Where do comets originate?

new technique developed by Bhuvnesh Jain and a team of astronomers may allow scientists to measure radiation from celestial bodies that are only theorized to exist. Indeed, the team presents an intriguing detection of radiation that may well originate from the source of comets around nearby stars.

• Physics and Astronomy

ACUS Announces New Initiatives on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Administrative Process

• Law
• Political Science

2018 ACM Fellows Honored for Pivotal Achievements that Underpin the Digital Age

Congratulations to Sanjeev Khanna for being named a 2018 ACM Fellow for his contributions to approximation algorithms, hardness of approximation, and sublinear algorithms. ACM Fellows are composed of an elite group that represents less than 1% of the Association’s global membership.

• Computer and Information Science

How to Find Value in Every Customer

Customers are not monolithic. There are high-value customers, low-value ones, and plenty who fall in the middle, but they all matter for businesses that want to make the most out of them. Peter Fader discusses his new book, The Customer Centricity Playbook: Implement a Winning Strategy Driven by Customer Lifetime Value.

• Marketing

The Warren Center welcomes its newest affiliate, Ron Berman

Ron Berman is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School with a focus on quantitative marketing. He is interested in online advertising, social media, e-commerce and marketing strategies of young companies.

• Marketing

Linguistic red flags from Facebook posts can predict future depression diagnoses

Analyzing social media data shared by consenting users across the months leading up to a depression diagnosis, the researchers of a new PNAS study, including Lyle Ungar, found their algorithm could accurately predict future depression.

• Computer and Information Science

Sampath Kannan Wins India Research and Engagement Fund Grant for ‘Safe Internet of Things’

Sampath Kannan’s project, titled “The Safe Internet of Things,” will foster partnerships between Engineering and leading institutions in India to study how increasingly interconnected “smart” devices can be designed with built-in protections against malicious attacks and privacy breaches.

• Computer and Information Science

Thinking Beyond Yourself Can Make You More Open to Healthy Lifestyle Choices

A new study from Emily Falk found that a simple priming exercise in which sedentary people think beyond themselves before viewing health messages can make those messages more effective. Not only did participants’ brain activity show that they were more receptive to the messages, but they actually became more physically active after.

• Communication
• Marketing
• Psychology

New center will study the complex genomics within individual cells

Junhyong Kim has been awarded an NIH Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science program grant to fund the creation of the Center for Sub-Cellular Genomics. He and Jim Eberwine will lead a multi-disciplinary team developing state-of-the-art technology to measure genomics elements at the scale of sub-cellular structures in single cells.

• Biology

The Wharton Prof Teaching a Hands-On Crypto Class

Two weeks ago, Kevin Werbach welcomed students to a brand-new course entitled Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Distributed Ledger Technology. In what may well be a first for a college course, students are getting a small amount of money to purchase cryptocurrencies, which they’ll use in a series of class exercises.

• Legal Studies & Business Ethics