Earth and Mineral Sciences

College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Penn State undergraduates and graduate students taking a marine biogeochemistry course that explores the ways life influences and is influenced by chemical, physical and geological processes in the ocean, spent spring break visiting San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.

Marine biogeochemistry students visit island as their 'lab' during spring break | Penn State University

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Penn State undergraduates and graduate students taking a marine biogeochemistry course that explores the ways life influences and is influenced by chemical, physical and geological processes in the ocean, spent spring break visiting San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.

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Research

Marine biogeochemistry students visit island as their 'lab' during spring break

Engineering

College of Engineering

Researchers at Penn State are studying how microplastics traverse and influence watersheds, such as rivers and streams, across Pennsylvania and the world at large.&nbsp;The team collected sediment samples from several freshwater ecosystems across Pennsylvania, comparing those readings to data previously taken from New York and New Jersey, as well as countries around the world, revealing insights into how pollutants move through freshwater environments and the potential roles humans play in rising levels of plastic content.

Mapping microplastic movement in rivers and streams across Pennsylvania | Penn State University

Researchers at Penn State are studying how microplastics traverse and influence watersheds, such as rivers and streams, across Pennsylvania and the world at large. The team collected sediment samples from several freshwater ecosystems across Pennsylvania, comparing those readings to data previously taken from New York and New Jersey, as well as countries around the world, revealing insights into how pollutants move through freshwater environments and the potential roles humans play in rising levels of plastic content.

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Mapping microplastic movement in rivers and streams across Pennsylvania

Agricultural Sciences

College of Agricultural Sciences

Long before she led reforestation efforts in her native Lebanon, Maya Nehme was a graduate student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, researching ways to combat invasive species threatening forests. Even then, her vision extended beyond the lab — helping to inspire what would become the college’s international agriculture and development graduate dual-title degree program, known as INTAD.

College of Ag Sciences alumna’s legacy: Research and growing global impact | Penn State University

Long before she led reforestation efforts in her native Lebanon, Maya Nehme was a graduate student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, researching ways to combat invasive species threatening forests. Even then, her vision extended beyond the lab — helping to inspire what would become the college’s international agriculture and development graduate dual-title degree program, known as INTAD.

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College of Ag Sciences alumna’s legacy: Research and growing global impact

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Around Campus

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Eberly College of Science

A tiny discrepancy in particle physics has loomed for decades as an exciting possible crack in one of science’s most successful theories, hinting at unknown forces or quantum objects. Now, an international team led by a Penn State physicist has published the most precise study yet to reveal the discrepancy was a fluke in calculation, not nature.

Particle thought to break physics followed rules all along | Penn State University

A tiny discrepancy in particle physics has loomed for decades as an exciting possible crack in one of science’s most successful theories, hinting at unknown forces or quantum objects. Now, an international team led by a Penn State physicist has published the most precise study yet to reveal the discrepancy was a fluke in calculation, not nature.

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Health and Human Development

College of Health and Human Development

Parents need to simultaneously monitor their teenagers while respecting the children’s emerging independence, according to Greg Fosco, professor of human development and family studies and Edna Bennett Pierce Faculty Fellow in Prevention Research at Penn State. In this Q&amp;A, Fosco discussed how to support a teenager’s healthy growth.

Q&A: What do teenagers need from their parents? | Penn State University

Parents need to simultaneously monitor their teenagers while respecting the children’s emerging independence, according to Greg Fosco, professor of human development and family studies and Edna Bennett Pierce Faculty Fellow in Prevention Research at Penn State. In this Q&A, Fosco discussed how to support a teenager’s healthy growth.

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Q&A: What do teenagers need from their parents?

In a new study of tropical amphibians, a team led by Penn State biologists found that amphibians in connected natural forests and aquatic habitats were more likely to host beneficial skin microbes that inhibit a deadly fungal pathogen.

Connected habitats help wildlife fight disease, strengthen protective microbes | Penn State University

In a new study of tropical amphibians, a team led by Penn State biologists found that amphibians in connected natural forests and aquatic habitats were more likely to host beneficial skin microbes that inhibit a deadly fungal pathogen.

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Connected habitats help wildlife fight disease, strengthen protective microbes

Featured Research

A new study, led by a team from Penn State College of Medicine, found that when teenagers go to sleep and when they wake up may be the driving force behind what teenagers eat and how much they move. Teens who went to sleep later and woke up later were more likely to consume more calories, snack more and be less physically active — especially when in school compared to on break from school.

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A thick layer of haze around the ultra-low-density planet Kepler-51d likely obscures not only the strange planet’s composition, but also its origin, according to a new study. A team led by Penn State researchers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a deeper look at the “super-puff” planet that defies planetary formation models.

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Lightning formation and the conditions triggering it have long been shrouded in a cloud of mystery, but new research led by Penn State scientists is lifting the fog. Using mathematical calculations, the researchers discovered that lightning-like discharge doesn’t require a storm cloud — it could be made inside everyday material on a lab bench.

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Tardigrades, commonly known as water bears, may be better suited by a new name: Tardiguardians of the Galaxy. Unlike the fictional ragtag team of unenthusiastic heroes, the microscopic animals are providing real insight into how humans could adapt extraterrestrial resources to support space exploration, as well as whether such resources could help protect against the Earthly contaminants that humans might shed. This is according to an international study co-led by Penn State Altoona Professor of Microbiology Corien Bakermans.

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