Penn Libraries has launched a new blog called Unique at Penn, which features posts that describe, depict, and provide historical context for unusual books and manuscripts. The blog allows internet users to easily engage with the undiscovered and under-discovered collections within the University’s library system.

The Mississippi, North America’s largest river and the fourth-largest river in the world, is a powerful natural force. So powerful, it appears, that the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill changed course due to the river’s outflow, sparing the Louisiana coast from worse oil pollution than it might have otherwise experienced.

At New Bolton Center’s Swine Teaching and Research Center, progress in pig-farming means figuring out how best to return to older practices while still moving forward. 

Filling the ICA’s entire second-floor galleries, mezzanine, terrace, ramp, and bathrooms, Sagmeister’s multi-media exhibit “The Happy Show” offers visitors the experience of walking into his mind as he attempts to increase his happiness via mediation, cognitive therapy, and mood-altering pharmaceuticals.

Penn President Amy Gutmann, co-author of the new book “The Spirit of Compromise: Why Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It” discusses why we really need compromise in American politics and why she hopes voters will begin to elect politicians who will take the risks that true compromise requires.

Associate Ombudsman Marcia Martínez-Helfman says her office provides and ensures confidentiality and neutrality in all discussions, except when there is a risk of imminent harm or if there is a legal obligation to disclose. “We [provide] an informal process of discussion, bringing folks together to help them resolve their issues.”

Duong Ly is a co-founder of the Asian Student Association of Philadelphia, a youth-led organization he helped establish as a high school senior at South Philadelphia High in September 2010.

Earnest Green from Louisiana State University competes in the long jump during the 118th Penn Relays, held at Franklin Field April 26 to 28.

Athletes at practice, faculty and students interacting in class and serving in the community, students participating in cultural and arts organizations. Those are just some of the images captured in a special photo project called “A Day in the Life of Penn.”

Bolstering the University’s commitment to sustainability, Penn has launched the Greening Penn at Home program, an initiative designed to educate faculty and staff about best practices for energy efficiency at home and to make it easier for the University community to implement energy efficient home improvements.

Opening Saturday, May 5, the Penn Museum’s new exhibition, “MAYA 2012: Lords of Time,” will explore end-of-the-world prophecies and many other intricacies of Maya culture, with a particular emphasis on their calendar and concepts of time.