Image: Vicki Jauron, Babylon and Beyond Photography
Coastal physics: The mechanics of ocean waves
At the beach, waves are the whole point for many people—for surfing, jumping, and floating. But for Arnold Mathijssen, a physicist whose lab studies fluid dynamics and the ways creatures move through liquids, the motion of the ocean offers a window into the world of applied physics.
Students looking at art in the Psychedelic Paradigms and Practices Class held at the Penn Museum.
nocred
How Penn researchers are advancing knowledge of psychedelics
Adding their expertise in psychiatry, medical ethics, nursing, history, and more, faculty and students are shaping conversations on treatments that show promise for helping people with various mental health conditions.
A laboratory technician performs an unidentified test during an investigation of Legionnaires’ disease, which is caused by the Gram-negative bacterium, Legionella pneumophila.
(Image: CDC/Martin D. Hicklin, MD)
The outbreak history forgot
It’s been 50 years since Legionnaires’ disease was discovered in Philadelphia. David Barnes, associate professor of history and sociology of science, says people can learn a lot from that moment.
New research co-authored by Wharton’s Olivia Mitchell shows how people’s trust in financial institutions and government programs could boost or deplete their retirement nest eggs.
Awards and accolades for Penn faculty and recent graduate
Members of Penn faculty and a Class of 2026 graduate in Penn Carey Law, Penn Nursing, the Weitzman School, and the Wharton School received awards and honors in their fields.
For mechanical engineer Igor Bargatin, space exploration is all about light-shaping ultrathin materials that fly, orient, and even accelerate on nothing but sunlight and lasers. Bargatin explains how his lab is testing featherweight fliers in the near-empty mesosphere, designing self-orienting satellite chains to power AI from orbit, and building the sails meant to carry a probe toward Alpha Centauri (illustrated).
(Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Robert Hurt (Caltech/IPAC))
Reaching for the stars: Using light to sail into space
Multiple projects trace mechanical engineer Igor Bargatin’s decade-long commitment to space exploration as they climb from the edge of the atmosphere to the stars—powered, almost every time, by light itself.
Image: Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
What to know about measles and the current outbreak
Healthcare epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist Judy O’Donnell gives facts about measles and its symptoms and important information regarding vaccination and immunity.
Pa. may ban cellphones in schools. Some Delco and Hershey educators say they’re already seeing results — without pouches
“I think that the same way that we should have discussions as parents with our kids on what they eat, how they handle themselves in the world, when they go outside of the house, how they should behave in terms of their safety — we should talk about cellphones in a similar manner,” says Ran Barzilay of the Perelman School of Medicine.
Penn Engineers are exploring whether the same principles that are used to design new materials could explain how natural soils acquire their remarkable properties.
(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)
Geomimicry offers a new framework for engineering sustainable materials
In a new paper, Penn Engineers introduce geomimicry, a framework that explores whether the way soils, sediments, and other Earth-mediated substances behave—rather than what they are made of—may be useful for building sustainable materials.
