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Three ways to reframe boredom
A person sleeping at their desk.

Image: iStock/cyano66

Three ways to reframe boredom

In modern society, boredom is largely considered a bad thing. Stephen M. Gorn Family Assistant Professor of English Lilith Todd thinks people can reframe how to think about being idle.

2 min. read

Lifesaving breakthrough in bacterial behavior
A wafer with the Penn shield etched onto it.

In addition to etching microstructures that let researchers see single bacterial cells navigate confined, fluid-filled environments, the team also turned the Singh's Center's nanofabrication tools toward engraving the Penn Shield at the nanoscale at the bottom of a silicon wafer. 

Image: Scott Spitzer

Lifesaving breakthrough in bacterial behavior

Bacteria can actively swim upstream, leading to severe infections in places like the urinary tract and respiratory system and contamination of medical devices like catheters. Biophysicist Arnold Mathijssen and colleagues have uncovered how and why this happens, revealing that E. coli actually “thrives under pressure.” Their findings point to new strategies for designing safer, more effective biomedical tools and treatments.

3 min. read

Can reminders help you save more money?

Can reminders help you save more money?

Wharton’s Katy Milkman has led a megastudy on 2 million U.S. bank customers, showing that regular reminders to save encouraged people to put money aside.

From Knowledge at Wharton

1 min. read

Awards and accolades for Penn faculty
College Hall seen through the archway of Fischer Fine Arts.

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Awards and accolades for Penn faculty

A roundup of appointments and awards for various members of Penn’s faculty across several schools.

2 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

Centering joy in AI development and implementation
Desmond Patton seated at his desk.

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Centering joy in AI development and implementation

PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton—of Annenberg and SP2—and collaborators introduce a joy-informed framework designed to initiate conversations among engineers, designers, and researchers.

2 min. read

Weighing sustainability of real vs. fake Christmas trees
A person putting ornaments on an artificial Christmas tree.

Image: Dmytro Betsenko via Getty Images

Weighing sustainability of real vs. fake Christmas trees

Engineering professor Lorena Grundy says people looking to make a sustainable decision should consider how many years they would use an artificial tree, how they plan to dispose of a real tree, and how the tree was transported.

2 min. read

Addressing the psychological impacts of inflammatory bowel disease
Therapist and patient.

Image: lorenzoantonucci via Getty Images

Addressing the psychological impacts of inflammatory bowel disease

In a collaborative study, Psychologist Melissa Hunt and gastroenterologist Chung Sang Tse showed that cognitive behavioral therapy reduced disability for patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and that psychologists with no prior gastrointestinal experience could learn to deliver IBD-informed CBT effectively.

3 min. read

New book brings responsive math teaching to classrooms nationwide

New book brings responsive math teaching to classrooms nationwide

Following years of research in Philadelphia schools, the Graduate School of Education’s Responsive Math Teaching team is sharing the practical tools and guiding principles they identified in a new book to help educators make math more meaningful and equitable.

The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots
A microscopic robot on a U.S. penny for scale.

A microrobot on a U.S. penny for scale.

(Image: Michael Simari, University of Michigan)

The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots

Engineers at Penn Engineering have created robots barely visible to the naked eye that operate without tethers, magnetic fields or joystick-like controls.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read