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What lies beneath
A scuba diver under water.

To better understand trade and economics along the Mediterranean Sea during Late Antiquity, second-year Ph.D. student Konstantinos Raptis dives deep into the ocean. Artifacts and shipwrecks remain preserved on the seafloor, offering a rare time capsule from a world long gone by.

(Image: Courtesy of Konstantinos Raptis)

What lies beneath

From uncovering ancient ways of life to addressing the pressing threat of climate change, scholars at Penn Arts & Sciences are finding an upside to looking down.

2 min. read

Tracing an ancient blue across the ancient world
Examples of cross sections of Egyptian blue samples.

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Tracing an ancient blue across the ancient world

Penn researchers Vanessa and Alexis North are studying one of the largest collections of Egyptian blue objects ever found in the ancient Near East, shedding new light on how the world’s first synthetic pigment may have traveled far beyond Egypt.

4 min. read

20 breakthroughs of 2025
Masoud Akbarzadeh holding up one of the fabricated materials.

The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.

5 min. read

The discovery of a tomb linked to King Midas
The South Gate cemetery excavations, with Gareth Darbyshire (foreground left), Brian Rose (foreground right), and Simon Greenslade (middle background). Tumulus MM is in the distance at upper left

The South Gate cemetery excavations, with Gareth Darbyshire (foreground left), Brian Rose (foreground right), and Simon Greenslade (middle background).

(Image: Gebhard Bieg)

The discovery of a tomb linked to King Midas

Penn researchers and collaborators have discovered a 2,800-year-old royal tomb linked to Midas Dynasty in Gordion, Türkiye.

2 min. read