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Researchers upend theory about the formation of the Milky Way Galaxy
Visualization of a ‘wrinkly’ halo of stars around the Milky Way.

This image visualizes the Milky Way and its surrounding “halo” of stars. Most stars in the Milky Way lie in the disc (like the Sun, for example), but stars from past collisions end up in the halo, a large “cloud” of stars that extends outwards in all directions. These halo stars have been enhanced in this image, but in reality would be very dim compared to the disc. The halo appears messy and “wrinkly” here, a sign that a merger has occurred relatively recently.

(Image: Halo stars: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, T Donlon et al. 2024; Background Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds: Stefan Payne-Wardenaar)

Researchers upend theory about the formation of the Milky Way Galaxy

New findings by Robyn Sanderson and collaborators suggest galaxy’s last major collision was billions of years later than previously thought.
Fruitful insights on the brain
Photograph of researcher, China Byrns, in front of monitor showing microscopy images of fly brain

China Byrns used high-magnification confocal microscopy to visualize senescent glia (red) in Drosophila brains as part of a multidisciplinary approach to define the origin and effects of senescent cells in brain aging.

(Image: Courtesy of Riya Anand)

Fruitful insights on the brain

Research led by China Byrns of the lab of Nancy M. Bonini in the School of Arts & Sciences have uncovered new details about the role of zombie-like cells in brain aging, using the fruit fly as a model.
Penn alum named 2024 Yenching Scholar
Jing-Jing Piriyalertsak standing outside a building with trees

Chonnipha (Jing Jing) Piriyalertsak, a 2023 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences from Bangkok, has been selected as a 2024 Yenching Scholar.

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Penn alum named 2024 Yenching Scholar

Chonnipha (Jing Jing) Piriyalertsak, a 2023 graduate, has been selected as a 2024 Yenching Scholar, with full funding to pursue an interdisciplinary master’s degree in China studies at the Yenching Academy of Peking University in Beijing.

Louisa Shepard

Measuring readers of romance
two people looking at laptop computers

James English (left) and J.D. Porter have been collaborating on the research project for more than three years. 

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Measuring readers of romance

Researchers at Penn's Price Lab for Digital Humanities conducted a quantitative analysis of the romance genre, studying thousands of avid readers and the hundreds of thousands of books in their collections in Goodreads

Louisa Shepard

My Climate Story expands across continent with Campus Correspondents
Faith Bochert and Maria Villarreal Simon.

Faith Bochert and Maria Villarreal Simon volunteered at the My Climate Story table at GreenFest in April 2024.

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My Climate Story expands across continent with Campus Correspondents

My Climate Story, a project from the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities, now has 12 correspondents gathering climate stories from 12 campuses across North America.
Positioned for Success
Taussia Boadi and Cheryl Nnadi pose on Penn's campus in front of College Hall, green grass and a huge tree.

Cheryl Nnadi (left) and Taussia Boadi (right) created Positioned for Success, a 2023 winner of Projects for Progress.

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Positioned for Success

The program, launched by recent College of Arts and Sciences grads Taussia Boadi and Cheryl Nnadi, was a 2023 Projects for Progress winner and provides academic support to middle school students affected by gun violence.

Kristen de Groot

Brewing brilliance
Nader Engheta and Firooz Aflatouni sit at a table clutching Penn-branded mugs filled with tea.

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Brewing brilliance

Nader Engheta and Firooz Aflatouni of Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science turn tea time into new ideas.
How much gossip is needed to foster social cooperation?
One person whispers in the ear of another.

(Image: iStock/AndreyPopov)

How much gossip is needed to foster social cooperation?

Researchers Mari Kawakatsu, Taylor A. Kessinger, and Joshua B. Plotkin in Penn’s Department of Biology developed a model incorporating two forms of gossip to study indirect reciprocity.
Abortion, not inflation, directly affected congressional voting in 2022
A parent holding a baby voting at a polling place.

Image: iStock/EvgeniyShkolenko

Abortion, not inflation, directly affected congressional voting in 2022

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that Americans are “pocketbook voters,” views on abortion and the Supreme Court are more likely to sway voters today.

From Annenberg School for Communication

Can more art equal less crime?
Maya Moritz giving a lecture in front of a mural.

Maya Moritz presenting at the 2024 Penn Grad Talks. She won first place in the Social Science category.

(Image: Brooke Sietinsons)

Can more art equal less crime?

Maya Moritz, a first-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminology, is building the case, studying the effect of Philadelphia murals on the city’s crime rate.

From Omnia