Penn Research Overturns Theory on How Children Learn Their First Words

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.

Evan Lerner

Penn team to study climate change in Mongolia

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).

Evan Lerner

Penn Researchers Monitoring Mississippi Delta Flood From Space

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.

Evan Lerner

Penn Research Answers Long-Standing Question About Swimming in Elastic Liquids

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.”

Evan Lerner

Learning about ethics of design through 'the dark side'

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.

Evan Lerner