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Documenting architecture and memories of a changing neighborhood
"On Exactitude in Science (Watts)" showing on screen at the Barnes.

Image: Erica Moser

Documenting architecture and memories of a changing neighborhood

A film by Penn fine arts professor David Hartt about Watts, a historically Black neighborhood in Los Angeles, is one of five videos included in “Freedom Dreams,” an exhibition at the Barnes in Philadelphia that centers the “memories, dreams, and histories of Black Americans.”
Meet foxes, coyotes, deer and other wildlife neighbors
A red fox in the snow.

A red fox in Philadelphia caught by a trail camera last winter in Penn Vet’s Accessing Urban Nature Initiative.

nocred

Meet foxes, coyotes, deer and other wildlife neighbors

Penn Vet’s Accessing Urban Nature Initiative is documenting Philadelphia’s wildlife through trail cameras, and shares its findings after a year of monitoring.

From Penn Vet

The enduring significance of ‘The Odyssey’
Illustration depicting Homer’s “The Odyssey”

Image: Vanessa Lovegrove, Penn Arts & Sciences

The enduring significance of ‘The Odyssey’

In July, a new adaptation of the famous poem hits the big screen. Three Arts & Sciences faculty members discuss Homer’s epic.

From Omnia

How social networks reshaped society and politics
Jordi Pérez Colomé and Sandra González-Bailón seated at a bookstore with copies of their book.

Jordi Pérez Colomé and Sandra González-Bailón at the Madrid Book Fair.

(Image: Courtesy of Annenberg School for Communication)

How social networks reshaped society and politics

In a new Spanish-language book, Annenberg School for Communication professor Sandra González-Bailón and a veteran El País journalist examine how social platforms amplify voices, distort realities, and redefine our democracies.

How mortgage lock-in is quietly pushing up house prices
A person putting a Home for Sale sign in front of a home.

Image: Anchiy via Getty Images

How mortgage lock-in is quietly pushing up house prices

A new paper co-authored by Wharton’s Lu Liu argues that homeowners stuck with low fixed mortgage rates aren’t just frozen in place—they’re propping up the housing market.

From Knowledge at Wharton

The impact of microplastics—and how to limit exposure
Derek Ho in the lab pointing to a beaker of water in front of two lab techs.

To better visualize microplastics, researchers in the McBride Lab at Penn Engineering use fluorescent dyes like Nile Red, which attach to plastics and make them glow under specific light. Environmental researcher Derek Ho developed a system used in their lab called the Fluorescent Imaging Microplastic Analysis Platform, or FIMAP. It uses machine learning to detect and identify plastic particles larger than about 20 microns in complex water samples.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

The impact of microplastics—and how to limit exposure

Microplastics researchers Samantha McBride and Derek Ho of Penn Engineering and Vijay Bhatia of the Philadelphia Water Department discuss how microplastics get into ecosystems and human bodies, offering practical ways to minimize exposure.
Examining the important and changing landscape of children’s media
Bonnie holds Jessie and Bullseye in Toy Story 5.

(Center): Bonnie in Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5. (Image: Courtesy of Pixar. © 2026 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved)

(Image: Courtesy of Pixar. © 2026 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved)

Examining the important and changing landscape of children’s media

Penn Today talked to Annenberg’s Kim Woolf about communication theories of children’s relationships to media and how the children’s media ecosystem has evolved—topics she covers in the Children and the Media class.

3 min. read

The math of fitting in
Silhouettes of people with dialogue boxes.

Imge: stellalevi via Getty Images

The math of fitting in

In new research, professor of linguistics Charles Yang and colleagues find that a formula originally developed to explain language acquisition in children can also explain how we absorb social norms.

From Omnia

2 min. reads