To predict what will happen in the future, its important to understand what happened in the past. Thats the idea behind ArchaeoGLOBE, a project that looks at land use around the world—like in the Italian Alps, seen here—during the past 10,000 years. (Photo courtesy: Lucas Stephens)
Crowdsourcing 10,000 years of land use
More than 250 archaeologists from around the world contributed their knowledge to ArchaeoGLOBE, an effort to better understand the prevalence of agriculture, pastoralism, and hunting and gathering at different points in human history.
Polarization can happen even when rational people listen to each other
Using computer models, philosopher Daniel J. Singer, political scientist William Berger, and colleagues found that divides over factual issues can stem from humans’ limited memory capacity rather than from one side or the other being irrational.
In the lab of Delphine Dahan (second from right), Penn junior Kassidy Houston, Penn sophomore Lilian Zhang, and University of Chicago student Benjamin Stallworth recruited participants, ran experiments, and coded video and audio to look for patterns in language use.
Using a matching game to study the language of conversations
Penn undergrads Lilian Zhang and Kassidy Houston, and University of Chicago student Benjamin Stallworth, interned in the lab of cognitive psychologist Delphine Dahan doing work to better understand what subconsciously happens when people converse.
In Hong Kong, a new round in the long-standing clash over law, autonomy, and democracy
Political scientist Jacques deLisle explains what spurred the latest conflict, and whether the desire to end it could prompt mainland China to intervene with force.
Postdoc Arjun Ramakrishnan (left) and Penn Integrates Knowledge professor Michael Platt created a wearable EEG akin to a Fitbit for the brain, with a set of silicon and silver nanowire sensors embedded into a head covering like the headband seen here. The new technology led to the formation of a company called Cogwear, LLC.
A wearable new technology moves brain monitoring from the lab to the real world
The portable EEG created by PIK Professor Michael Platt and postdoc Arjun Ramakrishnan has potential applications from health care to sports performance.
Martha J. Farah, the Annenberg Professor of Natural Sciences, is director of the Center for Neuroscience & Society at Penn. (Pre-pandemic image: Courtesy Martha Farah)
Five insights into how the brain works
As the Center for Neuroscience & Society celebrates 10 years, founding director Martha Farah reflects on the array of research from its faculty, on subjects from brain games to aggression.
As Uber and Lyft become more widely available, researchers zero in on how these ride-hailing services are affecting urban development and the environment.
Minding the gap between mass transit and ride-hailing apps
With support from the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, doctoral students Caitlin Gorback and Summer Dong are researching how services like Uber and Lyft are changing our transport habits, cities, and environments.
Three students in the Penn Global Seminar “Robotics and Rehabilitation” fit a Jamaican man (left) with a robotic device that may help him grasp objects in a hand that lost some capabilities following a stroke. (Photo: Jacob Gross)
Sun, sand, and medical rehab robots
As part of a new interdisciplinary Penn Global Seminar, 16 undergraduates traveled to Jamaica to test and refine robotic rehabilitation devices for patients in need.
Rising sophomore Julia Kafozoff (center) is researching the reach of the “Baby Doctor Mamas” podcast, hosted by CHOP pediatricians, Joanna Parga-Belinkie (left) and Diana Montoya-Williams (right), as well as the reach of the “Primary Care Physicians”podcast, hosted by CHOP pediatrician Katie Lockwood (not pictured).
When pediatricians become podcasters, who tunes in?
Sophomore Julia Kafozoff, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia intern, is working with three podcasting physicians to determine how much listeners actually learn from these educational tools.
