News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

Pennsylvania Agricultural College Herbarium director Jesse Lasky, left, and graduate student Eleanna Vasquez Cerda look at specimens in the museum. Credit: Keith Hickey, Huck Institutes / Penn State. Creative Commons

Sep 30, 2024

Penn State herbarium selected to participate in collections assessment program

Penn State’s herbarium — known as the Pennsylvania Agricultural College (PAC) Herbarium — is one of 71 institutions in the United States selected to participate in the Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program.

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Ayusman Sen, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Chemistry, published the first paper on autonomous nanobots 20 years ago. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Sep 30, 2024

Penn State chemist’s pioneering paper reaches 20-year milestone

The paper that launched the field of self-propelled autonomous nanomotors celebrated at two conferences and featured in award-winning documentary

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Credit: vegefox.com/Adobe Stock. All Rights Reserved.

Sep 30, 2024

One Health Microbiome Center launches new video series

The Penn State One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC) announced the launch of a new video series highlighting the center's state-of-the-art resources, research capabilities and collaborative efforts in microbiome sciences.

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Sheep graze across the 70-megawatt solar farm project in Franklin County that provides Penn State with 25% of its purchased electricity, across all campuses. Credit: Lightsource bp. All Rights Reserved.

Sep 30, 2024

Penn State cuts greenhouse gas emissions in half; targets future goals

Since 2005, Penn State has worked steadily toward lowering its University-wide greenhouse gas emissions. Along the way, the University set and met various goals — including a 17.5% reduction by 2012 and a 35% reduction by 2020 — and recently exceeded a 50% reduction, marking a major milestone.

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Francisco Dini-Andreote, assistant professor of plant science, was named the Huck Early Career Chair in Microbial Community Ecology. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Sep 25, 2024

Plant scientist named Huck Early Career Chair in Microbial Community Ecology

Francisco Dini-Andreote, assistant professor of plant science in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, has been awarded the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Microbial Community Ecology.

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A research plot after dairy manure slurry was injected into a growing cover crop in early spring when temperatures were cooler, A new study demonstrated that the practice achieved multiple conservation goals while maintaining corn yield. Credit: Sailesh Sigdel/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Sep 25, 2024

Injecting manure into growing cover crops can cut pollution, support corn crops

A team of Penn State agricultural scientists conducted a new study on dairy manure management strategies for ecosystem services in no-till crop systems.

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Penn State researchers have developed a new nanoparticle, depicted here, that can prevent mineral buildup in oil extraction equipment and stabilize a commonly used emulsion, or liquid mixture. Credit: Provided by Amir Sheikhi. All Rights Reserved.

Sep 24, 2024

New material prevents mineral buildup in equipment handling water-oil mixtures

Penn State researchers have developed a new nanoparticle that can prevent scaling and stabilize a commonly used emulsion, or liquid mixture, potentially making the oil extraction processes more efficient and less harmful to the environment.

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In anaerobic soil disinfestation, after organic amendments are mixed in, the soil is irrigated to saturation and covered with impermeable plastic, as shown here, creating no-oxygen conditions that suppress weeds.

Sep 24, 2024

$1M USDA grant to perfect weed killing method in organic crop production

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a four-year, $1 million grant to a team led by plant scientists and an economist from Penn State to investigate anaerobic soil disinfestation to support transitioning from conventional to organic production systems.

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The researchers tested raw sewage samples collected twice a week from two treatment plants in central Pennsylvania for non-typhoidal Salmonella and characterized isolates using whole genome sequencing. They recovered 43 Salmonella isolates from wastewater samples. Credit: Provided by Ed Dudley. All Rights Reserved.

Sep 19, 2024

Wastewater monitoring can detect foodborne illness, researchers find

Results of a new study suggest sewage monitoring could provide early warning of foodborne disease outbreaks to public health authorities

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Laura Cabrera, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics, will develop a patient-centered decision aid to help patients, caregivers and providers make decisions about neurotechnology treatments. Credit: Kate Myers/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Sep 17, 2024

Q&A: Ethical decision-making around neurotechnology treatments

Laura Cabrera, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics, has received a four-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research and develop a patient-centered decision aid to help guide patients, providers, and caregivers navigating their options.

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