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High blood pressure, formally known as hypertension, is a leading cause of heart disease in the United States, impacting nearly half of all adults. Approximately one in 10 of these patients experience drug-resistant hypertension that can be difficult to address, but according to researchers at Penn State, tiny devices that gently shock one of the body's most critical arteries could offer effective treatment.

An international team, led by Penn State’s Institute of Energy and the Environment Director Bruce Logan, has developed a new reactor design that efficiently converts carbon dioxide and renewable electricity into methane — the primary component of natural gas — while scaling the system up by roughly an order of magnitude without sacrificing performance.

By Jamie Oberdick

Herbert A. McKinstry, a pioneering materials scientist, educator, community activist and founding faculty member of Penn State’s Materials Research Laboratory, passed away at the age of 101.

Robinson, director of the Penn State Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance and director of strategic research initiatives for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, will step into the role effective July 1

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Five Penn State professors have been named Evan Pugh University Professors, an elite and prestigious distinction conferred by the University on only 84 faculty members since the establishment of the designation in 1960.

Nitin Samarth, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics and professor of materials science and engineering, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for distinguished contributions to the physical sciences. He is one of 252 leaders in academia, the arts, industry, journalism, philanthropy, policy, research and science elected in 2026. The induction ceremony for new members will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October.

By Ty Tkacik