MULTIMEDIA

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  Explaining Metamaterials

  We live in a world of waves. The radio waves hitting your car’s antenna and the light coming in through its windshield, the X-rays that can detect a tumor and the gamma radiation that can destroy it are all different facets of the same phenomenon: electromagnetism. As one of the fundamental forces of nature, its imprint can be felt on almost everything in the universe.

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  Robotic Boats to the Rescue

  Imagine sailing a container ship to help with cleanup at the site of a massive oil spill. Now imagine if each container were actually an autonomous robotic boat. Dumped into the ocean, the boats could link up to form an ad-hoc platform for landing a helicopter or operating a crane.

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  A “Passport” for the Immune System

  The body’s innate immune system is its first line of defense against invaders. A disease-causing bacterium or a piece of wood from a splinter are treated the same: Cellular agents of the immune system identify these objects as foreign and try to destroy them.

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  Mosaic Tells Nearly 2,000-Year-Old Story

  One of the world’s largest and best-preserved stone mosaics has made its final U.S. stop at the Penn Museum. The Museum’s “Unearthing a Masterpiece: A Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel” exhibition displays a 13-foot by 24-foot section of the Lod Mosaic, from 300 C.E.

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  Biking Gets Safer for Riders

  Biking is one of the most efficient ways to navigate busy city streets and is an increasing popular way to navigate around campus. In recent years, the University has seen the number of bikes on campus double.

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  Crystals That Can Switch Configurations

  For associate professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering John Crocker, DNA is not just the stuff of genetics, but the makings of the perfect building block.“The great thing about DNA is that it will only bind to other DNA that has the complementary sequence,” Crocker says. “So engineers have long thought that we could make a whole library of parts, put the appropriate sequences on the outside, then put them in a test tube and they would self-assemble.”

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  The Beauty of Penn in Winter

  When snow falls, Penn’s tree-lined, urban campus is transformed into a canvas of winter white. Infused with the season’s muted light, the University’s iconic 19th and 20th century buildings, public works of art, and historic brick byways reveal a charming winter landscape.

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  Nanotech Center Continues to Grow

  Construction on the $91.5 million Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology on the 3200 block of Walnut Street is proceeding on time and on budget.

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  Alum John Legend delivers 12th annual MLK Lecture in Social Justice

  Alumnus and nine-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist John Legend returned to campus on Jan. 16 to deliver the 12th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice to a full house at Irvine Auditorium.

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  Looking For Early Signs of Autism

  For the past five years, under the helm of Sarah Paterson, research assistant professor at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, and Robert Schultz, director of the Center