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School of Arts & Sciences
Penn Researchers Demonstrate How to Control Liquid Crystal Patterns
When Lisa Tran set out to investigate patterns in liquid crystals, she didn’t know what to expect. When she first looked through the microscope, she saw dancing iridescent spheres with fingerprint-like patterns etched into them that spiraled and flattened as the solution they were floated in changed.
Geometry Plays an Important Role in How Cells Behave, Penn Researchers Report
Inspired by how geometry influences physical systems such as soft matter, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have revealed surprising insights into how the physics of molecules within a cell affect how the cell behaves.
Penn Physicists Help Spot Explosive Counterpart of LIGO/Virgo’s Latest Gravitational Waves
Masao Sako of the University of Pennsylvania was on vacation with his family when he got the news. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, had made a fifth detection of gravitational waves, which expand and contract space time.
Penn Freshman English Seminar Explores Philadelphia as Its Classroom
A 20-minute trolley ride and a world away, the woods of Bartram’s Garden became an outdoor classroom for a group of University of Pennsylvania students this fall.
Seven Penn Faculty Members Elected to National Academy of Medicine
Seven University of Pennsylvania faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the nation’s highest honors in biomedicine. They are among 70 new U.S. and 10 international members of the globally renowned organization.
Researchers discover which brain region motivates behavior change
Have you ever been stuck in a rut, going through the same motions day in and day out? How do you motivate to change your behavior?
Penn-led Study Identifies Genes Responsible for Diversity of Human Skin Colors
Human populations feature a broad palette of skin tones. But until now, few genes have been shown to contribute to normal variation in skin color, and these had primarily been discovered through studies of European populations.
Amid Devastation of Hurricane Maria, Penn Researchers with Puerto Rico Connections Focus on Helping Colleagues
As Hurricane Maria formed in the Atlantic, then turned into a powerful storm barreling toward Puerto Rico, Arjun Yodh watched the news closely.
The Penn Community Responds to Recent Natural Disasters
The University of Pennsylvania is lending a helping hand after a series of disasters leveled areas across the Western Hemisphere.
Earth’s Tectonic Plates Are Weaker Than Once Thought, According to Research by Penn Geologists
No one can travel inside the earth to study what happens there. So scientists must do their best to replicate real-world conditions inside the lab.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
He started college in prison. Now, he is Rutgers-Camden’s first Truman scholar
Tej Patel, a third-year in the Wharton School and College of Arts and Sciences from Billeria, Massachusetts, was one of 60 college students nationwide chosen to be a Truman Scholar.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
A collector donated 75,000 comic books to Penn Libraries, valued at more than $500,000
Alumnus Gary Prebula and his wife, Dawn, have donated a $500,000 collection of more than 75,000 comic books and graphic novels to Penn Libraries, featuring remarks from Sean Quimly of the Kislak Center and Jean-Christophe Cloutier of the School of Arts & Sciences.
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KQED Radio (San Francisco)
Violence escalates in Sudan as civil war enters second year
Ali Ali-Dinar of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses the forces driving the civil war in Sudan and how the global community is responding.
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BBC
From Ancient Egypt to Roman Britain, brewers are reviving beers from the past
Patrick McGovern of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum oversaw the first hi-tech molecular analysis of residues found in bronze drinking vessels during a 1950s excavation of an ancient Turkish tomb.
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The Washington Post
Forecast group predicts busiest hurricane season on record with 33 storms
A research team led by Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences is predicting the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season will produce the most named storms on record, fueled by exceptionally warm ocean waters and an expected shift from El Niño to La Niña.
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