Tiny, knotted robots jump, fly, and plant seeds Jiarui Wang, a member of the Yang Lab, holds up one of these programmable knot robots with forceps showing how something not much bigger than a grain of rice can pack a serious punch in the world of soft, automated robotics.(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering) Tiny, knotted robots jump, fly, and plant seeds Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed a tiny, soft robot using opposable materials that are capable of leaping meters into the air with flexibility, responsiveness, and programmability. 2 min. read
Visions of nonprofit news in PA Image: MediaProduction via Getty Images Visions of nonprofit news in PA Penn researchers identified two competing visions of nonprofit news, a restorationist vision and a transformational vision, and calculated the cost of implementing each vision. 2 min. read
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