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Philadelphia: The new city of science
a large group of people in front of the Franklin Institute building with a science demonstration (with smoke and the aftermath of an explosion that caused colored balls to fly into the air) in the foreground

The Philadelphia Science Festival, happening from April 26th until May 4th, brings together hundreds of institutions from the Greater Philadelphia area and culminates in the grand finale Science Carnival along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway (Photo credit: Philadelphia Science Festival). 

Philadelphia: The new city of science

Penn researchers will be involved in a weeklong series of interactive activities and events across the city as part of the Philadelphia Science Festival.

Erica K. Brockmeier

How superstitions spread
A black cat walking on a walkway

Do you change direction when you see a black cat approaching? A game theory-driven model developed by two theoretical biologists at Penn shows how such superstitions can catch on.

How superstitions spread

Superstitious beliefs may seem irrational, but they catch on in a society. Using an evolutionary approach to studying the emergence of coordinated behaviors, Erol Akçay and Bryce Morsky showed how a jumble of individual beliefs, including superstitions, coalesce into an accepted social norm.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Empathy and cooperation go hand in hand
Two figures have heated discussion as a third in the middle observes

Taking the perspective of another can help foster cooperation in a group, according to a new study by Penn evolutionary biologists.

Empathy and cooperation go hand in hand

Taking a game theory approach to study cooperation, School of Arts and Sciences evolutionary biologists find that empathy can help cooperative behavior ‘win out’ over selfishness.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Unlocking the female bias in lupus
Microscopic images of cells are blue with diffuse splotches of pink on each cell.

Unlocking the female bias in lupus

The majority of lupus patients are female, and new findings from Montserrat Anguera of the School of Veterinary Medicine and colleagues shed light on why. The research suggests that female lupus patients don’t fully silence their second X chromosome in T cells, leading to an immune response gone awry.

Katherine Unger Baillie

A bad bout of flu triggers ‘taste bud cells’ to grow in the lungs
Microscopic images of fluorescent cells show up green against a red and blue background. The green glowing cells are elongated in shape.

The discovery of tuft cells (in green) in mice lungs after flu gives researchers insights into how a bad respiratory infection may set the stage for certain inflammatory conditions, such as asthma. The cells are named for the elongated microvilli which project from their surface. (Image: Courtesy of Andrew Vaughan) 

A bad bout of flu triggers ‘taste bud cells’ to grow in the lungs

The discovery of these seemingly out-of-place sensing cells may lend insight into possibilities for protecting lung function in people who experience severe influenza infections.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Do mosquitoes feel the effects of alcohol

Do mosquitoes feel the effects of alcohol

Tanya Dapkey of the School of Arts and Sciences said it’s unlikely that mosquitoes feed on inebriated humans to get drunk themselves. However, she said, the fact that “alcohol makes us more attractive to them is an interesting question to me.”

The ‘off’ button that lets plants make flowers
Scanning electron microscope image of plant parts. Main image is covered in spikes, smaller one looks smoother and less complex.

AA 10-day-old Arabidopsis seedling displayed no defect in forming new organs (main image), unless they lacked the key genes MP, ETT, and ARF4. In that case, a small stubby plant (inset) that cannot form new organs is the result. (Image: Wagner lab)

The ‘off’ button that lets plants make flowers

Flowers aren’t just pretty to look at; without them, plants couldn’t reproduce. Investigating the critical process of flower formation in plants, School of Arts and Sciences biologist Doris Wagner and colleagues discovered how a key gene is shut off in order for blooms to form. “Identity is not just what you are; it’s what you aren’t,” she says.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Hands-on learning in the greenhouse
Holding a broad tropical leaf, a person speaks to students holding papers in a greenhouse.

Showing off the broad, tropical leaf of a banana plant, Samara Gray (left), greenhouse coordinator, highlights the diverse collection of the middle room of the Biology Department’s facility. During the tours, Gray and other staff point out specialized adaptations of certain plants, such as the water-conserving features of succulents, or the unusual features of carnivorous plant species.

 

 

Hands-on learning in the greenhouse

A revamped lesson in plant diversity added a tour of the campus greenhouse for students in introductory biology courses. Greenhouse coordinator Samara Gray worked with Linda Robinson and Karl Siegert to enhance the curriculum, incorporating lessons about plant biology and taxonomy that rely on the wide range of specimens present.

Katherine Unger Baillie