Raindrop-Formed ‘Sandballs’ That Erode Hillsides Tenfold

News / February 12, 2026

Penn geophysicists and colleagues have uncovered Earth-sculpting processes that result from the formation of snowball-like aggregates they call ‘sandballs.‘ Their findings provide fundamental insights into erosion and will broaden scientific understandings of landscape change, soil loss, and agriculture.

High-speed laboratory images capture two distinct “sandball” shapes formed when raindrops strike dry, sloped sand and roll downhill. (Top) Peanut-shaped sandballs, where grains coat the surface of a liquid core. (Bottom) Donut-shaped sandballs, which densify into rigid, wheel-like structures with a hollow center, enabling far more efficient sediment transport than splash erosion alone.

Robots That Can See Around Corners Using Radio Signals and AI

News / February 11, 2026

Penn researchers developed HoloRadar, a system that reconstructs hidden 3D spaces beyond robots’ line of sight.

A wheeled robot proceeds down a hallway, while researchers look at it around the corner.

An Innovative AI Tool to Improve Health Care Delivery in Rural India

News / February 6, 2026

Prithvi Parthasarathy, a fourth-year neuroscience major pursuing an accelerated master's in Bioengineering, designed an AI triage tool to improve hospital efficiency and patient care.

A man stands with crossed arms wearing a suit.

The Small, High-Tech Beanie Protecting Premature Babies

News / February 5, 2026

The Sonura Beanie, designed by former Penn Engineering students, is calming babies in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's intensive care nursery.

Pamela Collins holds her son, John, as he wears the Sonura Beanie.

Powering AI from Space, at Scale

News / January 28, 2026

Penn Engineers have developed a new design for solar-powered orbital data centers that could realistically scale to meet the growing energy demands of AI. By using a tether-based architecture that passively orients itself toward the sun, the system avoids many of the limitations of other space-based data center concepts.

A digital rendering of a satellite that looks like a leafy plant orbiting earth, with the planet in the distance.

Why Are Icy Surfaces Slippery?

News / January 26, 2026

Winter Storm Fern brought icy and snowy conditions to the Northeast and other parts of the country over the weekend. Penn Today asks physicist Robert Carpick about the unique properties of ice, the science of curling and how close we are to ‘nonslip’ ice.

A man is walking in a public park during a freezing rain in Montreal. On April 5, 2023, a heavy freezing rain left more than 1 million without power in Montreal, Quebec.