As the end of the year approaches, President Neeli Bendapudi shares a message of gratitude reflecting on&nbsp;the&nbsp;significant accomplishments Penn Staters made in 2025.&nbsp;

A Note from Neeli: Penn Staters, you made a difference in 2025 | Penn State University

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As the end of the year approaches, President Neeli Bendapudi shares a message of gratitude reflecting on the significant accomplishments Penn Staters made in 2025. 

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Administration

A Note from Neeli: Penn Staters, you made a difference in 2025 

The sudden extinction of the dinosaurs dramatically altered the North American landscape, according to a recent study published by a multi-institutional team including researchers from Penn State.&nbsp;

Dinosaur extinction shaped modern forests and rivers, researchers find | Penn State University

The sudden extinction of the dinosaurs dramatically altered the North American landscape, according to a recent study published by a multi-institutional team including researchers from Penn State. 

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Research

Dinosaur extinction shaped modern forests and rivers, researchers find 

As humanity prepares to take its first steps on Mars, a comprehensive report released today (Dec. 9) from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and steered by scientists at Penn State lays out a detailed science strategy to guide the initial human missions to the red planet.&nbsp;&nbsp;

New report outlines science priorities for human Mars exploration | Penn State University

As humanity prepares to take its first steps on Mars, a comprehensive report released today (Dec. 9) from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and steered by scientists at Penn State lays out a detailed science strategy to guide the initial human missions to the red planet.  

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New report outlines science priorities for human Mars exploration

Backyard insect inspires large-scale invisibility particles production

Dear Old State: Taking the train 'home for the holidays'

Changes to parking and transit services at University Park during winter break 

110 Penn State student-athletes earn fall 2025 Academic All-Big Ten honors

Penn State leaders outline progress and priorities during Commonwealth Campuses town hall

Penn State to bring hands-on learning to 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show

Penn State launches quantum theory center

Forest and wildlife technology programs to open at Penn State Altoona

Matt Campbell named 17th Penn State head football coach 

$3.2M NIH grant to test and refine a heart pump for long-term use in children

Penn State to face Clemson in Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl

Penn State Extension survey reveals strengths, growth areas for farmers markets

The Medical Minute: Latest scoliosis treatments help patients stand straighter

Things to Do at Penn State: Dec. 4-31

Cancer-fighting bacterial product ‘cocktails’ may offer personalized treatment

University Park classes, activities and work delayed until noon Tuesday

Sustainable Communities Collaborative to showcase measurable community impact

Landmark gift to prepare and support behavioral health treatment professionals

Uganda community collaboration targets climate hazards with reforestation

Nine Penn State faculty and staff receive 2025-26 Fulbright awards

Josh Davis named senior vice provost and chief of staff   

Q&A: How will recent economic disruptions impact the holiday shopping season?

General Assembly approves Penn State’s 2025-26 state funding

Changes to parking and transit services during 2025 Thanksgiving break

Penn State World Campus ranked No. 1 online school for veterans by Military Times

Things to Do at Penn State: Nov. 20-Dec. 4

Bridging the gap: How Penn State is driving workforce innovation

University Park classes, activities and work delayed until 10 a.m. Wednesday

Penn State reminds community of winter weather protocols for 2025-26 season

Walmart, Sam’s Club award $45K in scholarships to Penn State military students

Penn State ranks 4th in the US in 2026 QS sustainability rankings

Renaissance Fund honors Bill and Connie Hayes, raises more than $450,000

LaunchBox opens at Pennsylvania College of Technology

Donatos and Furmanskis named 2025 Fundraising Volunteers of the Year

Philanthropists make $2 million gift toward a future of improved mental health

Structural issue believed to be the cause of Welch Building incident

The Medical Minute: Five top tips for skiing safely this winter

Penn State ranks No. 27 for best undergraduate entrepreneurship programs

Penn State honors Medal of Honor recipient for Military Appreciation Week

Police investigating incident at University Park; no injuries, no ongoing threat to campus 

Penn State World Campus named Pa. National Guard-Friendly School

Penn State to host virtual town hall on Commonwealth Campuses Dec. 9

It’s not just in your head: Stress may lead to altered blood flow in the brain

Penn State to celebrate 11th GivingTuesday

Michael Murphy Memorial

Michael Murphy Memorial-CU

WATCH: Veterans Day video message and Military Appreciation Week events 

Faculty member drives Centre Film Festival as educator, filmmaker and matchmaker

Penn State Smeal launches comprehensive artificial intelligence initiative

Things to Do at Penn State: Nov. 6-13

The Medical Minute: My house is babyproofed – or is it?

