New research from Penn psychologist Joe Kable looks at individuals with damage to different parts of the prefrontal cortex to reveal how the brain evaluates uncertainty and guides split-second decisions.
(Image: iStock/ALLVISIONN)
When does waiting stop being worth it?
Psychologist Joe Kable examined how lesions in specific parts of the prefrontal cortex reveal the brain’s strategies for managing delayed gratification.
A team of researchers led by Aman Husbands of the School of Arts & Sciences has uncovered surprising ways transcription factors—the genetic switches for genes—regulate plant development, revealing how subtle changes in a lipid-binding region can dramatically alter gene regulation.
Guyin (Cice) Chen, a fourth-year chemistry, biochemistry, and neurobiology major in the College of Arts and Sciences, played a leading role in organizing the inaugural student-run National Research Conference at Penn.
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Who, What, Why: Cice Chen’s first-of-its-kind research conference for undergraduates
Cice Chen, a fourth-year chemistry, biochemistry, and neurobiology major in the College of Arts and Sciences, played a leading role in organizing the student-run National Research Conference at Penn.
From left to right, Dawn Chen, Yun Ding, and Minhao Li.
Eric Sucar
Finding a new behavioral adaptation in fruit flies
Penn researchers discovered “wing spreading” in Drosophila santomea, research that hints at a rare, novel finding and offers insights into an underrepresented area in sexual reproduction research: female-initiated behaviors.
Shown here: A hyperlink network from English Wikipedia, with only 0.1% of articles (nodes) and their connections (edges) visualized. Seven different reader journeys through this network are highlighted in various colors. The network is organized by topic and displayed using a layout that groups related articles together.
(Image: Dale Zhou)
Studying Wikipedia browsing habits to learn how people learn
A collaborative team of researchers analyzed the information-seeking styles of more than 480,000 people from 50 countries and found that gender and education inequality track different types of knowledge exploration. Their findings suggest potential cultural drivers of curiosity and learning.
As part of a series on wellness resources for the Penn community, Penn Today speaks with Nick Falcone from Information Systems & Computing to better understand how they partner with campus information technology teams and others to secure and maintain the community’s cyber presence.
(Image: iStock / Tero Vesalainen)
IT safety and well-being
Nick Falcone from Information Systems & Computing discusses resources the Penn community can use to secure data and privacy.
At a Climate Week event, Penn’s Climate Solutions Showcase, a group of faculty and researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Weitzman School of Design presented innovative strategies to combat the causes and effects of climate change.
(Image: Felice Macera)
Penn solutions to climate change
As society grapples with the impacts of a worsening climate—from the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events to rising sea levels and deadly heat waves—the need for actionable solutions has never been greater, Penn researchers say.
Yue Jiang (center), a Ph.D. student in Charlie Johnson’s (left) lab in the School of Arts & Sciences, has led research hinting at a new way to control sound waves at frequencies in which phones and other wireless technologies operate. These findings could lead to better signal processing and improve technologies for both classical and quantum information systems.
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Acoustic signals for better wireless technologies
Researchers push the limits of sound wave control, unlocking the potential for faster, clearer wireless communication and quantum information processing technologies.
Members of the Information Systems & Computing division discuss how they partner with campus information technology teams to secure and maintain the vital systems that are becoming increasingly reliant upon.
(Image: iStock/gorodenkoff)
A look at Penn’s Information Systems and Computing
A conversation with staff from the University’s central information technology division.
