News

Penn Physics Professors Lecture for Public at Franklin Institute

From smart lighting, mobile connectivity and underwater communications, to aviation, defense and security, the countless applications of light have revolutionized society. Explore some of the newest ways in which light is becoming an indispensable part of our lives. Professors Ravi Sheth and Arjun Yodh lectured about light at the "Why Light Matters" event at the Franklin Institute Oct. 27. To see their talks and the full program, go to https://vimeo.com/144246522

Visiting Fulbright Postdoctoral Researcher Tessa Baker Wins UK “Women of the Future” Award

Dr. Tessa Baker, a postdoctoral Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, and a Fulbright Scholar spending this year in the Center for Particle Cosmology at Penn, is the 2015 winner in the Science category of the UK “Women of the Future Award”.

National Academy of Medicine Elects Three New Members from Penn

Three professors from the University of Pennsylvania have been elected members to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine. NAM was originally the Institute of Medicine, which was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues. Members are elected to the NAM by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and health. 

Professor James Aguirre Builds Radio Telescope with Community H.S. Students

For most people, “radio” is something that is listened to. For physicists and astronomers, however, “radio” is something that is seen.

Penn Medicine Researchers Discover Hidden Brain Pathways Crucial to Communication

Being able to understand speech is essential to our evolution as humans. Hearing lets us perceive the same word even when spoken at different speeds or pitches, and also gives us extra sensitivity to unexpected sounds. Now, new studies from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania clarify how these two crucial features of audition are managed by the brain.

Flexner Award for Graduate Student Xuexin Wei

Xuexin Wei, co-advised by Prof. Vijay Balasubramanian and Prof. Alan Stocker of Psychology, has won the Louis B. Flexner Award for Outstanding Thesis Work in the Neurosciences. Students in any graduate group at Penn who did their Ph.D. on a neuroscience related topic in any lab across the University are eligible for the Flexner Award, sponsored by the Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences.

Physics Scientists' Work on 'Ghost Particles' Contributed to Nobel Prize Win 2015

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics was jointly awarded today to Dr. Takaaki Kajita of Japan and Dr. Arthur B. McDonald of Canada, for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass. Professor Kajita was the leader of the Super-Kamiokande experiment, and Professor McDonald the Director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observator (SNO), an experiment in which the University of Pennsylvania group played a critical role. 

New Fellows of The American Physical Society

Physics Professors Bhuvnesh Jain and Mark Trodden have been elected to Fellowship of The American Physical Society.

Jain was nominated by APS’s Division of Astrophysics:

Physics Professor Joshua Klein on "Why I Love Neutrinos"

Why I Love Neutrinos is a series spotlighting those mysterious, abundant, ghostly particles that are all around us. This installment features Professor Josh Klein of the University of Pennsylvania.

To watch "Why I Love Neutrinos" on Youtube click here

For more information on neutrinos, visit the Fermilab website at  http://www.fnal.gov

Physics Professors A.T. Charlie Johnson and Marija Drndic Leads Two 4M Projects On New 2D Materials

Two out of ten NSF EFRI grants were awarded to independent teams led by two Penn Physics & Astronomy Professors on new two-dimensional materials. One team led by Professor Charlie Johnson and collaborators at Penn, the other, led by Professor Marija Drndic and collaborators at four other institutions. The projects also have strong outreach components and include Drndić's group work with University of the Arts professor Slavko Milekic on the development of a portable interactive exhibit kiosk, for display at the Franklin Institute.