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.
News
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has awarded $600,000 to Penn State’s Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance (SCIA) to develop a series of educational courses, workshops, and paid academic and industrial internships focused on workforce development in Pennsylvania for the growing semiconductor industry.
Penn State students, Carnegie Mellon students, Penn State faculty and staff from the Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center at Penn State are collaborating to use existing fiber optic cables to predict dangerous potential geohazards like flooding, landslides and sinkholes in Pittsburgh.
Ancient fossil beans about the size of modern limes, and among the largest seeds in the fossil record, may provide new insight into the evolution of today’s diverse Southeast Asian and Australian rainforests, according to Penn State researchers who identified the plants.
The Colorado River basin, which supplies water to 40 million people in the Western United States, is threatened by historic drought, a changing climate and water demands from growing cities. One potential response involves encouraging individuals to conserve water, and a new study may help identify those most likely to change their behaviors to contribute, according to scientists.
When used as wearable medical devices, stretchy, flexible gas sensors can identify health conditions or issues by detecting oxygen or carbon dioxide levels in the breath or sweat.
Sometimes friction is good, such as the friction between a road and a car’s tires to prevent the vehicle from skidding. But sometimes friction is bad — if you did not put oil in that very same car, there would be so much friction in the bearings of the engine that the car could not operate.
A large family of chemicals used for decades to improve our lives — from nonstick cooking pans to waterproof clothing — are now known as "forever chemicals" because they do not easily break down in the environment and pose potential health risks as they build up in our bodies. A new study may improve our understanding of how these chemicals move in the groundwater, according to a team of scientists.
The latest episode of the "Growing Impact" podcast features a project focused on air quality and health concerns in western Pennsylvania
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.
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.