Read the latest news about research conducted by investigators in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Our faculty and students are continually advancing technology, creating solutions and expanding knowledge with new and innovative research.
Researchers encouraged to submit proposals for Earthshot Prize
Penn State faculty and staff are invited to submit nominations for the Earthshot Prize 2023, an international competition aimed at identifying the most promising solutions to environmental challenges.
Sloan Foundation grant to fund research on governance of the U.S. electric grid
Seth Blumsack, professor of energy and environmental economics and international affairs, was awarded a $1,193,307 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to sustain and expand an interdisciplinary research network focused on the regional organizations that manage the electric power transmission grid in the United States and how the governance of these regional transmission organizations (RTOs) impacts outcomes for market efficiency, sustainability, equity, reliability and resilience.
Changes in Earth’s orbit may have triggered ancient warming event
Changes in Earth’s orbit that favored hotter conditions may have helped trigger a rapid global warming event 56 million years ago that is considered an analogue for modern climate change, according to an international team of scientists.
Model shows how intelligent-like behavior can emerge from non-living agents
From a distance, they looked like clouds of dust. Yet, the swarm of microrobots in author Michael Crichton’s bestseller “Prey” was self-organized. It acted with rudimentary intelligence, learning, evolving and communicating with itself to grow more powerful.
2D material may enable ultra-sharp cellphone photos in low light
A new type of active pixel sensor that uses a novel two-dimensional material may both enable ultra-sharp cellphone photos and create a new class of extremely energy-efficient Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, according to a team of Penn State researchers.
Penn State faculty join NASA mission to study samples from asteroid Bennu
Three Penn State faculty — Kate Freeman, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences, Christopher House, professor of geosciences, and Allison Baczynski, associate research professor of geosciences — have been selected to join the NASA Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission to analyze samples from the asteroid Bennu.
GeoPEERS aims to make research experiences in the geosciences more accessible
The geosciences fields are at a turning point, where the jobs of the next 50 years are likely to be quite different from the jobs of the last 50 years.
Stretchable rubber diode opens possibilities for medical, electronic devices
Electronic devices, such as robotics or medical devices, are becoming more flexible as technology advances, so Penn State researchers have developed a fully rubbery stretchable diode that maintains performance.
Penn State alumni make mark on NASA Mars missions
This fall, NASA’s Curiosity rover reached new heights.
Coffee Hour to discuss water governance conflicts linked to climate change
Srinivas Chokkakula, Ministry of Jal Shakti Research Chair with the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, will give the talk “Conflicts and Complicit Climate Change: Transboundary Water Governance in South Asia” as part of the Department of Geography’s Coffee Hour lecture series.