Ever wondered why your flights always seem to be delayed? Research has just shown that one reason behind the delays is climate change. The change in climate is leading to constant changes in the summer jet stream, according to Michael Mann, director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center.
Underground fiber-optic cables don’t just connect us to one another by giving us access to telephones and the internet; they also can serve other purposes.
Through testing underneath the University Park Campus, a team of Penn State researchers discovered that by sending a laser sensor down the cable, they were able to detect the smallest changes in ground pressure.
“If there is any change in the external energy on the ground above, even walking steps, you will have a very small change that’s going to stretch or compress the fiber,” said Tieyuan Zhu, assistant professor of geophysics at Penn State.
This multi-functional technology can help detect changes in the ground during all kinds of natural disasters and help lead to better preparation to protect buildings and people.
Have you ever wondered why there always to be room to eat some dessert? The answer is something called “sensory-specific satiety.” Barbara Rolls, director of the Penn State Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behavior, has been researching this since the 1980s. Sensory-specific satiety not only explains why there is always room for dessert but also why you tend to eat more at a buffet or eat more French fries with condiments.
Read more about why this phenomenon might make you eat more at Vox.
People often feel that they need romance to find happiness, but research is saying that “romantic love” isn’t necessarily tied to being happy. A recent Penn State study– led by Zira Oravecz and Timothy Brick – found that “feeling love” and psychological well-being “everyday life presents many experiences that can make people feel connected to another and leave them feeling loved.”
Worldwide, billions of people lack access to adequate toilet facilities, leading to many sanitation-related illnesses and deaths. Water scarcity plays a significant role in this, as many low-resource environments are not able to clean and maintain their toilets.
To design more sustainable toilet facilities, Penn State researchers have developed an ultra-slippery coating for the inside of toilet bowls to keep waste from sticking. While most research aims to create high-tech solutions, this coating is a simple way to half the amount of water needed by toilets.
Read more about the potentially life-saving research at Scientific American.
NASA Names Headquarters After ‘Hidden Figure’ Mary W. Jackson
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Wednesday the agency’s headquarters building in Washington, D.C., will be named after Mary W. Jackson, the first African American female engineer at NASA. Jackson started her NASA career in the segregated West Area Computing Unit of the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Jackson, a mathematician and aerospace engineer, […]
Poet Rita Dove Wins Wallace Stevens Award From Academy of American Poets
Rita Dove, Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia, received the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, according to jbhe.com. The award is given annually to recognize “outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry.” Established in 1994, the award comes with a $100,000 prize. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1987 for Thomas and […]
Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G., and Rufus feat. Chaka Khan Nominated for 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Whitney Houston, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan and Notorious B.I.G. are among the 16 nominees for the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Houston and Biggie Smalls are on the ballot for the first time along with Dave Matthews Band, The Doobie Brothers, Motörhead, Pat Benatar, Soundgarden, T.Rex, and Thin Lizzy. This is the third time Rufus & Chaka Khan have been nominated. […]
Disney Plus adds disclaimer about racist movie stereotypes
According to SFGate.com, Disney’s new streaming service has added a disclaimer to “Dumbo,” “Peter Pan” and other classics because they depict racist stereotypes, underscoring a challenge media companies face when they resurrect older movies in modern times. The move comes as Disney Plus seems to be an instant hit. It attracted 10 million subscribers in […]
Public invited to star-studded memorial for Toni Morrison
Just three months after her passing, Toni Morrison fans will have an opportunity to honor her thanks to a new memorial taking place this month. According to literary culture website LitHub, the “Beloved” author, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers, will be memorialized with a ceremony at New York City’s Cathedral of […]
Note, I am finding these threads on the twitter feeds of ICU nurses who are now dreading the horrors that Roe falling will bring to their hospitals. This, on top of the horrors that they’ve seen and continue to see because of the pandemic. They were already exhausted and hanging by a thread.
