Genetic Analysis Reveals Evolution of the Enigmatic Y Chromosome in Great Apes
Researchers reconstruct the ancestral great ape Y and show its rapid evolution in bonobo and chimpanzee. New analysis of the DNA sequence of the male-specific…
Penn State University
Controlling the Nanoscale Structure of Desalination Membranes Is Key for Clean Water
A desalination membrane acts as a filter for salty water: push the water through the membrane, get clean water suitable for agriculture, energy production and…
Breakthrough Allows Inexpensive Electric Vehicle Battery to Charge in Just 10 Minutes
Range anxiety, the fear of running out of power before being able to recharge an electric vehicle, may be a thing of the past, according…
How Zombie Movies Prepared You for the COVID-19 Pandemic
Tales of post-apocalyptic landscapes in which few survivors emerge into a new and much different world have long been popular tales woven by screenwriters and…
Climate Change Reduces the Abundance and Diversity of Wild Bees
Wild bees are more affected by climate change than by disturbances to their habitats, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State. The…
HETDEX Dark Energy Experiment Begins Full Operations
Three years after its initial test observations, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) is now training its full suite of instrumentation to reveal the…
At-Home “Scratch-and-Sniff” Test for COVID-19 May Be Around the Corner
A self-administered ‘scratch-and-sniff’ test for COVID-19 may be around the corner, according to researchers at Penn State, the University of Florida, and Arizona State University….
Largest Earthquakes and Their Tsunamis May Be Directed by Deep, Slow-Slip Action
Megathrust earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis that originate in subduction zones like Cascadia — Vancouver Island, Canada, to northern California — are some of the most…
Stretchable Micro-Supercapacitors That Can Harvest Energy From Human Breathing and Motion
A stretchable system that can harvest energy from human breathing and motion for use in wearable health-monitoring devices may be possible, according to an international…
Geoscientists Analyze Zircon to Trace Origin of Earth’s Continents
Geoscientists have long known that some parts of the continents formed in the Earth’s deep past, but the speed in which land rose above global…
Can Vitamin D Supplements Prevent COVID-19 or Reduce Symptoms?
Funding from the National Institutes of Health will enable a Penn State researcher to study whether vitamin D supplementation could help people ward off or…
SARS-CoV-2 Could Evolve Resistance, Rendering COVID-19 Vaccines Ineffective
Similar to bacteria evolving resistance to antibiotics, viruses can evolve resistance to vaccines, and the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 could undermine the effectiveness of vaccines that…
Efficient Brain-Based Computing Using Graphene-Based Memory Resistors
As progress in traditional computing slows, new forms of computing are coming to the forefront. At Penn State, a team of engineers is attempting to…
Scientists Deconstruct the “Biological Clock” That Regulates Precise Timing of Complex Birdsong
The precise timing of a bird’s complex song is driven in part by the often-ignored “wires” connecting neurons in the bird’s brain, according to a…
Researchers Surprised After They Graft Tomato Plants With Epigenetically-Modified Rootstock
Progeny of novel combination is more vigorous and productive than parental plants. Novel grafted plants — consisting of rootstock epigenetically modified to “believe” it has…
Mouthwash May Inactivate Human Coronaviruses, Help Reduce Spread of COVID-19
Certain oral antiseptics and mouthwashes may have the ability to inactivate human coronaviruses, according to a Penn State College of Medicine research study. The results…
Engineers Print Wearable, High-Performance Biometric Sensors Directly on Skin
An international team of researchers developed a novel technique to produce precise, high-performing biometric sensors. Wearable sensors are evolving from watches and electrodes to bendable…
Risk of Dying From COVID-19 Double, Triple With These Pre-Existing Conditions
A large, international study of COVID-19 patients confirmed that cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, stroke and cancer can increase a…