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A society’s cultural practices shape the structure of its social networks
Parent teaching child how to mow grass

People learn either by observing those around them or by innovating. A new study from Penn biologists Marco Smolla and Erol Akçay demonstrates how cultures can evolve based on what kind of learning and skills are required to thrive within them.

A society’s cultural practices shape the structure of its social networks

Biologists Erol Akçay and Marco Smolla used mathematical models to show that societies that favor generalists, who have a wide range of skills, are less well-connected than those societies that favor specialists, who are highly skilled at a smaller number of traits.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Training the next generation of globally minded researchers
paren and issartel in the lab

Training the next generation of globally minded researchers

As part of the Research and Education in Active Coatings Technologies for the Human Habitat program, students conduct fundamental research on materials that can improve lives while engaging in international collaborations and educational activities.

Erica K. Brockmeier

A wearable new technology moves brain monitoring from the lab to the real world
Two people standing in a lab space, holding headbands.

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.

Michele W. Berger

Materials for a more sustainable future
thomas mallouk poses in a laboratory surrounded by equipment and glassware

Materials for a more sustainable future

Using a collaborative approach and their expertise in fundamental chemical research, new Chemistry Department faculty member Thomas Mallouk and his group address challenges faced by engineers and materials scientists.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Five insights into how the brain works
Person sitting at a table with blurry people in front and a screen hanging on the wall behind, which reads, "Experiential effects on brain development."

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.

Michele W. Berger

Penn remembers and celebrates Toni Morrison
Amy Gutmann and Toni Morrison seated on stage with flags behind them Toni Morrison appears on stage with University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann in 2012. Morrison was awarded the Trustees' Council of Women's Beacon Award.

Penn remembers and celebrates Toni Morrison

The Penn community recalls the life and legacy of renowned author and teacher Toni Morrison, H‘88.
In search of signals from the early universe
a person in a hard had working inside a large telescope detector

In search of signals from the early universe

Penn astronomers are part of an international collaboration to construct the Simons Observatory, a new telescope that will search the skies in a quest to learn more about the formation of the universe.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Engaging history
Student standing with historic buildings behind her.

Rising junior Margarita Ortiz, a history major, is a summer intern at Historic Germantown in her hometown of Philadelphia. 

Engaging history

Junior Margarita Ortiz conducted a comprehensive survey of 18 sites as a summer intern for the Historic Germantown consortium in her hometown of Philadelphia.
What is a ‘mass shooting’ and how do we talk about gun violence?
A person standing at the foot of a set of outdoor stairs, with a brick wall behind and fencing atop the stairs.

Richard Berk, professor of criminology and statistics. (Image: Eric Sucar)

What is a ‘mass shooting’ and how do we talk about gun violence?

In a Q&A, criminologist Richard Berk discusses why definitions matter and what role social media and mental illness play in this context.

Michele W. Berger

When pediatricians become podcasters, who tunes in?
A tall red-headed smiling young woman stands between two pregnant smiling women, under a sign that says 2 East 2 West Harriet and Ronald Lassin Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Uni

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.

Gina Vitale Michele W. Berger