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New high-definition pictures of the early universe
Part of the installation of a telescope.

(Image courtesy of ACT Collaboration; ESA/Planck)

New high-definition pictures of the early universe

Research by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration has led to the clearest and most precise images yet of the universe’s infancy—the cosmic microwave background radiation that was visible only 380,000 years after the Big Bang.

8 min. read

Penn fourth-year Jaskeerat Gujral named 2025-2026 ThinkSwiss Research Scholar

Penn fourth-year Jaskeerat Gujral named 2025-2026 ThinkSwiss Research Scholar

Gujral, a fourth-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences studying neuroscience with a minor in chemistry, and sub-matriculating in the bioengineering master's program in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has been selected for a ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship, a program that aims to promote research opportunities in Switzerland to foster exchange between Swiss, U.S., and Canadian universities and research institutions.

Penn fourth-year Annabelle Jin named 2025-26 Luce Scholar
Annabelle Jin standing outside in the sunshine

Penn fourth-year student Annabelle Jin is one of 16 students chosen as a 2025-26 Luce Scholar by the Henry Luce Foundation.

(Image: Courtesy of Annabelle Jin)

Penn fourth-year Annabelle Jin named 2025-26 Luce Scholar

Annabelle Jin, a fourth-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of 16 recipients selected by the Henry Luce Foundation to be a 2025-26 Luce Scholar.

Louisa Shepard

Can surface fractures on Earth, Mars, and Europa predict habitability on other planets?
A view of a planet in the solar system.

(On homepage) A global view of Jupiter’s moon Europa displaying extensive surface fractures—long, curving lines carved into the ice by tidal forces from Jupiter. These cracks hint at dynamic activity beneath Europa’s frozen shell and may provide clues about the moon’s potentially habitable subsurface ocean.

(Image: Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech)
 

Can surface fractures on Earth, Mars, and Europa predict habitability on other planets?

Geophysicist Douglas Jerolmack has used the mathematical framework developed for understanding fracture patterns on Earth to survey two-dimensional fracture networks across the solar system, which could offer insights into detecting potentially habitable environments on other planets.
A less clumpy, more complex universe?
Dark energy telescope with star trails

A less clumpy, more complex universe?

Researchers combined cosmological data from two major surveys of the universe’s evolutionary history and found that it may have become “messier and complicated” than expected in recent years.
Fruit fly development offers insights into condensed matter physics
A fruit fly sits on a piece of food

Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, has long been a model species for biologists seeking to understand the molecular mechanisms of animal function and how novelty may arise in organisms. Theoretical physicist Andrea Liu of the School of Arts & Sciences is conducting research on the insect, along with biology and experimental biophysics collaborators at Duke University. Their research has opened the door to an approach that could offer not only a new understanding of how biological function emerges but also suggest a new class of systems in condensed matter physics.

(Image: iStock / nechaev-kon)

Fruit fly development offers insights into condensed matter physics

Penn Physicist Andrea Liu and collaborators modeled the behavior of tissue during a stage of fly development and found, surprisingly, it doesn’t fluidize as it shrinks but stays solid. Their approach could offer insights physical systems with complex functionality.
How fungi make a key medicinal molecule
A petri dish of fungal matter in a lab.

Image: Bella Ciervo

How fungi make a key medicinal molecule

New research from Penn Medicine has uncovered the catalyst that creates a compound in fungi whose derivatives are applied to treatments for cancer and inflammation.

Ian Scheffler

A greener, cleaner way to extract cobalt
A large setup infrastructure for mining gold and other minerals in Australia.

(Image: Alfio Manciagli)

A greener, cleaner way to extract cobalt

Penn researchers led a collaborative effort pioneering safer, more sustainable technique to extract elements critical to battery-powered technologies. Findings pave the way for getting value from materials that would otherwise be considered waste.