Biologists Find Evolution Favors Strategic Cooperation and Selfishness

Professor of Biology Joshua Plotkin and post-doc Alexander J. Stewart last year published a mathematical explanation of the evolution of cooperation and generosity in nature through the use of the Prisoner’s Dilemma in game theory.

In new findings, to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Plotkin and Stewart found that when the Prisoner’s Dilemma is played in a large, evolving population with variations in available payoffs, selfish strategies can be more successful. The research presents a grimmer but more realistic view of how cooperation and selfishness operate in nature.

Read the full story here.

Arts & Sciences News

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Fourteen from Penn Arts & Sciences Receive Fulbrights for 2025-26 Academic Year

They will conduct research, pursue graduate degrees, or teach English in places including Thailand, Austria, Indonesia, Moldova, and many other places.

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Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw Named James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor of History of Art

Shaw’s main areas of research include portraiture and issues of representation in the art of the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean, from the 1500s to the present day.

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Hanming Fang Named Inaugural Norman C. Grosman Professor of Economics

An applied microeconomist who integrates rigorous modeling with data analysis, Fang’s research within the field of public economics focuses on health insurance and healthcare markets.

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Xi Song Named Inaugural Schiffman Family Presidential Associate Professor of Sociology

Song’s research interests include social mobility, occupations, Asian Americans, population studies, and quantitative methodology.

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Julie Nelson Davis Named Paul F. Miller, Jr. and E. Warren Shafer Miller Professor of History of Art

Davis specializes in the arts and material cultures of 18th- and 19th-century Japan, with a focus on prints, paintings, and illustrated books.

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Justin Khoury Named Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Khoury’s research interests lie at the intersection of particle physics and cosmology.

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