Through
5/7
A round-up of Penn mentions in local, national, and international media.
Penn In the News
Damon Centola of the Annenberg School for Communication spoke about findings from his recent study showing that social influencers may be ineffective when it comes to changing people’s beliefs and behaviors. Rather, he said, “every network has a hidden social cluster in the outer edges that is perfectly poised to increase the spread of a new idea by several hundred percent.”
Penn In the News
Research from the School of Veterinary Medicine tracked the causes of death for 95 search-and-rescue dogs deployed on 9/11 and showed that most of the dogs died of typical age-related conditions and outlived others of their breeds. “Dogs have a really good filtering system,” said Cynthia Otto. “Their lungs are different—they don’t get asthma, for example.”
Penn In the News
Research led by Eugenia South of the Perelman School of Medicine found that a small investment into cleaning vacant lots in Philadelphia improved the mental health of surrounding residents.
Penn In the News
Joseph Baur of the Perelman School of Medicine said the startup Elysium Health’s claims that they can make cells behavior as though they were younger is “one of these things that is based mostly on benefits in mouse models. I think it’s a wide open question how beneficial this will ultimately turn out to be in humans.”
Penn In the News
Emily Hund of the Annenberg School for Communication discussed her research on the intersection of labor and social media. “Academia is not exempt from the influencer logic,” she said. “You still feel that pressure to self-brand and present yourself online in particular ways. I don’t think any creative worker is exempt from that.”
Penn In the News
Amy Castro Baker of the School of Social Policy & Practice has released new data on how recipients of a monthly $500 stipend used their funds. Approximately 40% of purchases went to food, 25% went to home goods, and 12% went to utilities.
Penn In the News
Matthew McCoy of the Perelman School of Medicine commented on direct-to-consumer drug companies, which some fear may lead to transactional relationships between doctors and patients. “The idea of requiring a prescription is that you talk to a doctor—somebody who’s an expert in these issues—and they help advise you based on particular needs you have,” said McCoy. “So it’s concerning that companies might be moving the physician to the back of this process.”
Penn In the News
Billy Fleming of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design discussed some possible outcomes of the Green New Deal. In addition to its ecological effects, Fleming anticipates accompanying structural changes. “We’re going to need to do many different things in terms of injecting design expertise into the federal bureaucracy,” he said. “Some of that will involve simply just creating more pathways for designers coming out of graduate school to take jobs in the federal government that are already there.”
Penn In the News
Kartik Hosanagar of the Wharton School writes about advanced artificial intelligence and safeguards capable of meeting the risks.
Penn In the News
The Wharton School’s Brian Berkey said that although companies like Shell or Exxon may be obligated to advocate for their shareholders, “these obligations are constrained by more general moral requirements not to engage in practices that involve contributing to serious harm to society more broadly.”