News from

School of Arts & Sciences

Visit the School's Site
Reset All Filters
3788 Results
Summer aerospace research at the Jet Propulsion Lab
alex ulin standing in front of the jet propulsion laboratory sign, under the nasa logo and next to text that reads california institute of technology

Summer aerospace research at the Jet Propulsion Lab

Senior Alex Ulin from Los Angeles spent the past two summers working at a NASA-contracted field center, and is now aiming for a career leading teams of aerospace scientists and engineers.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Weighing the environmental impacts of a byproduct of biofuel combustion: plant skeletons
Pile of shredded straw from Miscanthus sinensis, Chinese silver grass

Chinese silver grass, Miscanthus sinensis, is a common source of biomass, burned to produce electricity or heat in power plants. Each piece is roughly 2-3 centimeters in length. (Image: Reto Gieré)

Weighing the environmental impacts of a byproduct of biofuel combustion: plant skeletons

The School of Arts and Sciences’ Reto Gieré and Ruggero Vigliaturo and colleagues found that phytoliths—small, silica-containing deposits present in many plant species—are emitted during biofuel combustion.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Physicists look to navigational ‘rhumb lines’ to study polymer’s unique spindle structure
microscope images of polymer spheres that twist into elongated and twisted objects

Scanning electron microscope images showing polymers in a spherical configuration (far left); when a new solvent is added, the spheres twist and change into elongated twisted spindles (far right). At the top of the spindles (center panel) are one micron spirals. (Image: Daeseok Kim)

Physicists look to navigational ‘rhumb lines’ to study polymer’s unique spindle structure

Researchers show how polymer spheres contract to form unique spiral structures known as loxodromes, or rhumb lines, creating patterns that are ten times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Erica K. Brockmeier

From the classroom to the lab and back again
a person sitting at a microscope looking at a computer screen surrounded by pipet boxes, chemicals, and cabinetry

From the classroom to the lab and back again

Senior Adithya Sriram is busy earning two degrees, researching new applications for graphene, and preparing physics courses for students in West Philadelphia.

Erica K. Brockmeier

A quest to restore cultural heritage in Iraq, one site at a time
people gathered around surveying iraqi destruction

A quest to restore cultural heritage in Iraq, one site at a time

Penn archaeologists, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Mosul and Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, seek to undo the terrible destruction ISIS wrought, particularly on targeted minority groups.

Michele W. Berger

Three-concert festival celebrates composer and Penn professor emeritus George Crumb
George Crumb sitting next to a piano with a hand-notated musical score in front of him.

George Crumb was a music professor at Penn from 1965 to 1997. (Photo Sarah Shatz)

Three-concert festival celebrates composer and Penn professor emeritus George Crumb

A three-concert festival will celebrate decades of music by Penn professor emeritus George Crumb, a Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Oct. 10-12 at the Annenberg Center. 

Louisa Shepard

Sculptor Michelle Lopez creates installation for ICA exhibition ‘Ballast & Barricades’
Artist with hands on long metal pipe with fragment of a building behind her and scaffolding hanging from the ceiling during sculpture installation.

Michelle Lopez (right) created a site-specific sculpture with construction-derived materials for a new exhibition, “Ballast & Barricades,” at the Institute for Contemporary Art. 

Sculptor Michelle Lopez creates installation for ICA exhibition ‘Ballast & Barricades’

Michelle Lopez of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design created a sculpture with construction-derived materials hanging from, and reaching up to, a 30-foot-high gallery ceiling in the Institute of Contemporary Art. The new site-specific installation, “Ballast & Barricades,” is on display until May 10.

Louisa Shepard

Junior Chloe Gong has a deal to publish young-adult novel set in 1920s Shanghai
Student sitting next to building with tree in background.

Penn junior Chloe Gong has written a soon-to-be-published novel, "These Violent Delights," that is loosely based on "Romeo and Juliet," set in 1920s Shanghai.

Junior Chloe Gong has a deal to publish young-adult novel set in 1920s Shanghai

In addition to pursuing her double-major in English and international relations, junior Chloe Gong is writing a novel, a take on “Romeo and Juliet” set in 1920s Shanghai. “These Violent Delights,” is expected to be released next fall.

Louisa Shepard

Emily Steinlight brings a modern look to Victorian-era studies
Pen and ink drawing of a Victorian novel scene

Emily Steinlight brings a modern look to Victorian-era studies

What does it mean to study the Victorian era now? For Steinlight, it’s considering how 21st-century challenges, interests, and perspectives influence and inform how scholars examine the 19th century.

Penn Today Staff