Physics

A rare celestial treat on the winter solstice

Four tips and takeaways from astronomer Cullen Blake on the upcoming alignment of Jupiter and Saturn and how to best catch a glimpse of the “great conjunction.”

Erica K. Brockmeier

Two Penn faculty named 2020 AAAS Fellows

Qi Long and E. Michael Ostap of the Perelman School of Medicine are among a cohort of 489 distinguished scientists recognized with the honor from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Melissa Moody , Michele W. Berger



In the News


Live Science

Scientists propose ‘missing’ law for the evolution of everything in the universe

Stuart Kauffman of the Perelman School of Medicine comments on a study that proposed a missing scientific law identifying “universal concepts of selection” that drive evolution.

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The Wall Street Journal

Russia aims to restore prestige in race to moon’s south pole

Benjamin L. Schmitt of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Weitzman School of Design says that sentiment in the scientific and astronaut communities has begun to shift toward a future in which NASA and Roscosmos are no longer close partners.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Nine women who changed science are featured in a new Philly exhibit

A new exhibit at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia celebrates the late Mildred Cohn, a biochemist at the Perelman School of Medicine who fought to reduce discrimination in academia.

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Inc.

Neuroscience explains why Bill Gates’ weird reading trick is so effective

A study by Penn researchers working in physics, neuroscience, and bioengineering found that people instinctively seek patterns and similarities in the data they absorb.

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The Guardian

UK joins international effort to uncover first moments of the universe

In a statement for the Simons Observatory, Mark Devlin of the School of Arts & Sciences says that new telescopes and researchers from the UK will make a significant addition to their efforts to examine the origins of the universe.

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Physics World

Liquid crystals bring robotics to the microscale

In collaboration with the University of Ljubljana, Kathleen Stebe of the School of Engineering and Applied Science has built a swimming microrobot that paddles by rotating liquid crystal molecules.

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