Coding the emotions that anti-tobacco ads evoke Junior Gabriela Montes de Oca from Houston has a background working on public health issues and supporting marginalized populations as part of Penn’s United Minorities Council, as a member of the First-Generation, Low-Income Dean’s Advisory Board, and through her role as a Penn Civic Scholar. This summer, in addition to interning in the lab of Andy Tan, she worked on Covid-19 testing and vaccinations at Sayre Health Center. Coding the emotions that anti-tobacco ads evoke Sophomore Oulaya Louaddi and junior Gabriela Montes de Oca interned this summer with Annenberg’s Andy Tan, helping the research team design and test culturally appropriate anti-smoking campaigns for young women who identify as sexual minorities.
Harun Küçük brings science, philosophy, and history to the Middle East Center Harun Küçük, a historian of early modern Ottoman science, is the new faculty director at the Middle East Center. Harun Küçük brings science, philosophy, and history to the Middle East Center The newly appointed faculty director says his aim “first and foremost is to maintain all the good things that the Center’s already doing.”
Interact, adapt, repeat: A summer studying coevolution To study coevolution, the responsibilities of Nova Meng and Linda Wu included caring for plants in the Penn greenhouse. (Image: From July 2021, when masks were not required) Interact, adapt, repeat: A summer studying coevolution Sophomores Linda Wu and Nova Meng spent the summer studying coevolution among plants, mutualistic bacteria, and parasitic nematodes in Corlett Wood’s biology lab.
TikTok talk In linguistics, “whoever’s cool leads the change,” which explains why trends come and go via TikTok, says linguistics professor Nicole Holliday. Q&A TikTok talk Largely characterized as a Gen Z phenomenon, TikTok is a video-sharing app with more than 100 million active users in the U.S. alone—and it’s changing the way that we speak, says sociolinguist Nicole Holliday.
Ilyse Reisman summer in the writers’ room Senior Ilyse Reisman, an English and cinema studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences, was a summer intern at the film studio Indigenous Media in Los Angeles. Ilyse Reisman summer in the writers’ room An aspiring comedy writer, senior Ilyse Reisman got a chance to be on set and in meetings to pitch production ideas during her RealArts@Penn summer internship at the film studio Indigenous Media in Los Angeles.
Evolutionary ‘arms race’ may help keep cell division honest Evolutionary ‘arms race’ may help keep cell division honest Research from the lab of Michael Lampson in the School of Arts & Sciences suggests that certain proteins may have evolved to reduce the likelihood of chromosomes “cheating” to bias their chance of winding up in an egg during the cell-division process meiosis.
Atomically-thin, twisted graphene has unique properties New collaborative research describes how electrons move through two different configurations of bilayer graphene, the atomically-thin form of carbon. These results provide insights that researchers could use to design more powerful and secure quantum computing platforms in the future. Atomically-thin, twisted graphene has unique properties Researchers describe how electrons move through two-dimensional layered graphene, findings that could lead to advances in the design of future quantum computing platforms.
How schools of ‘microswimmers’ can increase their cargo capacity Inspired by observations made at the Georgia Aquarium, a new study by Penn’s Arnold Mathijssen and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute found that when a school of microscopic, self-propelled droplets known as “microswimmers” moves in the same direction inside a narrow channel, they can increase the cargo capacity—the number of particles they can carry—by tenfold. How schools of ‘microswimmers’ can increase their cargo capacity Penn researchers describe how groups of microscopic, self-propelled droplets can transport more material through narrow channels using a process called collective hydrodynamic entrainment.
Student ambassadors ready to welcome new arrivals during Move-In The student coordinators went on a quick tour of College House locations, including the Quad, during their four-day training that started on Tuesday, led by Edwin Berrios (center), associate director of building operations at Penn. Student ambassadors ready to welcome new arrivals during Move-In Ready to welcome new arrivals to campus, 25 student coordinators are working as paid staff during Move-In to College Houses this coming week.
Daniel Morales-Armstrong’s ‘Inclusive City’ Participants and Inclusive City students facilitate charrette brainstorming sessions. (Image: OMNIA) Daniel Morales-Armstrong’s ‘Inclusive City’ The William Fontaine Fellow of Africana Studies and History helms a course designed to lead students in a collaborative engagement with a local Philadelphian community.