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Decoding how the brain accurately depicts ever-changing visual landscapes
people walking across an intersection

A collaborative study that employs a combination of sophisticated algorithms and models developed by post-doctoral researcher Eugenio Piasini and professor Vijay Balasubramanian details the time scales of visual information processing across different regions of the brain. The researchers found that deeper regions of the brain encode visual information more slowly, providing a mechanism for identifying fast-moving objects and images more accurately and persistently.

Decoding how the brain accurately depicts ever-changing visual landscapes

A collaborative study finds that deeper regions of the brain encode visual information more slowly, enabling the brain to identify fast-moving objects and images more accurately and persistently.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Study finds surprising source of social influence
cartoon social media influencer headshot against background of social media icons.

Study finds surprising source of social influence

A new study co-authored by ASC’s Damon Centola finds that as prominent and revered as social influencers seem to be, they are unlikely to change a person’s behavior by example, and might actually be detrimental to the cause.

From Annenberg School for Communication

‘Dreaming of Jerusalem’
screen shot from documentary Homepage image: The documentary “Dreaming of Jerusalem” tells the story of the Ethiopian Jewish community living in Addis Ababa and Gondar, now more than 12,000 people, waiting for the chance to emigrate to what they consider their true homeland.

‘Dreaming of Jerusalem’

Penn’s Peter Decherney and Sosena Solomon make a documentary film about a Jewish community in Ethiopia waiting to emigrate to Israel.
Penn Medicine’s first living donor uterus transplant
uterine donor, recipient and baby

Penn Medicine’s first living donor uterus transplant

Cheryl Cichonski-Urban donated her uterus to Chelsea Jovanovich through Penn Medicine’s Uterus Donation program. In May, Jovanovich gave birth to a baby boy.

Sophie Kluthe

The world at our feet: Reflections on Earth and its prospects
Illustration of a sphere representing earth and it’s internal layers, covered by flora and surrounded by botanical drawings.

Image: Mariya Pilipenko

The world at our feet: Reflections on Earth and its prospects

It’s our tiny oasis in a vast universe, and it’s feeling fragile. Five faculty from Penn Arts & Sciences who study the Earth’s geological past, its surface activity, and its soils and life forms discuss how Earth and its inhabitants can get along better.

Susan Ahlborn

The Panoptic Sort: Surveillance Q&A with Oscar Gandy
graphic profile of a human overlaid with images of the modern tech world

The Panoptic Sort: Surveillance Q&A with Oscar Gandy

With the second edition of his classic 1993 book “The Panoptic Sort” recently published, Gandy discusses the past, present, and future of surveillance.

From Annenberg School for Communication

On the hunt for new exoplanets
the NEID spectrometer inside of a telescope dome

The NEID fiber feed mounted on the WIYN telescope obtained during commissioning of the instrument. This state-of-the-art spectrometer has officially started its scientific mission of discovering new exoplanets. (Image: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/KPNO/NSF/AURA)

On the hunt for new exoplanets

A state-of-the-art instrument called NEID, from the Tohono O’odham word meaning “to see,” has officially started its scientific mission: discovering new planets outside of the solar system.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Penn celebrates a decade of Be in the Know
person sittin in front of laptop while meditating

Penn celebrates a decade of Be in the Know

The University launched its 10th year of the Be in the Know campaign which focuses on wellness for eligible staff and faculty.

Dee Patel

Community concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine tracked by Twitter
Six maps of the US highlighting Twitter keywords reflected in a word map.

COVID-19 Vaccine Topics Vary Across Eight ACP Communities. Adapted from Guntuku et al., Vaccine, 2021. (Image: Penn LDI)

Community concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine tracked by Twitter

A study of vaccine-related Twitter posts reveals significant differences in concerns people have when broken down by age, race, population density, and religious beliefs.

From Penn LDI