PHILADELPHIA — New research by a team of University of Pennsylvania psychologists is helping to overturn the dominant theory of how children learn their first words, suggesting that it occurs more in moments of insight than gradually through repeated exposure.

Beginning next week, more than a dozen students, staff and faculty from Penn’s Department of Biology will begin a long and arduous trek into the steppes of Northern Mongolia as part of the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE).

PHILADELPHIA — As floodwaters roll downstream, earth scientists at the University of Pennsylvania are keeping a watchful eye on the Mississippi Delta using satellite images and measurements of the sea surface in the Gulf of Mexico.

PHILADELPHIA — Neuroeconomic research at the University of Pennsylvania has conclusively identified a part of the brain that is necessary for making everyday decisions about value.

PHILADELPHIA — A biomechanical experiment conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science has answered a long-standing theoretical question: Will microorganisms swim faster or slower in elastic fluids? For a prevalent type of swimming, undulation, the answer is “slower.”

PHILADELPHIA — From high-school students to surgeons, anyone who has pulled an all-nighter knows there is a price to be paid the next day: trouble focusing, a fuzzy memory and other cognitive impairments.

PHILADELPHIA -- Joan Hendricks has been appointed to a second term as dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

A team of Penn Engineering students has designed a bike that offers cyclists the best of both worlds, as part of the school's annual Senior Design competition.

This weekend, two Penn professors will present “Unethical Machines,” a gallery show of student projects that combine art, technology and "bad behavior" aimed at exploring the ethics of surveillance, privacy and the sanctity of personal information.