Parking, traffic and transit information for Penn State football vs. Indiana

Penn State research town hall highlights growth and strategic focus 

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Around Campus

More research news

Mammograms can detect calcium in the breast’s arteries, a sign that the blood vessels are getting stiffer. New findings from a faculty member at Penn State College of Medicine revealed that the severity and progression of calcium accumulation seen on mammograms predicted future cardiovascular disease.

Calcium in breast arteries predicts future cardiovascular disease | Penn State University

Mammograms can detect calcium in the breast’s arteries, a sign that the blood vessels are getting stiffer. New findings from a faculty member at Penn State College of Medicine revealed that the severity and progression of calcium accumulation seen on mammograms predicted future cardiovascular disease.

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Calcium in breast arteries predicts future cardiovascular disease

Engineering

College of Engineering

To investigate the interactions between the influenza virus and bacterial microbe infections and how these interactions impact the lungs, a team co-led by researchers at Penn State and Duke University School of Medicine has been awarded a four-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

$3.2M to fund flu-bacteria interaction study in 3D-bioprinted lung platform | Penn State University

To investigate the interactions between the influenza virus and bacterial microbe infections and how these interactions impact the lungs, a team co-led by researchers at Penn State and Duke University School of Medicine has been awarded a four-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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$3.2M to fund flu-bacteria interaction study in 3D-bioprinted lung platform

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) — a type of pneumonia — is the leading cause of death for dairy calves after they become accustomed to food other than their mothers’ milk, resulting in economic losses at over $1 billion annually for the U.S. cattle industry. To detect BRD in dairy calves before they show obvious symptoms and reduce those costly losses, a team of researchers, funded by a new three-year, $1 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, intend to create a system that uses modern sensing technologies and advanced artificial intelligence.

AI-enabled monitoring system could help keep dairy calves healthy | Penn State University

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) — a type of pneumonia — is the leading cause of death for dairy calves after they become accustomed to food other than their mothers’ milk, resulting in economic losses at over $1 billion annually for the U.S. cattle industry. To detect BRD in dairy calves before they show obvious symptoms and reduce those costly losses, a team of researchers, funded by a new three-year, $1 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, intend to create a system that uses modern sensing technologies and advanced artificial intelligence.

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AI-enabled monitoring system could help keep dairy calves healthy

Featured Research

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi was featured in a CEO Magazine interview highlighting her belief in the transformative power of higher education and her efforts to expand access, advance ethical innovation, and strengthen the university’s educational, research, and economic impact.

President of PSU is redefining the power of education to transform lives

A new study led by researchers at Penn State found melanoma case rates tracking higher in counties with higher areas of cultivated land, where the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides can be higher.

Penn State study finds higher incidence of skin cancers in Pa.’s Farm Belt

In a significant advancement for materials science, scientists have successfully created niobium sulfide metallic nanotubes with stable, predictable properties for the first time. An international team, including Penn State researchers, achieved the long-sought feat using an unexpected ingredient—common table salt. According to researchers, the discovery could pave the way for faster electronics, efficient superconducting wires, and future quantum technologies.

Study: Common salt helps create nanomaterial for high-speed electronics

Researchers at Penn State have proposed a novel design for a lithium-ion (Li) battery.&nbsp;It could address the long-standing performance and stability issues of standard Li batteries in extreme temperatures. The design, dubbed the All-Climate Battery (ACB), was developed to fix a core flaw in standard Li batteries.

‘All-Climate Battery’ developed at Penn State could keep EVs running in extreme heat, cold

The discovery of a possible “super-Earth” less than 20 light-years from our own planet is offering scientists new hope in the hunt for other worlds that could harbor life, according to an international team including researchers from Penn State. They dubbed the exoplanet, named GJ 251 c, a “super-Earth” as data suggest it is almost four times as massive as the Earth and likely to be rocky planet.

