Overestimating Population Immunity Contributed to COVID Delta Variant Surge in U.S.
When the COVID-19 delta variant hit the United States in the summer of 2021, it led to a larger-than-expected surge in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths….
Penn State University
Narcissists Less Likely To Comply With COVID-19 Mitigations Like Masking and Vaccination
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, experts have advocated for mitigation strategies like masking and vaccination to help reduce the spread of the virus. According to a…
Photosynthesis: How a Cyanobacterium Makes Far-Red Light Mean “Go”
Researchers identify the locations of structural changes in photosystems I and II that allow growth in far-red light. A team of researchers led by Penn…
Nearby Star Could Help Explain Sunspot Mystery That Has Baffled Scientists for 300 Years
The number of sunspots on our sun typically ebbs and flows in a predictable 11-year cycle, but one unusual 70-year period when sunspots were incredibly…
Zentropy: New Theory of Entropy May Solve Materials Design Issues
A challenge in materials design is that in both natural and manmade materials, volume sometimes decreases, or increases, with increasing temperature. While there are mechanical…
Astronomers May Have Detected a “Sonic Boom” From a Powerful Blast Known as a Kilonova
Astronomers may have detected a “sonic boom” from a powerful blast known as a kilonova. This event—called GW170817—is a result of a merger of two…
COVID Omicron Variant Detected for First Time in White-Tailed Deer
Detection of antibodies in one infected deer also suggests deer may become reinfected with SARS-CoV-2. Some white-tailed deer living in Staten Island, New York, are…
“Seeing” Non-Uniformities in 2D Materials May Lead to Tiny New Medical Sensors
A novel and better approach at detecting non-uniformities in the optical properties of two-dimensional materials could potentially open the door to new uses for these…
Repurposing FDA-Approved Drugs To Combat All COVID-19 Variants – Including Delta and Omicron
Several FDA-approved drugs — including for type 2 diabetes, hepatitis C and HIV — significantly reduce the ability of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 to…
Improving Hurricane Intensity and Rainfall Forecasts With Microwave Data Assimilation
In 2017, Hurricane Harvey stalled after making landfall over coastal Texas, pouring down record rainfall, flooding communities, and becoming one of the wettest and most…
How 5G Wireless Service Puts Airplanes at Risk – An Electrical Engineer Explains
New high-speed cellphone services have raised concerns of interference with aircraft operations, particularly as aircraft are landing at airports. The Federal Aviation Administration has assured…
What Is 5G? An Electrical Engineer Explains the Technology
5G stands for fifth-generation cellular network technology. It’s the technology that enables wireless communication – for example, from your cellular phone to a cell tower,…
Newly Discovered Carbon on Mars: Origin May Be Biologically Produced Methane
NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and since then has roamed Gale Crater taking samples and sending the results back home…
First Evidence of Coronal Rain on a Cold Star?
Observations of a distant stellar flare could contain the first evidence of coronal rain on a cool, small M-dwarf star. High-resolution spectroscopic observations of a…
Distortion: Scientists Discover New Strategy for Antibodies To Disable Viruses
It is widely understood that antibodies neutralize viruses by latching onto their surfaces and blocking them from infecting host cells. But new research reveals that…
Scientists Uncover the Evolutionary Genetic Pathway That Colors Bumble Bee Stripes
Roar supercomputer provides computational power for data-intense gene expression studies. While most people in the U.S. may think of bumble bees as the standard yellow…
Black Holes of All Shapes and Sizes in Largest Catalog of Gravitational Wave Events Ever Assembled
The largest catalog of gravitational wave events ever assembled has been released by an international collaboration that includes Penn State researchers. Gravitational waves are ripples…
Using Defects To Turn Inert Materials Into Useful, Active Ones
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…
