News

Research Penn State 2016 a success

This first-of-its-kind showcase event for the University's five interdisciplinary research institutes, held over two days in October, highlighted the breadth and depth of research in the life sciences, energy and the environment, materials science and engineering, cyber-enabled science, and the social sciences at Penn State.

Parasitic plants may form weapons out of genes stolen from hosts

Sneaky parasitic weeds may be able to steal genes from the plants they are attacking and then use those genes against the host plant, according to a team of scientists.

America the Bountiful ag workforce event highlights Penn State initiative

PlantVillage, an online crop-disease knowledge library and image database co-founded by Penn State researcher David Hughes, was represented at an event unveiling a new agricultural workforce development initiative Oct. 6 in Washington, D.C.

Heard on Campus: Rush Holt, retired lawmaker and AAAS leader

Rush Holt, executive officer of the American Association for Advancement of Science, and retired United States congressman, joined a group of leading Penn State researchers at a panel discussion entitled 'Scientist-Citizen: Science Policy in the Age of Promise and Peril' at Penn State's HUB Robeson Center on the evening of Oct. 13.

Huck Institutes granted Integrated Safety Plan (ISP) certification

The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences has been granted certification of its Integrated Safety Plan by Penn State’s Department of Environmental Health and Safety.

Too much of a form of vitamin B3 in cells can cause behavioral changes in worms

Experiments show that too much of a form of vitamin B3 -- nicotinamide -- that is produced naturally inside of cells can lead to cell death in certain sensory cells and cause behavioral changes in the worm, Caenorhabditis elegans.

New, carbon-nanotube tool for ultra-sensitive virus detection and identification

A new tool that uses a forest-like array of vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes that can be finely tuned to selectively trap viruses by their size can increase the detection threshold for viruses and speed the process of identifying newly-emerging viruses.

Using satellite images to better target vaccination

A team of researchers led by Penn State scientists have combined satellite imagery, vaccination records, and measles case reports to illustrate how using predictable population fluctuations can help to improve vaccination coverage — a vital factor in combatting infectious disease outbreaks.

Retired congressman, AAAS CEO Holt to lead panel on science and politics

The Penn State community is invited to join a panel discussion featuring a scientist-turned-lawmaker and a group of leading Penn State researchers about the role of scientists helping to shape policy for a more sustainable future.

Artificial intelligence could help farmers diagnose crop diseases

A network of computers fed a large image dataset can learn to recognize specific plant diseases with a high degree of accuracy, potentially paving the way for field-based crop-disease identification using smartphones, according to a team of researchers at Penn State and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), in Lausanne, Switzerland.