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Penn Integrates Knowledge Professors

How common is common sense?
Artist rendering depiction of common sense: This image features an abstract representation of multiple silhouetted profiles facing each other against a background of overlapping, multicolored shapes, symbolizing the interplay and convergence of diverse perspectives and ideas. The interlocking colors and profiles suggest the complex, multifaceted nature of common sense.

How common is common sense? A straightforward question that, surprisingly, has yet to receive a definitive science-based answer. Now, PIK Professor Duncan Watts and co-author Mark Whiting of the Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science present a new way to quantify common sense among both individuals and collectives.

(Image: Courtesy of Mark Whiting)

How common is common sense?

Researchers from Penn develop a framework for quantifying common sense, findings address a critical gap in how knowledge is understood.
More than skin deep: A molecular and mechanistic look at pigmentation variation
Two men sitting and smiling for a photgraph

PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff led a collaborative team of researchers who have discovered key insights into the molecular basis of skin color differences among Africans. “There’s so much genetic diversity in African populations, but they’ve also been historically underrepresented in studies,” Tishkoff says. “Our findings offer more information on these populations and paint a clearer picture of human evolution.”

(Image: Courtesy of Sarah Tishkoff and Alessia Ranciaro)

More than skin deep: A molecular and mechanistic look at pigmentation variation

A new collaborative study offers a better understanding of genes and variants responsible for skin color, providing insights into human evolution and local adaptation.
Warped front pages
Columbia Journalism Review

Warped front pages

In a co-written Op-Ed, PIK Professor Duncan Watts argues that journalistic claims to objectivity in political news are a convenient and self-serving fiction.

How Microsoft’s legal legacy shapes the antitrust case against Google
The New York Times

How Microsoft’s legal legacy shapes the antitrust case against Google

PIK Professor Herbert Hovenkamp says that Google’s conduct in its antitrust case is subtler than Microsoft’s, which was harsh and had little pro-competitive justification for its actions.

Torn Apart: Terror
Ms. Magazine

Torn Apart: Terror

PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts describes the horrors that the child welfare system inflicts by invading homes, targeting low-income families, and threatening to separate parents and children.

Scientists observe composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time
Artist's impression of spherical binary nanocrystal superlattices featuring semiconductor (emissive) and magnetic/plasmonic (non-emissive) nanocrystals.

A collaborative team of researchers led by PIK Professor Christopher B. Murray has observed for the first time composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time. The discovery could enable engineers to more reliably manufacture next-generation materials by combining different nanocrystals. Shown here is an artist's impression of spherical binary nanocrystal superlattices featuring semiconductor (emissive) and magnetic/plasmonic (non-emissive) nanocrystals.

(Image: Courtesy of Emanuele Marino)

Scientists observe composite superstructure growth from nanocrystals in real time

The findings could enable engineers to more reliably manufacture next-generation materials by combining different nanocrystals.
Experiencing record-breaking heat days affects perception of weather trends
A sunset over Los Angeles in a heat advisory.

Image: iStock/johnemac72

Experiencing record-breaking heat days affects perception of weather trends

New research from Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that for residents in areas with record-breaking heat, the perception that the weather is getting hotter increases.

From the Annenberg Public Policy Center

Neanderthals carried genes acquired from ancient interactions with ‘cousins’ of modern humans
Researchers collecting ethnographic and medical information from participants in Ethiopia.

Members of Tishkoff's research team collecting ethnograpgic information from participants in Ethiopia.

(Image: Courtesy of Sarah Tishkoff)

Neanderthals carried genes acquired from ancient interactions with ‘cousins’ of modern humans

A new collaborative study led by Sarah Tishkoff shows that Neanderthals inherited at least 6% of their genome from a now-extinct lineage of early modern humans.
Understanding the brain via a molecular map
Abstract polygonal brain with connected dots and lines. Artificial intelligence 3d illustration.

PIK Professor Michael Platt and collaborators have generated the first single-cell “atlas” of the primate brain to help explore links between molecules, cells, brain function, and disease.

(Image: iStock / Jezperklauzen)

Understanding the brain via a molecular map

PIK Professor Michael Platt and collaborators have generated the first single-cell “atlas” of the primate brain to help explore links between molecules, cells, brain function, and disease.