Penn’s third annual AI Month spotlights the evolving frontier of human-centered AI
A monthlong series of talks, workshops, symposia, and more highlights how recent advances in artificial intelligence are reshaping robotics, health, education, and public life, all the while keeping human values at the center.
2025 President’s Innovation Prize recipients Melanie Herbert and Alexandra Popescu are leveraging AI and privacy-focused computing to address the crisis of an aging population and overburdened health care staff.
The Dark Energy Survey used a 570-megapixel camera mounted on the 4-metre Victor M. Blanco Telescope in Chile to image 5,000 square degrees of southern sky. The survey discovered more than 1,000 supernovae and mapped millions of galaxies to help astronomers better understand the accelerating expansion of our universe.
(Image: Courtesy of Dark Energy Survey Collaborative)
Mapping the expanding cosmos: Dark Energy Survey unveils clearest picture yet
The Dark Energy Survey collaborative, including Penn researchers, recently released an analysis that gives the clearest picture yet of how dark energy is driving the universe’s expansion and how matter—including galaxies and groups of galaxies—has been organized over cosmic time.
Why do modern humans carry small amounts of Neanderthal DNA almost everywhere in their genome except on the X chromosome? A new study by Alexander Platt and Daniel Harris in the lab of geneticist Sarah Tishkoff suggests the answer lies in ancient attraction. (Pictured) An illustration of a normal karyotype, the full complement of chromosomes arranged in homologous pairs.
(Image: quantic69 via Getty Images)
How ancient attraction shaped the human genome
Research led by geneticist Sarah Tishkoff’s finds that prehistoric mating preferences is a likely explanation for why modern humans have small amounts of Neanderthal genetic elements on their X chromosomes, challenging the idea that human evolution was driven solely by survival of the fittest.
Image: Sciepro/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
Penn’s ENIAC, the world’s first electronic computer, turns 80
Housed in the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School Building, ENIAC—the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose computer—launched in 1946. ENIAC’s ability to be reprogrammed to solve a wide range of complex numerical problems was revolutionary and laid the foundation for modern digital systems.
High-speed laboratory images capture two distinct “sandball” shapes formed when raindrops strike dry, sloped sand and roll downhill. (Top) Peanut-shaped sandballs, where grains coat the surface of a liquid core. (Bottom) Donut-shaped sandballs, which densify into rigid, wheel-like structures with a hollow center, enabling far more efficient sediment transport than splash erosion alone.
(Image: Daisuke Noto)
Raindrop-formed ‘sandballs’ that erode hillsides tenfold
Penn geophysicists and colleagues have uncovered Earth-sculpting processes that result from the formation of snowball-like aggregates they call “sandballs.” Their findings provide fundamental insights into erosion and will broaden scientific understandings of landscape change, soil loss, and agriculture.
Why do some groups get smarter together while others collapse into groupthink? New research from theoretical biologist Joshua Plotkin and collaborators show that collective intelligence doesn’t emerge by rewarding the most accurate individuals but by rewarding those who improve the group’s prediction as a whole.
Despite the commonality of water and ice, says Penn physicist Robert Carpick, their physical properties are remarkably unique.
(Image: mustafahacalaki via Getty Images)
Why are icy surfaces slippery?
Winter Storm Fern brought icy and snowy conditions to the Northeast and other parts of the country over the weekend. Penn Today asks physicist Robert Carpick about the unique properties of ice, the science of curling, and how close we are to ‘nonslip’ ice.
How plants ‘hedge their bets’ for better reproductive outcomes
Penn biologists reveal how plants respond to seasonal flowering cues while protecting the stem cells at their growing tip, enabling continuous reproduction in changing environments.
