Connecting health care policy to people’s lives Connecting health care policy to people’s lives Allison Hoffman studies Medicare and long-term care and helps policymakers understand the impact that health insurance regulations can have on people’s lives.
Weitzman Hall, renewed and expanded, celebrated at opening ceremony nocred Weitzman Hall, renewed and expanded, celebrated at opening ceremony The Penn community gathered to celebrate the opening of Weitzman Hall, the Weitzman School of Design’s first new building in nearly 60 years. 3 min. read
Dorothy Roberts’ memoir on interracial families in America Dorothy E. Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Africana Studies, Law, and Sociology & Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights.nocred Dorothy Roberts’ memoir on interracial families in America Roberts’ new memoir, “The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family” is an exploration of race, identity, and family in America. 2 min. read
Rewriting the rules of lung repair Associate professor of biomedical sciences Andy Vaughan.nocred Rewriting the rules of lung repair Penn Vet’s Andrew Vaughan works to uncover why some lungs rebound and others have lasting damage, and how to change that. 2 min. read
Raindrop-formed ‘sandballs’ that erode hillsides tenfold High-speed laboratory images capture two distinct “sandball” shapes formed when raindrops strike dry, sloped sand and roll downhill. (Top) Peanut-shaped sandballs, where grains coat the surface of a liquid core. (Bottom) Donut-shaped sandballs, which densify into rigid, wheel-like structures with a hollow center, enabling far more efficient sediment transport than splash erosion alone.(Image: Daisuke Noto) Raindrop-formed ‘sandballs’ that erode hillsides tenfold Penn geophysicists and colleagues have uncovered Earth-sculpting processes that result from the formation of snowball-like aggregates they call “sandballs.” Their findings provide fundamental insights into erosion and will broaden scientific understandings of landscape change, soil loss, and agriculture. 3 min. read
Powering AI from space, at scale Powering AI from space, at scale A new design for solar-powered data centers reduces weight, power consumption, and overall complexity, making large-scale deployment more feasible. 2 min. read
How to incentivize problem solving in groups Image: Flavio Coelho via Getty Images How to incentivize problem solving in groups Why do some groups get smarter together while others collapse into groupthink? New research from theoretical biologist Joshua Plotkin and collaborators show that collective intelligence doesn’t emerge by rewarding the most accurate individuals but by rewarding those who improve the group’s prediction as a whole. 3 min. read
Investigational blood biomarker panel may improve detection of pancreatic cancer Image: Sebastian Kaulitzk/Science Photo Library via Getty Images Investigational blood biomarker panel may improve detection of pancreatic cancer A Penn Medicine study shows that a biomarker blood panel that incorporates four different proteins enhances the detection of pancreatic cancer compared to measuring CA19-9 levels alone. 2 min. read
New report unpacks the crises facing American journalism and offers solutions Image: RiverNorthPhotography via Getty Images New report unpacks the crises facing American journalism and offers solutions A report co-authored by Annenberg School for Communication professor Victor Pickard traces the erosion of the free press in the United States over the past two decades. 2 min. read
Can classroom cell phone bans boost grades? Can classroom cell phone bans boost grades? New research from Alp Sungu, assistant professor of operations, information, and decisions at Wharton, shows that collecting phones during college classes raises grades and creates calmer classrooms.