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Winter blooms at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens
A branch of yellow witchhazel against evergreen foliage and a bright blue sky

Witch hazel blooms bright against a blue sky.

(Image: Morris Arboretum)

Winter blooms at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens

The earliest winter blooms are white and yellow, ranging from pale to sun-drenched in color in an effort to woo early pollinators: flies and beetles.

Kristina García

‘This is a dangerous virus’
The New York Times

‘This is a dangerous virus’

According to Louise Moncla of the School of Veterinary Medicine, reinfections suggest that the H5N1 bird flu virus could circulate on farms indefinitely, creating opportunities for it to evolve into a more dangerous form.

Fruit fly development offers insights into condensed matter physics
A fruit fly sits on a piece of food

Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, has long been a model species for biologists seeking to understand the molecular mechanisms of animal function and how novelty may arise in organisms. Theoretical physicist Andrea Liu of the School of Arts & Sciences is conducting research on the insect, along with biology and experimental biophysics collaborators at Duke University. Their research has opened the door to an approach that could offer not only a new understanding of how biological function emerges but also suggest a new class of systems in condensed matter physics.

(Image: iStock / nechaev-kon)

Fruit fly development offers insights into condensed matter physics

Penn Physicist Andrea Liu and collaborators modeled the behavior of tissue during a stage of fly development and found, surprisingly, it doesn’t fluidize as it shrinks but stays solid. Their approach could offer insights physical systems with complex functionality.
Cancer breakthrough as ‘speckles’ may reveal best treatment
Newsweek

Cancer breakthrough as ‘speckles’ may reveal best treatment

A paper co-authored by PIK Professor Shelley Berger finds that patterns of “speckles” in the heart of tumor cells could help predict how patients with a common form of kidney cancer will respond to treatment options.

Bird poop may be the key to stopping the next flu pandemic. Here’s why
CNN

Bird poop may be the key to stopping the next flu pandemic. Here’s why

A study led by Louise H. Moncla of the School of Veterinary Medicine suggests that wild birds are an emerging reservoir for North America’s bird flu virus and that surveillance of migrating birds is critical to stopping future outbreaks.

Two fourth-year students chosen as 2025 Marshall Scholars
Headshots of Tej Patel and Sridatta Teerdhala

Fourth-years (from left) Tej Patel and Sridatta Teerdhala have been chosen as 2025 Marshall Scholars.

(Image: Courtesy of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships) 

Two fourth-year students chosen as 2025 Marshall Scholars

Fourth-years Tej Patel and Sridatta Teerdhala, both in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management, a dual degree in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School, have been chosen as 2025 Marshall Scholars.