During COVID, Eberly College steps up for next generation of scientists
| psu.edu
Faced with the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19, the Penn State Eberly College of Science has stepped up for the next generation of scientists — making changes and advancing new initiatives to help support the college’s undergraduate students through what would become the worst public health crisis of our lifetime.
Urbanization not always bad for food and land use diversity
| psu.edu
Widely accepted myths that urbanization negatively impacts food and land use biodiversity are incorrect, according to a team of researchers who developed a framework for evaluating this intersection. Their results could also affect nutrition and food insecurity in urban areas.
Winners announced for 2021 Women in Engineering competition
| psu.edu
The final round of the Women in Engineering Design Competition took place in person at Penn State Altoona's downtown campus on Nov. 13-14.
Four College of Engineering faculty named to Highly Cited Researchers list
| news.engr.psu.edu
For the third consecutive year, four faculty members in Penn State’s College of Engineering were recognized as Highly Cited Researchers by the Web of Science Group: Long-Qing Chen, Bruce Logan, Şahin K. Özdemir, and Donghai Wang.
Struggling with blight, American chestnut tree faces new disease identified by Erie County researchers
| yahoo.com
Struck by a blight identified in 1904, American chestnut trees are considered "functionally extinct." Now those that remain are facing a new disease.
NYC schools bought weaker air purifiers. Now underventilated campuses are more prone to COVID cases
| gothamist.com
The New York City public schools that rely solely on open windows and portable air purifiers have seen 23% more COVID-19 cases per student and a 29% increase in staff case rates when compared to buildings with stronger ventilation, such as HVAC systems. This story quotes IEE affiliated researcher William Bahnfleth.
Nominations sought for Faculty Scholar Medal
| psu.edu
Penn State's Office of the President has opened the call for nominations for individuals eligible to receive the Faculty Scholar Medal.
Penn State Breazeale Reactor expands in size and in opportunities
| psu.edu
Penn State’s Radiation Science & Engineering Center and the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering broke ground on a 10,000-square-foot, $9.5 million expansion of the Breazeale Reactor on Oct. 21.
Webinar: What’s behind rising oil and gas prices?
| psu.edu
A panel of energy experts from Penn State and industry will discuss the reasons behind rising oil and gas prices; what it means for heating bills this winter; potential policy responses to keep energy prices in check; and how rising prices might encourage or thwart a transition to alternative sources of energy.
Can defects turn inert materials into useful, active ones?
| psu.edu
Demonstrating that a material thought to be always chemically inert — hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) — can be turned chemically active holds potential for a new class of catalysts with a wide range of applications, according to an international team of researchers.
Climate uncertainty colors flood risk assessment
| psu.edu
Understanding how climate change will affect the flooding of rivers may become easier with a new framework for assessing flood risk that's been developed by an interdisciplinary team from Penn State.
Study challenges standard ideas about piezoelectricity in ferroelectric crystals
| psu.edu
For years, researchers believed that the smaller the domain size in a ferroelectric crystal, the greater the piezoelectric properties of the material. However, recent findings by Penn State researchers have raised questions about this standard rule.
Smallholder farmers, despite facing enormous challenges, produce a significant portion of the world's food, especially in regions like Africa and Asia. PlantVillage, a project aimed at empowering these farmers through smartphone technology and machine learning, has grown into a global initiative with ambitious plans to expand its impact and address the growing threat of climate change. Listen to the podcast.
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