USC Dornsife News

From the species that brought you the moon landing and the hot dog eating contest, artificial intelligence is here to change the world. [9 ¾ min read]

History has no laugh track, so how do we measure our changing conceptions of happiness through the ages? [10 min read]

After earning her Ph.D. in Earth sciences from USC Dornsife in 2009, the pierced and tattooed Jingmai O’Connor has carved out a stellar career as a paleontologist in China, where she found not only access to thousands of exceptional fossils that can’t be seen anywhere else in the world — but also the freedom to be herself. [8 ¼ min read]

USC Dornsife’s alumni magazine took high honors in three categories at the 61st annual Southern California Journalism Awards. The magazine as well as USC Dornsife Office of Communication news writing also earned awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. [2 min read]

Apocalypse fatigue got you down? The remedy may be found in a different climate change narrative emphasizing the vast potential for a thriving planet. [13 min read]

Why are middle-aged white Americans dying at increasing rates? Nobel Prize–winning economist Angus Deaton has uncovered startling data that show mortality numbers are climbing for this group. How can we buck the trend?

Imaginative new approaches to battery technology may give us longer-lasting power in smaller packages. More important, they may give renewable energy the charge it needs to finally succeed on a wide scale.

Beneath our very feet — and below the vast oceans — the past lies preserved, waiting for its dormant wisdom to be unearthed once again. As USC Dornsife researchers explore ancient fossils and artifacts, they look to this immortalized record of what once was to understand the future and how we can act to ensure we remain a part of it.

Kathryn Sermak ’77 recounts her decade-long association with one of the most celebrated actresses in Hollywood, and how it helped to shape her career and her ideas about aging and death.