Want to succeed in academia? Build a network beyond your co-authors Want to succeed in academia? Build a network beyond your co-authors Researchers at the Annenberg School for Communication have analyzed the “thank you” notes in 129,750 political science journal articles and find that informal connections between authors are more predictive of higher productivity and impact than formal connections. 2 min. read
Immune linked high risk diabetic kidney disease found Image: iStock/magicmine Immune linked high risk diabetic kidney disease found A Penn Medicine study maps kidney tissue in single cell resolution and identifies a form of disease linked to faster progression to kidney failure. 2 min. read
Penn’s Open Enrollment 2026-2027 nocred Penn’s Open Enrollment 2026-2027 Open Enrollment, an annual opportunity to make changes to health plans, life insurance, and flexible spending accounts, begins April 20. 3 min. read
Gravity follows Newton and Einstein’s rules, even at cosmic scales The cosmic microwave background, the faint afterglow of the Big Bang that fills all of space, passes through massive galaxy clusters whose motion slightly alters the light, allowing scientists to measure how fast the clusters are moving toward one another and test how strongly gravity pulls across the largest distances in the universe.(Image: Courtesy of Lucy Reading/Simons Foundation) Gravity follows Newton and Einstein’s rules, even at cosmic scales By tracking galaxy clusters hundreds of millions of lightyears apart, Penn physicist Patricio Gallardo and collaborators find that the laws of gravity written by Newton and Einstein still hold, leaving little doubt that invisible dark matter exists. 3 min. read
Preventing the spread of a deadly virus to Pennsylvania’s rabbits and hares Image: Rabbitti via Getty Images Preventing the spread of a deadly virus to Pennsylvania’s rabbits and hares Penn Vet’s Wildlife Futures Program has embarked on a genetics study to prevent future outbreaks of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus type 2. 2 min. read
Building better delivery vehicles for medicine Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering Building better delivery vehicles for medicine Penn researchers in the Mitchell Lab are modifying lipid nanoparticles, the delivery vehicles for mRNA therapies, to make them more potent, precise, and better tolerated. 2 min. read
Topology helps build more robust photonic networks (From left) Xilin Feng, Liang Feng, and Tianwei Wu developed a microring array that allows multiple beams of light to travel simultaneously, protected by topology.(Image: Sylvia Zhang) Topology helps build more robust photonic networks Researchers at Penn Engineering draw insights from topology to help drive promising, light-based technological advances in computing and communications. 2 min. read
Analyzing the news with AI Image: Andriy Onufriyenko via Getty Images Analyzing the news with AI Annenberg School for Communication postdoctoral fellow Baird Howland looks at prominent narratives in the news media and how they shape Americans’ worldviews. 2 min. read
A stiff defense: Rethinking gum disease A section of healthy human gum tissue captured using an imaging technique called Second Harmonic Generation microscopy. In this sample, collagen fibers (shown in yellow), which give healthy gums their firm, resilient stiffness, are dense and well-organized—acting as a supportive scaffold for the surrounding cells (shown in teal).(Image: Hardik Makkar) A stiff defense: Rethinking gum disease Penn Dental Medicine’s Kyle H. Vining and Hardik Makkar take a biomaterials approach to understanding periodontal disease, using a hydrogel system to investigate how the physical properties of the gum tissue impact inflammation. 3 min. read
When bone behaves like a sponge To visualize the nanoscale structures, the Tertuliano lab often uses large-scale models like the one pictured.(Image: Sylvia Zhang) When bone behaves like a sponge Penn Engineers in the Tertuliano Lab have developed a nanoengineered 3D-printed scaffold for observing how cells feel force. 2 min. read