Parents asked questions about living in lockdown. Penn GSE experts answered
Stay-at-home orders, closed schools, and pandemic-induced anxiety are taking their toll on families.
We asked parents to send us questions about problems that were arising in their homes. They asked about short tempers, sleeping routines, screen time, parental roles, and if this is the right time to get a dog.
Penn GSE’s Caroline Watts is a psychologist with decades of experience working with children and families. She offers insights and resources for families requesting online resources for helping children and teens dealing with anxiety, depression, and suicide risk. Other queries cover sleeping problems, developmental regression, cultivating kindness,anxiety, and returning to social settings.
“Everyone will have to make adjustments when it is safe to go back to ‘normal,’” says Watts. “We will have to prepare ourselves and our children.”
On the move: Water quality and antimicrobial resistance testing goes mobile
Penn researchers have developed a mobile field laboratory allowing them to test water quality and track antimicrobial resistance in and around San Cristóbal in the Galápagos.
Penn researchers Vanessa and Alexis North are studying one of the largest collections of Egyptian blue objects ever found in the ancient Near East, shedding new light on how the world’s first synthetic pigment may have traveled far beyond Egypt.
A new role for dental providers? Rethinking where vaccines are given
Vaccinations have traditionally been administered in primary care settings or pharmacies. However, for about a decade, some states have authorized dentists to administer vaccines, and many others did so during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of this approach has led some countries and states to expand or consider expanding the role of dental providers in delivering routine vaccines, including those against COVID-19 and the human papillomavirus (HPV), and in providing vaccine education.
Penn student develops a way for computer chips to run more efficiently
Fluid Silicon, a platform from President’s Sustainability Prize winner Nhlanhla Mavuso, allows computer chips to continuously monitor their health and self-tune as their characteristics change. The technology has the potential to reduce energy usage in data centers and improve reliability in mission-critical applications.
