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Library research in action: Wandering the stacks with Mengliu Cheng
Mengliu Cheng.

History doctoral student Mengliu Cheng.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Libraries)

Library research in action: Wandering the stacks with Mengliu Cheng

The history doctoral student is working on a dissertation about agricultural science in modern China with the help of Penn Libraries’ Zilberman Family Center for Global Collections.

From Penn Libraries

2 min. read

Can data from the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?
Close-up of ATLAS detector at CERN.

ATLAS’s wheel-like end-cap reveals the maze of sensors primed to catch proton smash-ups at the LHC. Researchers comb through billions of events in search of fleeting “ghost” tracks that might expose cracks in string theory.

(Image: Courtesy of CERN)

Can data from the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Theoretical physicist Jonathan Heckman of the School of Arts & Sciences has put a spin on ideas related to testing string theory: Rather than looking to verify it, he and his collaborators sought a novel way to falsify it. Heckman and Ph.D. candidate Rebecca Hicks explain string theory, researchers’ quest to unify physics, and what their new paper puts forward.

10 min. read

How to prepare for the impacts of a changing climate
A map of precipitation anomalies in Central America.

Precipitation anomalies in the Dry Corridor in Central America. Regions in red show significant drying during El Niño summers.

(Image: Courtesy of Environmental Innovations Initiative)

How to prepare for the impacts of a changing climate

Irina Marinov, associate professor at the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, leads a research community focused on understanding global climate impacts, risks, and vulnerabilities to enable local action.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

2 min. read

Heat domes and flooding have nearly tripled since the ’50s
Everett Clayton looks at a digital thermometer on a nearby building that reads 116 degrees while walking to his apartment on June 27, 2021 in Vancouver, Washington.

Record-breaking temperatures lingered over the Northwest during a historic heatwave in June, 2021 in Vancouver, Washington.

(Image: Nathan Howard via AP Images)

Heat domes and flooding have nearly tripled since the ’50s

New research led by Michael E. Mann links a surge in stalled jet stream events to human-driven climate change, with major implications for future heatwaves, wildfires, and floods.

7 min. read

Penn Glee Club performs in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Beijing
students singing together holding folders

The Glee Club and students in the Wagner Society Choirs of Japan’s Keio University sang together in a collaborative concert. 

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Penn Glee Club performs in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Beijing

The Penn Glee Club performed at the famous Suntory Hall in Tokyo, an art gallery in Hong Kong, and the U.S. embassy in Beijing during a 12-day tour of Asia. Forty members went on the tour, including 25 singers, eight band members, and seven technical crew.

4 min. read

Creating a classroom democracy
Assistant Professor of History Sarah Gronningsater teaching Hamilton’s America to Penn students.

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Creating a classroom democracy

Through a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia course, assistant professor of history Sarah Gronningsater and her students resuscitate early American history.

Kristina García

2 min. read

Penn Global awards two Penn Wharton China Center Residency Grants

Penn Global awards two Penn Wharton China Center Residency Grants

Penn Global has awarded its first two Residency Grants to Chao Guo, professor of nonprofit management in the School of Social Policy and Practice, and Emily Hannum, Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professor in the Social Sciences, professor of sociology, and associate dean of social sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Philip Rea wins Jesse H. Neal Award for Scientific Journalism

Professor Philip Rea wins Jesse H. Neal Award for Scientific Journalism

Rea, professor of biology in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences and Belldegrun Distinguished Director of the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management has won the Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Technical/Scientific Content for his article “Gliflozins for Diabetes: From Bark to Bench to Bedside,” published in American Scientist.

‘Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn’t Solved Brain Disorders—and How We Can Change That’
Cover of Elusive Cures book next to headshot of Nicole Rust.

Tackling brain conditions, says psychology professor Nicole Rust, requires thinking about the brain not as a domino chain but as a complex dynamical system with feedback loops.

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  • Q&A

    • ‘Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn’t Solved Brain Disorders—and How We Can Change That’

    The first book from psychology professor Nicole Rust of the School of Arts & Sciences dives into why research on conditions like Alzheimer’s and depression hasn’t translated more effectively into better treatments.

    5 min. read