the country in total research expenditures, according to the latest National Science Foundation rankings of Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) research expenditures, released in January 2022.
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Jan 17, 2022
Newly discovered carbon may yield clues to ancient Mars
NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, and since then has roamed Gale Crater taking samples and sending the results back home for researchers to interpret. Analysis of carbon isotopes in sediment samples taken from half a dozen exposed locations, including an exposed cliff, leave researchers with three plausible explanations for the carbon's origin — cosmic dust, ultraviolet degradation of carbon dioxide, or ultraviolet degradation of biologically produced methane.
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Jan 17, 2022
Entomologists to study how climate change may influence pollinator stressors
A Penn State-led team of researchers will use a newly awarded $682,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture to examine how climate change may influence and interact with various stressors that affect the health of pollinators.
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Jan 13, 2022
Core facilities director brings more than technical advice to research
Directors of the core facilities at Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences are more than expert technicians — they are also researchers in their own right. And though their unique contributions are not always consistently recognized within the broader community, faculty researchers who work in the core facilities are well aware of these unsung heroes' many impressive insights.
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Jan 11, 2022
Researchers use satellites to monitor bat habitat and study virus spillover
Over the last year and a half, the word "remote" has come to dominate a large portion of our collective consciousness. We’ve had to work remotely, learn remotely, and even socialize remotely. But before the pandemic, because of the nature of their research, remote was already a part of the daily lexicon of some Penn State researchers.
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