News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

The findings may have implications for policymakers hoping to make these conservation programs more impactful, according to the researchers. Credit: Jon Flobrant/Unsplash. All Rights Reserved.

May 07, 2025

Some water conservation programs may get more value by targeting rural farms

Conservation programs aimed at boosting environmentally friendly practices by incentivizing farmers may get more bang for their buck by targeting rural farms rather than more urban ones, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State.

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Réka Albert, Evan Pugh University Professor and professor of physics and biology at Penn State, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She pioneered network science, a method that involves studying systems as networks, where individual components — like people, proteins or genes — are represented as "nodes," and their interactions are depicted as "edges." This approach led to new ways to visualize and analyze the intricate web of connections in various systems. Credit: Michelle Bixby / Penn State. Creative Commons

May 07, 2025

Biological physicist Réka Albert elected to National Academy of Sciences

Réka Albert, Evan Pugh University Professor and professor of physics and biology at Penn State, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

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By extending egg production in broiler breeder hens, farmers may be able to reduce flock turnover, improve animal welfare and increase efficiency, according to researchers at Penn State. Credit: Hispanolistic/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

May 07, 2025

Common diabetes drug helps chickens lay more eggs

Metformin, a drug commonly prescribed to humans, could be a game-changer for farms and food production, researchers said.

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The lightweight and flexible electrode, which looks like a strand of hair, attaches directly to the scalp and delivers stable, high-quality recordings of the brain’s signals. Credit: Courtesy of the Zhou Lab / Penn State. Creative Commons

May 02, 2025

The future of brain activity monitoring may look like a strand of hair

A new hairlike electrode makes long-term, high-quality EEG monitoring less cumbersome and inconspicuous.

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Brandon Mabey, a first-year student at Penn State Scranton, and Emma Sokaloski, a second-year student at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, worked with Luciana Caporaletti, lecturer in biology at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, on a research project presented at the Pennsylvania Academy of Science's annual meeting. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

May 01, 2025

Students, faculty find evidence of beech leaf disease in two state parks

Penn State Wilkes-Barre student and lecturer and Penn State Scranton student present research poster during Pennsylvania Academy of Science meeting.

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Treponema pallidum, represented in this illustration as purple corkscrews, is the bacterium that gives rise to syphilis. Credit: Illustration by quantic69/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

May 01, 2025

$2.7M NIH grant to fund first comprehensive syphilis test

In collaboration with his clinical partners at Penn State Health, Carle Foundation Hospital and University of Alabama Birmingham, Dipanjan Pan aims to develop a one-step confirmatory laboratory test that can definitively diagnose active syphilis infection within 10 minutes.

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Researchers found an approximate two-minute difference in the 5K time trials between runners with insufficient energy intake and runners with sufficient energy intake. Credit: Marian Vejcik/Getty Images; edited by Dennis Maney  . All Rights Reserved.

Apr 30, 2025

Energy deficiency impacts collegiate running performance

New study from researchers in the Penn State Department of Kinesiology is first to measure how preseason energy levels can predict athlete performance.

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Apr 30, 2025

Celebrating James Marden: A Decade of Impact and a Lifetime of Achievement

After a decade of exceptional service to the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and a distinguished academic career spanning four decades, James Marden, professor of biology and associate director of operations, will retire from Penn State at the end of June 2025.

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Apr 29, 2025

HGSAC prepares for largest Life Sciences Symposium yet

The Life Sciences Symposium, organized by the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee (HGSAC), is set to showcase student research on May 23.

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Apr 29, 2025

Heather Hines named interim director of the Center for Pollinator Research and the Insect Biodiversity Center

Heather Hines, Associate Professor of Biology and Entomology, has been named Interim Director of the Center for Pollinator Research (CPR) and the Insect Biodiversity Center (IBC). Hines is succeeding Christina Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology and director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

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