Still Life

A moment of levity: Penn State Lehigh Valley graduates celebrated with the Nittany Lion after commencement ceremonies, held May 5 at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

Commencement across Penn State: Spring 2012

New graduates of Penn State's Eberly College of Science listened to the commencement address provided by United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu during spring 2012 graduation ceremonies held May 5 at the Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus.

Spring commencement 2012 under way

A Moroccan farmer taught Penn State students about the properties of vetiver grass, including its ability to clean wastewater. The grass could be used as part of a solution to water-quality problems being experienced in Assoul, Morocco, where students spent time recently.

Penn State, Moroccan students problem-solve together

Anjelica Fortunato, left, and Jeffrey Lu reviewed for their Anatomy 129 final exam on May 1 on the HUB-Robeson Center Lawn on Penn State's University Park campus. Penn State students are preparing for and taking final exams throughout the week as spring semester 2012 comes to a close.

Finals Week Spring Semester 2012

Denae Taylor, right, tried on some electrical-safety gear with the help of Joe Dinardo, Supervisor of Facilty Resources at Penn State, during Penn State's annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day on April 26. Denae is the granddaughter of Penn State Outreach employee Betty Lose, and attends Bellefonte Middle School.

Children explore career options at University Park

Featured Video

Painting the Lines at Beaver Stadium

Painting the Lines at Beaver Stadium

Did They Get It Right? - RedTails

Did They Get It Right? - RedTails

Iconic Penn State elm taken down over spring break 2012

Iconic Penn State elm taken down over spring break 2012

We ... are Penn State (December 19, 2011)

We ... are Penn State (December 19, 2011)

Disease stricken matching elm tree slated for removal

Disease stricken matching elm tree slated for removal

Penn State's creamery, from the cow to the cone

Penn State's creamery, from the cow to the cone

Researchers are finalists for Time's 'Top 100 Most Influential' list

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Time Magazine soon will publish its 2009 list of the world's "Top 100 Most Influential" people, and the Penn State science team of Stephan Schuster and Webb Miller is in the running. Time has set up a Web site so that everyone can vote to select the top 100 winners out of the 200 finalists. Penn State fans can vote for the Penn State team at http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1883644,00.html online.

Schuster and Miller are leaders of a team that is the first to report the genome-wide sequence of an extinct animal, the woolly mammoth. They developed a novel approach for gene studies that reads ancient DNA highly efficiently. They also were the first to achieve the successful sequencing of genes from the extinct Tasmanian Tiger. Their research has opened the door to the widespread, nondestructive use of museum specimens to learn why mammals become extinct and how extinctions might be prevented. As Miller said, "I want to learn as much as I can about why large mammals become extinct because all my friends are large mammals."