The influence and importance of language

Labels for what happened Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol were very different from those used to describe the Black Lives Matter movement or the 2020 election results. Diana Mutz discusses how much weight individual words actually have.

Communication
Political Science

Consensus and Contagion in Society

Dark Energy Survey makes public catalog of nearly 700 million astronomical objects

With the goal of understanding dark energy and the accelerating expansion of the universe, DES released six years of data, representing one of the largest galaxy surveys published to date. Here at Penn, DES research efforts are led by Bhuvnesh Jain and others in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Physics and Astronomy

Ubiquity of Data

Money matters to happiness—perhaps more than previously thought

Research from Matthew Killingsworth shows that contrary to previous influential work, there’s no dollar-value plateau at which money’s importance lessens. One potential reason: Higher earners feel an increased sense of control over life.

People Analytics

Ubiquity of Data

New Study Finds that Delivering the News with Humor Makes Young Adults More Likely to Remember and Share

New research suggests that humor may help keep people informed about politics. A study from Emily Falk and collaborators found that, when compared to non-humorous news clips, viewers are not only more likely to share humorously-presented news, but they are also more likely to remember the content from these segments.

Communication
Marketing
Psychology

Consensus and Contagion in Society

Why Independent Cultures Think Alike When It Comes to Categories: It’s Not in the Brain

The dominant hypothesis is that people are born with categories already in their brains, but a new study from Damon Centola has discovered a novel explanation. His results challenge many long-held ideas about culture and how it forms.

Communication
Sociology

Consensus and Contagion in Society

Studying ‘Hunters and Busybodies,’ Penn and American University Researchers Measure Different Types of Curiosity

A new study undertaken by Dani Bassett and collaborators uses Wikipedia browsing as a method for describing curiosity styles. Using a branch of mathematics known as graph theory, their analysis of curiosity opens doors for using it as a tool to improve learning and life satisfaction.

Bioengineering
Electrical and Systems Engineering

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain

Gamification isn’t all fun and games. It’s serious business.

In a revised and updated edition of ‘For the Win,’ Kevin Werbach argues that gamemakers need not be the only ones benefiting from game design.

Legal Studies & Business Ethics

Resilience in Networked Systems

How Art, Math, and Engineering Propel Visual Learning

In an interview with t-art Magazine, Robert Ghrist discusses his many passion projects, including his free Calculus Blue video series, with the mission to make math more accessible to people around the world.

Electrical and Systems Engineering
Mathematics

Ubiquity of Data

What Will It Take to Distribute the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Gad Allon speaks with Wharton Business Daily on SirusXM about the logistical challenges involved in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine.

Operations Information and Decisions

Ubiquity of Data

The Technical Limits of AI Ethics

Kristian Lum joins the Carnegie Council Audio Podcast to discuss efforts to bridge the gap between the "idealism" of AI ethics and the facts of life.

Computer and Information Science

Social Norms for Algorithms