News from

School of Arts & Sciences

Visit the School's Site
Reset All Filters
3699 Results
Women will compete against self, not others, to improve performance

    • Women will compete against self, not others, to improve performance

    A woman is less likely to choose competition than a man, even when she performs equally well, unless competing with herself for a better outcome, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania, George Mason University and the German Institute for Economic Research or DIW.

    Michele W. Berger

    Invasive Sedge Protects Dunes Better Than Native Grass, Penn-led Study Finds

    • Invasive Sedge Protects Dunes Better Than Native Grass, Penn-led Study Finds

    The invasive species Carex kobomugi, or Asiatic sand sedge, was first found along the East Coast of the United States at New Jersey’s Island Beach State Park in 1929. The species is aggressive, outcompeting native vegetation and reducing local biodiversity. In many places, land managers have made great efforts to remove it.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    Diabetes accounts for more U.S. deaths than previously thought

    • Diabetes accounts for more U.S. deaths than previously thought

    Diabetes accounts for 12 percent of deaths in the United States, a significantly higher percentage than previous research revealed, making it the third-leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer, according to findings from the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University published in

    Michele W. Berger

    Penn Researchers Solve a Decades-old Question About Glass Transitions

    • Penn Researchers Solve a Decades-old Question About Glass Transitions

    If one were to take a liquid — any liquid — and cool it down rapidly enough so that it doesn’t have a chance to crystallize, the result would be glass. Glass is so viscous that it takes too long to flow for anyone to realize that it is liquid rather than solid.

    Ali Sundermier

    Penn Research Describes Missing Step in How Cells Move Their Cargo

    • Penn Research Describes Missing Step in How Cells Move Their Cargo

    Every time a hormone is released from a cell, every time a neurotransmitter leaps across a synapse to relay a message from one neuron to another, the cell must undergo exocytosis. This is the process responsible for transporting cellular contents via lipid-encapsulated vesicles to the cell surface membrane and then incorporating or secreting them through membrane fusion.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    Penn Researchers Devise a Theory That Describes Mysterious Rafts in Membranes

    • Penn Researchers Devise a Theory That Describes Mysterious Rafts in Membranes

    If you held a ball up to a mirror, it would produce an image that, if pulled out, would sit perfectly on top of the ball. Yet if you held your right hand up to a mirror, the image produced would be a left hand, which is not identical to the original; a glove for one hand cannot comfortably fit the other. 

    Ali Sundermier