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Does AI limit creativity?
Graphic art of two stylized heads looking at each other.

Image: DrAfter123/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Does AI limit creativity?

Research co-authored by Wharton professors Gideon Nave and Christian Terwiesch finds that while ChatGPT improves the quality of individual ideas, it also leads groups to generate more similar ideas. 

From Knowledge at Wharton

2 min. read

Navigating gender and power in South Korea
Soosun You stands with her hands on her hips.

Soosun You’s research focuses on gender and equity in South Korea.

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Navigating gender and power in South Korea

As the newest member of Penn’s political science faculty, Soosun You brings global experience—from her work as a former journalist in Seoul to conducting fieldwork in Africa—to research on women’s rights and politics in South Korea.

2 min. read

The 2025 Cundill History Prize Shortlist: Ben Nathans and Sophia Rosenfeld

The 2025 Cundill History Prize Shortlist: Ben Nathans and Sophia Rosenfeld

Awarded by McGill University, the Cundill History Prize is the world’s leading award for history writing, highlighting books that uncover neglected histories and speak to the current context of conflict, protest, and the concern with freedom across the globe. Nathans and Rosenfeld are selected from a record number of over 400 international submissions.

The rise of tariffs
Shipping containers lined up outside a port in China.

Consumers will see the effects of these tariffs in the near future, says economics professor Enrique Mendoza, but predicting which items will see a price increase is tricky.

Image: Yinwei Liu via Getty Images

The rise of tariffs

Enrique Mendoza, a professor of economics in the School of Arts & Sciences, explains what tariffs are and unpacks their potential short- and long-term effects.

From Omnia

2 min. read

Does early-life cellular activity influence cancer and aging?
Artist rendering of chromosome structure with telomeres highlighted at the ends.

Mia Levine and Michael Lampson’s research examines how telomere length is inherited, and how this can inform future genetic research in how cancer develops.

(Image: Courtesy of Getty/nopparit)

Does early-life cellular activity influence cancer and aging?

New research from Michael Lampson and Mia T. Levine in the School of Arts & Sciences offers insight into how telomeres—protective chromosomal caps linked to aging and cancer in mammals—are inherited. Their finding that telomeres become longer or shorter during early embryonic development opens new avenues for research.

3 min. read

Kathryn Connell named Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine

Kathryn Connell named Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine

Kathryn Connell, assistant professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences at Penn’s School of Nursing, has been named a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine. Connell is a critical care nurse and health services researcher dedicated to improving outcomes for both patients and clinicians in intensive care units.

A new paradigm for cooling on New York’s Governors Island
A heat scan being taken on a human under a cooling cover structure

Image: Chris Perez

A new paradigm for cooling on New York’s Governors Island

The KlimaKover team includes architects, researchers, and builders from Penn, Henning Larsen, AIL Research, SKANSKA who are addressing urban cooling by adapting a radiant cooling system to an architectural-scale application that uses far less energy than traditional AC.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

Bold ideas and innovation on display at the Fall Research Expo
Houston Hall full of posters and students and visitors at the CURF Poster Expo

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Bold ideas and innovation on display at the Fall Research Expo

On Sept. 15, hundreds of posters were presented throughout Houston Hall at the annual Fall Research Expo, representing the research projects of 410 undergraduate students conducted through the Center for Undergraduate Research.

3 min. read

How tumor mechanics and tiny messengers could shape the future of cancer research

How tumor mechanics and tiny messengers could shape the future of cancer research

A literature review co-written by Penn Engineering Ph.D. student Kshitiz Parihar and Ravi Radhakrishnan, professor in bioengineering and chemical biomolecular engineering, highlights the hidden connections between tumor mechanics and extracellular vesicles (EVs), tiny packages of proteins and genetic material secreted by cells. EVs carry cargo like proteins and RNA between cells, influencing how tumors grow, how the immune system responds, and even how cancers spread to other parts of the body.