Claire Finkelstein on Trump’s indictment Supporters carry flags as they protest the news that former President Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, Thursday, March 30, 2023, near his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Image: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) Q&A Claire Finkelstein on Trump’s indictment Finkelstein, the founder and faculty director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, discusses how this case is a test of America’s institutions, the rule of law, and the world’s oldest democracy.
To protect children online, researchers call for cross-disciplinary collaboration “Technology often has mixture of benefits and perils,” says Gideon Nave of the Wharton School. He teamed with legal and scientific experts to call for research to fuel evidence-backed laws and policies to protect children in the digital world. (Image: iStock) Q&A To protect children online, researchers call for cross-disciplinary collaboration A team of neuroscientists and legal experts, including Gideon Nave of the Wharton School, published a perspective in Science drawing attention to the need to develop science-backed policies that take into account children’s vulnerabilities in the digital world.
The Big Bang at 75 Where did the cosmos come from? This question has long been part of human speculation, says Vijay Balasubramanian. Today, thanks to scientists like Ralph Alpher and George Gamow, we have a rough picture: Some 13 billion years ago, the universe was a hot, dense state that cooled as it expanded. (Image: NASA via Unsplash.) Q&A The Big Bang at 75 Theoretical physicist Vijay Balasubramanian discusses the 75th anniversary of the alpha-beta-gamma paper, what we know—and don’t know—about the universe and the “very big gaps” left to discover.
Climate scientist Michael Mann makes a home at Penn nocred Q&A Climate scientist Michael Mann makes a home at Penn Known for his “hockey stick” graph that hammered home the dramatic rise of the warming climate, the climate scientist is now making his mark on Penn’s campus, both through his science and his work on communicating the urgent need for action on the climate crisis.
From outbreaks to breakthroughs: Tackling infectious and zoonotic diseases Image: iStock/ Naeblys Q&A From outbreaks to breakthroughs: Tackling infectious and zoonotic diseases Penn Vet’s Institute for Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases inaugural academic symposium welcomes keynote speaker Katherine J. Wu of The Atlantic.
The hidden costs of AI: Impending energy and resource strain In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) models like ChatGPT have seen notable improvements, with some people concerned about the societal impacts these new technologies may bring including looming concerns related to increasing energy and raw materials demands. (Image: iStock/Alexey Tolmachov) Q&A The hidden costs of AI: Impending energy and resource strain AI models like ChatGPT have seen notable improvements, but some people are concerned about the societal impacts these new technologies may bring. Deep Jariwala and Benjamin C. Lee discuss energy and resource problems with AI computing.
New Juneteenth documentary explores notions of freedom and citizenship A still from the new documentary “Juneteenth” from Annenberg Classroom. (Image: Annenberg Public Policy Center) Q&A New Juneteenth documentary explores notions of freedom and citizenship An exclusive Penn screening of the film produced by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), plus a conversation with activist Opal Lee and Penn’s Mary Frances Berry, moderated by APPC’s Director of Outreach and Curriculum Andrea (Ang) Reidell, takes place on Feb. 28. Registration with a Penn email is required.
A look at the history of affirmative action with Mary Frances Berry On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson reaches to shake hands with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after presenting the civil rights leader with one of the 72 pens used to sign the Civil Rights Act in Washington. Surrounding the president, from left: Rep. Roland Libonati, D-Ill., Rep. Peter Rodino, D-N.J., Rev. King, Emanuel Celler, D-N.Y., and behind Celler is Whitney Young, executive director of the National Urban League. (Image: AP Photo) Q&A A look at the history of affirmative action with Mary Frances Berry The Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history emerita shares the origins of the term, discusses the practice’s early champions and highlights the ensuing controversies.
Why COVID misinformation continues to spread nocred Q&A Why COVID misinformation continues to spread Penn Medicine’s Anish Agarwal discusses why false claims about the virus and vaccines arise and persist, plus what he hopes will come from NIH-funded research he and Penn Engineering’s Sharath Chandra Guntuku have recently begun.
The psychology of playing the fool Tess Wilkinson-Ryan is a professor of law and psychology at Penn Carey Law. (Images: Courtesy of Penn Law (left) and Harper Wave) Q&A The psychology of playing the fool Law professor Tess Wilkinson-Ryan’s new book “Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Ourselves and the Social Order―and What We Can Do About It” explores the psychology of fools, dupes, cons, and morality.