4.20
School of Arts & Sciences
U.S.-Japan relations, past, present, and future
U.S.-Japan relations, past, present, and future
A panel of experts shared their thoughts on the two nation’s historic relationship on the eve of the Biden-Suga summit.
Insights into new ‘dials’ for controlling a material’s magnetism
Insights into new ‘dials’ for controlling a material’s magnetism
New research demonstrates how small amounts of strain can be used to control a material’s properties, with possible applications ranging from spintronic devices to faster hard drives.
Penn Libraries receives gift of works by renowned photographer Arthur Tress
Penn Libraries receives gift of works by renowned photographer Arthur Tress
A gift of works by the renowned American contemporary photographer Arthur Tress to the Penn Libraries will join another recent gift of Tress photography for a combined 2,500 photographic prints, the largest collection of Tress photographic prints in the United States.
Penn senior named a 2021 Gates Cambridge Scholar
Penn senior named a 2021 Gates Cambridge Scholar
Senior Tathagat Bhatia has been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in the history and philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge in England. He is Penn’s 33rd Gates Scholar since the program started in 2001.
To improve climate models, an international team turns to archaeological data
To improve climate models, an international team turns to archaeological data
The project, called LandCover6k, offers a new classification system that the researchers hope will improve predictions about the planet’s future and fill in gaps about its past.
Penn senior named Truman Scholar
Penn senior named Truman Scholar
Senior Sakshi Sehgal, a philosophy major who has submatriculated into the philosophy master’s program, has received a merit-based Harry S. Truman Scholarship of as much as $30,000 for graduate or professional school to prepare for a career in public service.
With impressive accuracy, dogs can sniff out coronavirus
With impressive accuracy, dogs can sniff out coronavirus
In a proof-of-concept study led by the School of Veterinary Medicine, dogs identified positive samples with 96% accuracy.
From ‘Indiana Jones’ to medieval robots
From ‘Indiana Jones’ to medieval robots
Historian of science Elly Truitt’s multidisciplinary investigations of the Middle Ages challenge assumptions about the period as a dark time in innovation and prompt a rethink of notions of ‘modern’ science.
In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
Comparing death rates in the United States with those of the five biggest European countries, Penn and Max Planck demographers found that significant excess mortality cost more lives annually than the epidemic itself.
Beyond topological insulators
Beyond topological insulators
Charlie Kane and Eugene Mele’s groundbreaking theories on the existence of a new class of materials continues to inspire an upcoming generation of physics researchers.
In the News
The Guardian
Study reveals alarming trend in US death rates since 2000
Samuel Preston of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about rising mortality rates in the U.S. over the last two decades. Preston and his colleagues attribute the shift in part to this country’s lack of a universal health care system.
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Time
‘Haunted countries deserve haunted stories.’ How America’s history of racial housing discrimination inspired Amazon’s new horror series THEM
Camille Z. Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about how discriminatory housing practices like redlining shaped U.S. neighborhoods in the 20th century. “If you take the redlining maps that were used before the passage of fair housing legislation and overlay them on present-day maps of pretty much any major city in the U.S., and certainly any city that has any meaningful Black population, they look really similar in the sense that Blacks are still largely shut out of those neighborhoods that they were legally shut out of during that time period,” she said.
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The New York Times
A novel effort to see how poverty affects young brains
Martha Farah of the School of Arts & Sciences commented on a study exploring the links between poverty and brain development. “It is definitely one of the first, if not the first” study in this developing field to have direct policy implications, she said.
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PRI
More transgender people are hiding their identity at work in the UK. Why?
Sophie Lewis of the School of Arts & Sciences weighed in on how the current political climate has made life more challenging for transgender people. “The combination of nativist, reactionary politics around Brexit and Trump along with the conditions of a pandemic would, I think, contribute to people being more afraid to be out as trans,” she said.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Regional roundup
Heather Sharkey and undergrad Lindsey Perlman of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about their work transcribing the doctoral dissertation of feminist Alice Paul, who earned a Ph.D. at Penn in 1912.
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