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Q&A

Boris Johnson’s downfall, explained
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson heads toward the front doors of 10 Downing Street in London

Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks back inside after reading a statement outside 10 Downing Street, formally resigning as Conservative Party leader, in London, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Johnson said Thursday he will remain as British prime minister while a leadership contest is held to choose his successor. (Image: AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Boris Johnson’s downfall, explained

Political scientist Brendan O’Leary, an expert on U.K. politics in the School of Arts & Sciences, offers his insight on what led to this moment, what might be next, and what it all means for the future of the U.K.

Kristen de Groot

The Supreme Court restricts the EPA’s power to curb climate change
Smoke from a power plant clouds out the sun's light

With the decision in West Virginia v. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court ruled to limit the EPA’s capacity to regulate power plant emissions under the Clean Air Act. The move hamstrings efforts by the federal government to regulate a major contributor to climate change.

The Supreme Court restricts the EPA’s power to curb climate change

Shelley Welton, a new faculty member with Penn Carey Law and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, calls the decision “devastating,” even if expected. She explains the ruling and its implications for action on climate change.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Nine questions for Penn’s ninth president
Liz Magill

Nine questions for Penn’s ninth president

Liz Magill shares insights about her scholarship and her background, what excites her about living in Philadelphia, why she is inspired by the Penn community, and more.

Penn Today Staff

Can China stop climate change?
Scott Moore sitting on a bench Scott Moore, director of China Programs and Strategic Initiatives, pictured along Locust Walk.

Can China stop climate change?

In a political science course and new book, Director of China Programs and Strategic Initiatives Scott Moore unfurls the layers of China’s approach to sustainability and technology.
Children younger than 5 eligible for COVID-19 vaccines
An adult wearing a mask squatting next to a child wearing a mask at the end of a slide on an outdoor playground.

Children younger than 5 eligible for COVID-19 vaccines

In a Q&A, Lori Handy of Penn Medicine and CHOP discusses what it means now that this final group can get protection, plus offers recommendations for families with concerns about doing so.

Michele W. Berger

Parental nicotine use and addiction risk for children
A put-out cigarette standing on its end, next to half of another crumpled cigarette. In the background are two whole cigarettes.

Parental nicotine use and addiction risk for children

In research done using rats, Penn Nursing’s Heath Schmidt and colleagues found that males that engaged in voluntary nicotine use had offspring more likely to do so, too. Some offspring also developed impaired memory and anxiety-like behavior.

Michele W. Berger

Regular folks in the Roman Empire
Kim Bowes and the cover of her book The Roman Peasant Project 2009-2014 with an illustration of a small wooden house in the country with a tree

Kimberly Bowes, archaeologist, classical studies professor, and director of the Integrated Studies Program, focuses not on the elite during the Roman Empire, but on the lived experience of the working poor and the economies that dominated their lives. Bowes has received both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to expand her research.

Regular folks in the Roman Empire

Kimberly Bowes of the School of Arts & Sciences focuses on the lived experience of the Roman Empire’s working poor and the economies that dominated their lives 2,00 years ago.
Urging caution but not panic on monkeypox
microscopic view of monkeypox virus

In the last few weeks, an outbreak of monkeypox, a relative of smallpox, has affected nearly 100 people across 12 countries.

Urging caution but not panic on monkeypox

While unfamiliar to many in the U.S., monkeypox and other poxviruses have been on the radar of researchers at the School of Dental Medicine and Perelman School of Medicine for decades.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Talking admissions with Whitney Soule
Whitney Soule.

Whitney Soule, vice provost and dean of admissions. (Image: Lisa Godfrey)

Talking admissions with Whitney Soule

As vice provost and dean of admissions, Soule is challenged daily with thinking strategically about undergraduate enrollment at Penn—from recruitment to application processes and all that goes into admitting a class, to how financial aid and retention fits into the mix.

Lauren Hertzler