Research

Romance and race

Sociology Ph.D. candidate Olivia Hu is studying how people choose romantic partners across race lines, and how those relationships affect their understandings of social difference.

Susan Ahlborn

New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed

A new silicon-photonic (SiPh) chip design from the lab of Nader Engheta, alongside Firooz Aflatouni, uses light waves, the fastest possible means of communication, rather than electricity, to perform mathematical computations.

From Penn Engineering Today

The YouTube algorithm isn’t radicalizing people

A new study from Annenberg School for Communication’s Computational Social Science Lab finds that the YouTube recommendation system is less influential on users’ political views than is commonly believed.

From Annenberg School for Communication

Penn Vet launches mRNA Research Initiative

The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine today announced the mRNA Research Initiative to advance veterinary vaccine science.

Martin Hackett

Lessons from the 17th century ‘New Netherland’

Through study of the fur and wampum trade between the Lenape and Dutch in the 1600s, fourth-year history Ph.D. candidate Molly Leech is aiming to recenter Indigenous contributions to global trade.

Michele W. Berger



In the News


Education Week

The more students miss class, the worse teachers feel about their jobs

A study co-authored by Michael Gottfried of the Graduate School of Education finds that teacher satisfaction steadily drops as student absenteeism increases.

FULL STORY →



The Washington Post

Diversity will suffer with five-day office mandates, research suggests

A 2024 Wharton School study found that changing job openings to remote work at startups increased female applicants by 15% and minority applicants by 33%.

FULL STORY →



Interesting Engineering

Superhuman vision lets robots see through walls, smoke with new LiDAR-like eyes

Mingmin Zhao of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues are using radio signals to allow robots to “see” beyond traditional sensor limits.

FULL STORY →



Phys.org

Rising student absenteeism may be hurting teacher job satisfaction

A study by Michael Gottfried and Ph.D. student Colby Woods of the Graduate School of Education finds that student absences are linked to lower teacher job satisfaction, which could exacerbate growing teacher shortages.

FULL STORY →



SciTechDaily

Scientists unveil 16+ distinct nerve cell types behind human touch

A study by Wenqin Lo of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues used detailed analyses of the genes used by individual nerve cells to identify 16 distinct types of nerve cells in humans.

FULL STORY →



Voice of America

Can honeybees and dogs detect cancer earlier than technology?

Cynthia Otto of the School of Veterinary Medicine and colleagues at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center are training dogs to recognize certain cancer odors.

FULL STORY →