News Archives

60-Second Lecture Series back on the clock

In a world full of 140-character Tweets and sound bite-driven politics, cutting down an hour-long lecture into minute-long remarks might sound like another worrying sign of the times. But if your objective is to get people to stumble upon a bit of knowledge that they might not have otherwise considered, adopting the style of a carnival barker can be a winning approach.  

Penn Division of Public Safety Kicks Off Annual Bicycle Safety Campaign

Preventing and reversing bone loss

Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease in humans, and can put older adults at risk of fracturing a hip, wrist, vertebrae, or other bones—injuries that could require lengthy hospital stays. But more and more, people with thinning bones are taking drugs known as bisphosphonates (marketed under brand names such as Boniva, Fosamax, Actonel, and Reclast) to slow or stop the progress of the disease, and reduce the likelihood of breaking a bone. Some cancer patients, such as those with multiple myeloma or bone metastasis, also use the drugs to reduce the risk of fractures.

Queer Bioethics Comes to Life at Penn

PHILADELPHIA — It’s not every day that a new academic discipline is born. But that’s exactly what happened in 2010, when the Project on Bioethics, Sexuality and Gender Identity — or “Queer Bioethics,” for short — came to life at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dedication of Shoemaker Green to Be Sept. 20

WHAT:       A grand opening ceremony for Shoemaker Green, the University of Pennsylvania’s newest landscape project. It honors emeritus trustee Alvin Shoemaker. The 2.75-acre green space features a central lawn encircled by walkways, benches and an eating area. Its native plantings and rain garden are just some of its sustainability features. It also is home to the University’s newly refurbished war memorial. WHERE:    217 S. 33rd St., in front of the Palestra

Animated Film Screenings Highlight Penn Conference

From Paleolithic cave paintings to the latest wave of 3D motion pictures, animation has captured our imagination by bringing objects to virtual life for thousands of years. On Sept. 21-22, scholars and animation producers will meet at the University of Pennsylvania for a collaborative conference, “Enchanted Drawing II: Animation Across the Disciplines.”

Making and Unmaking Race: Morton Collection of Human Crania in the Spotlight at Penn Museum

PHILADELPHIA — Is there such a thing in humans called race? That’s the question posed by the Penn Museum’s new exhibition, Year of Proof: Making and Unmaking Race, on view now through August 18, 2013, in the Museum’s Trescher Entrance foyer.Since the emergence of biology and anthropology, scientists began to develop categories for all living things on earth, including humans. But what can the categorization of humans tell us? And how might this information be helpful or harmful?

Shoemaker Green, Penn’s Newest Commons, Honors Trustee for Years of Service; Dedication Sept. 20

PHILADELPHIA – Shoemaker Green, the newest landscape project on the University of Pennsylvania campus, was created in honor of emeritus trustee Alvin Shoemaker. The 2.75-acre green space features a central lawn surrounded by walkways along the perimeter and native plantings.  It is located along 33rd Street in front of the Palestra and between the David Rittenhouse Labs and the Weiss Pavilion at Franklin Field.

As World’s Most Powerful Digital Camera Records First Images, Penn Team Gears Up to Study Dark Energy

Eight billion years ago, rays of light from distant galaxies began their long journey to Earth. On Sept. 17, that ancient starlight found its way to a mountaintop in Chile, where the newly constructed Dark Energy Camera, the most powerful sky-mapping machine ever created, captured and recorded it for the first time. That light may hold within it the answer to one of the biggest mysteries in physics — why the expansion of the universe is speeding up.

What does a ‘free press’ in Iran really mean?

Freedom of the press is not a constitutional right usually associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran. But “freedom of expression” for publications and the press is codified in Chapter 3, Article 24 of the Iranian Constitution, with the caveat, “except when it is detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public.” Iran is also a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which emphasizes that freedom of expression—including the right to freely search, receive, and share information—is universal.