Latest News

September 23, 2019

A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool available for free in a smartphone app can predict near-term crop productivity for farmers in Africa and may help them protect their staple crops — such as maize, cassava and beans — in the face of climate warming, according to Penn State researchers. The team will unveil the new tool — which will work with their existing AI assistant, called “PlantVillage Nuru” — to coincide with the United Nations Climate Action Summit held today (Sept. 23) at the U.N. Headquarters in New York City.

September 19, 2019

Penn State researchers recently received a $3.8 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to explore successful post-adoption development in children.

September 16, 2019

A novel use of a custom laser system — developed in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences eight years ago — allows researchers to see how soil organisms affect plant roots. The discovery has implications for future breeding of more resilient and productive crops, according to an international team of scientists.

September 10, 2019

A new way of measuring how relationships in a network change over time can reveal important details about the network, according to researchers at Penn State and the Korean Rural Economic Institute. For example, when applied to the world economy, the method detected the greatest amount of network change during 2008-09, the time of the global financial crisis.

September 7, 2019

“Lingering ash." That’s what the U.S. Forest Service calls the relatively few green and white ash trees that survive the emerald ash borer onslaught. Those trees do not survive by accident, and that may save the species, according to Penn State researchers, who conducted a six-year study of ash decline and mortality.

September 6, 2019

Supported by a $4.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, a multi-institutional project will draw on Penn State entomological expertise and collections to document and digitize the historical population dynamics of arthropod parasites, such as ticks, lice and mosquitoes.

September 5, 2019

More than 20 Penn State researchers are participating in the upcoming climate solutions conference Research to Action: The Science of Drawdown. Overall, more than 70 speakers will be presenting at the event, which will take place Sept. 16-18 at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center.

September 5, 2019

Research to Action: The Science of Drawdown, the conference focused on climate solutions being hosted at Penn State from Sept. 16-18, will be livestreamed online for free. Interested viewers can see the conference agenda for what is planned during the three-day event, which is sold out.

September 3, 2019

A new look at the prevalence of the widespread and often fatal sheep and goat plague virus in Tanzania reveals that livestock managed in a system where they are the sole source of an owners’ livelihood are more likely to become infected.

September 3, 2019

Selective browsing by white-tailed deer has been blamed by many for changing the character and composition of forest understories in the eastern U.S.; however, its impact on the forest canopy was previously unknown.

September 3, 2019

Penn State researchers have been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation in a multi-institutional effort to assist Alaskan coastal Indigenous communities with foreseeable environmental challenges due to global warming.

September 3, 2019

Three Penn State researchers — Rachel Brennan, in the College of Engineering, and Mike Jacobson and Brian Thiede, in the College of Agricultural Sciences — recently received $250,000 in University Strategic Plan seed funding to address global Water-Energy-Food (WEF) challenges.

August 27, 2019

This summer, the Center for the Agricultural Sciences and a Sustainable Environment at Penn State Berks became "ground zero" for the research of organic and conventional methods to eradicate the spotted lanternfly.

August 26, 2019

More than half of people in the world, including in the United States, live alongside Aedes aegypti — the mosquito that transmits dengue, Zika and other often deadly viruses. Dengue virus, alone, infects nearly 400 million people worldwide each year. To reduce transmission of dengue to humans, scientists have introduced Wolbachia bacteria to A. aegypti mosquitoes. Now a team of international researchers has found that Wolbachia’s ability to block virus transmission may be maintained by natural selection, alleviating concern that this benefit could diminish over time.

August 21, 2019

Pathogenic bacteria that stubbornly lurk in some apple-packing facilities may be sheltered and protected by harmless bacteria that are known for their ability to form biofilms, according to Penn State researchers, who suggest the discovery could lead to development of alternative foodborne-pathogen-control strategies.

August 19, 2019

Could soilborne fungi found nearly everywhere in North America be the kryptonite that can help control the spotted lanternfly? Studies underway in the Philadelphia region -- carried out by scientists from Penn State and Cornell University -- aim to answer that question, with early findings showing promise against what has been described as the worst invasive pest to hit the U.S. since the gypsy moth.

August 12, 2019

Despite the buzz in recent years about other invasive insects that pose an even larger threat to agriculture and trees — such as the spotted lanternfly, the stink bug and the emerald ash borer — Penn State researchers have continued to study another damaging pest, the Asian longhorned beetle.

August 12, 2019

"Research to Action: The Science of Drawdown," which takes place from Sept. 16–18, 2019, at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, will feature climate solutions experts from around the globe, including 15 members of the conference's steering committee.

August 6, 2019

In a series of studies, researchers showed that whole genome analysis can provide highly detailed information on pathogens in a timely fashion. The findings could help public officials prepare treatment and prevention options when disease outbreaks threaten the public.

August 5, 2019

One scientist’s quest to create a replacement for plastics led him to something entirely different—a biofoam that fills traumatic wounds, stops bleeding, and dissolves as the wound heals.

July 23, 2019

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A novel method of processing — using high-pressure jets to spray milk and then quickly drying the spray — yields skim milk powders with enhanced properties and functionality, according to Penn State researchers, who say the discovery may lead to "cleaner" labels on foods.

July 22, 2019

Plants may induce "leaky gut syndrome" — permeability of the gut lining — in insects as part of a multipronged strategy for protecting themselves from being eaten, according to researchers at Penn State. By improving our understanding of plant defenses, the findings could contribute to the development of new pest control methods.

July 19, 2019

For a new food hub to succeed, it should be located in a community with a population sufficient to sustain it, according to a team of economists, who found that a county seeking to establish its first food hub needs roughly 182,000 residents for that food hub to break even.

July 17, 2019

Skin tests that can distinguish between cattle that are infected with tuberculosis (TB) and those that have been vaccinated against the disease have been created by an international team of scientists.

July 3, 2019

Genes in green ash trees that may confer some resistance to attacks by the emerald ash borer express themselves only once the tree detects the invasive beetle's feeding, according to Penn State researchers.

July 1, 2019

Allowing cover crops to grow two weeks longer in the spring and planting corn and soybean crops into them before termination is a strategy that may help no-till farmers deal with wet springs, according to Penn State researchers.

June 26, 2019

Malaria parasites develop faster in mosquitoes at lower temperatures than previously thought, according to researchers at Penn State and the University of Exeter. The findings suggest that even slight climate warming could increase malaria risk to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people — including travelers — in areas that are currently too cold for malaria parasites to complete their development.

June 25, 2019

People who order their Buffalo wings especially spicy and sometimes find them to be too "hot," should choose milk to reduce the burn, according to Penn State researchers, who also suggest it does not matter if it is whole or skim.

June 24, 2019

A proposal that will support the development of a living laboratory for green stormwater infrastructure research, education and innovation at Penn State is among the latest initiatives to receive funding through the University’s Strategic Plan Seed Grant program.

June 20, 2019

Adding vanilla to sweetened milk makes consumers think the beverage is sweeter, allowing the amount of added sugar to be reduced, according to Penn State researchers, who will use the concept to develop a reduced-sugar chocolate milk for the National School Lunch Program.