Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

A squirmy, slimy, crunchy new potential staple of the American diet

Psychologist Paul Rozin discusses how it’s possible to get past the ick factor of eating bugs (the key is exposure), and how the insects actually taste. It’s all part of his research focusing on the emotion of disgust as it relates to food.

Michele W. Berger

People who don’t read the news foresee which articles will go viral

In an upcoming article in the journal Cerebral Cortex, researchers tracked activity in the brain's prefrontal cortex, and found that avid readers of the news had little change in brain activity from story to story, making them less accurate predictors of viral content.

Penn Today Staff

Testing the reproducibility of social science research

A team co-led by Gideon Nave of the Wharton School replicated 21 high-profile social science studies and found discrepancies with the original research. Researchers betting in prediction markets, however, were quite accurate at predicting which findings would replicate and which would not.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Study finds most teens avoid rash, impulsive behavior

A new study found that the majority of teenagers avoid the kind of impulsive behavior commonly associated with “typical teenagers,” citing that imbalance models in brain development is evident in only a subset of teens.

Penn Today Staff



In the News


CNN

After four years with COVID-19, the U.S. is settling into a new approach to respiratory virus season

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that the sense of urgency around vaccination has faded as attention on respiratory viruses wanes.

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Voice of America

U.S. bolstering Philippines amid increasing assertiveness by China

Thomas J. Shattuck of Perry World House says that greater interest in the Philippines by the U.S. and Japan will have a positive impact on Taiwan’s security.

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Axios

Report: Latin America’s progress on helping sex abuse victims

Marci Hamilton of the School of Arts & Sciences points to Chile as an international example of a large sex abuse scandal turning into effective activism.

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BBC

Gordion: A lost city of legends in central Turkey

Brian Rose of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum has led excavations at the ancient Turkish city of Gordion since 2007.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia’s Market Street East searches for growth and renewal — with or without a new Sixers arena

Akira Drake Rodriguez, Rashida Ng, and Dominic Vitiello of the Weitzman School of Design say there should be a more robust and inclusive conversation about the future of Philadelphia’s Market Street East.

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