Newly discovered ‘super-Earth’ offers prime target in search for alien life

A "super-Earth" exoplanet in the habitable zone of its star has been detected by an international team, including Penn State researchers, less than 20 light-years away, putting it near the top of the list for best places to look for life beyond our solar system.

'Super-Earth' less than 20 light-years away is an exciting lead in the search for life

Organic beekeeping can support healthy and productive honey bee colonies, and a new study led by researchers at Penn State found that adopting organic honey bee colony management is not only profitable, but in some cases, it can be even more profitable than conventional management.&nbsp;The research couldn't come at a more opportune time, as a separate study&nbsp;found that 2025 marked the largest-ever&nbsp;honey bee colony losses&nbsp;in the United States, citing viruses spread by parasitic mites as the culprit.&nbsp;

Researchers discover solution to major issue in beekeeping

Electric vehicles (EVs) can have&nbsp;lower fuel costs and reduce emissions&nbsp;relative to cars that use gasoline, but they are only a practical option if drivers have convenient ways to charge them. For people who live in multi-unit dwellings or in urban areas, access to charging infrastructure may be particularly limited, which in turn limits EV adoption. To address this issue, a team of researchers at Penn State created a scalable framework to develop, analyze and evaluate using streetlights as a low-cost, equitable EV charging option.&nbsp;

Streetlights could power the future of EV charging, researchers find

Electric space heating systems and appliances like water heaters can help American homeowners reduce their energy use, and possibly their utility bills, according to a team led by researchers at Penn State.

Want lower utility bills? Study reveals how to cut back energy consumption

An ancient society near the southern shores of Lake Titicaca in modern-day Bolivia was once one of the continent’s most powerful civilizations. Known as Tiwanaku, the ancient society is widely considered by archaeologists to be one of the earliest examples of civilization in the Andes and a precursor of the Inca empire, but it mysteriously disappeared about a thousand years ago. Now, a team led by scientists at Penn State and in Bolivia have discovered a Tiwanaku temple, shedding new light on what the society looked like in its prime.

Hidden temple discovered that could rewrite the history of an ancient empire

The violent collision and merger of two black holes emits gravitational waves — ripples in spacetime — that can cause the resulting newborn black hole to recoil and rapidly move, sometimes escaping its own galaxy. Now, an international team that includes a Penn State researcher has measured the direction of this recoil for the first time, as well as its speed.&nbsp;

 Scientists detect strange signal in gravitational waves

Tiny red objects spotted by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope are offering an international team of scientists, including researchers at Penn State, new insights into the origins of galaxies in the universe — and may represent an entirely new class of celestial object: a black hole swallowing massive amounts of matter and spitting out light.

Study: Strange red dots in the early universe may be new kind of space object

Broken bones often heal naturally with time, a cast, or a brace. But when fractures are complex or severe, doctors rely on implants or surgical devices. Now, researchers at Penn State say they have created a biodegradable scaffold that could speed recovery while reducing complications.

Study: Broken bones regrow quickly with help of biodegradable implant

Floods are some of the most devastating natural disasters communities in the United States face, causing billions of dollars of damage annually, according to the&nbsp;National Weather Service. A group, including several researchers at Penn State, recently developed a computational model to streamline flood prediction in the continental United States.

Researchers develop intelligent tech that predicts future disasters

A research team led by&nbsp;Penn State has developed a sensor that can help diagnose diabetes and prediabetes on-site in a few minutes using just a breath sample.&nbsp;Previous diagnostic methods often used glucose found in blood or sweat, but this sensor detects acetone levels in the breath.

Breath test that can help diagnose diabetes developed at Penn State

Plants appear still, yet inside they are alive with communication. They must continuously balance how to capture energy without losing too much water. For decades, scientists suspected there were internal messengers guiding this process, but the exact molecules remained unidentified.&nbsp;A new study led by&nbsp;Penn State&nbsp;researchers finally reveals the nature of these signals. This work not only solves a long-standing mystery but also suggests new directions for&nbsp;agriculture&nbsp;and plant resilience research.