Iran's greatest threat to the world may be an attack straight out of a James Bond movie - electromagnetic pulses. "EMP is the threat of the future," Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said in a campus appearance yesterday. Before a crowd of roughly 20 in Huntsman Hall, Weldon presented his thoughts on the security of Israel in a talk jointly sponsored by the Penn Israel Coalition and the College Republicans.

High on stress but low on cash? No problem. Next week is Philadelphia spa week - but you'd better book your reservations this weekend. Starting Monday, spas and salons across Philadelphia are offering $50 deals for the week on everything from hour-long Swedish massages to seasonal apple-and-spice facials.

A new way to tour Philadelphia involves more than just stops at Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. SoundAboutPhilly.com, a site launched last month, allows users to listen to short segments that discuss the lesser-known and more unusual aspects of the city.

The Penn football team shut out Columbia on Saturday to cruise to a 16-0 win. It was their first shutout since 2004 against Dartmouth. Penn picked up a field goal in the first quarter and a touchdown each in the second and third quarters. Four points were lost on the kicking game, however, with a missed extra point and a later missed touchdown.

A former U.S. ambassador said yesterday that Iraq's constitution is a plan for splitting the country up - and that might not be the worst thing. Speaking at a special event at the Law School yesterday, former ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith said the constitution was a "roadmap for partition" of the country into more autonomous regions.

Social Security debates, aging baby boomers and potential health care crises have raised the question: Can the United States afford to grow old? According to Bill Novelli, CEO of the AARP, yes, it can. "We have a great need for change and that coincides with our power to create change," he said yesterday at the Penn Bookstore in a presentation of his new book, 50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America.

Former Marketing professor Scott Ward was fired from Penn immediately following his arrest for importing child pornography in August - but if he had been teaching at another university, he might still be on the faculty. Penn made the decision to terminate Ward's employment immediately after his most recent arrest.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said that a bill passed by Congress denies terror detainees their rights in an appearance on campus yesterday. The act, backed by President Bush, goes too far in depriving detainees habeas corpus, which is enshrined in 800 years of legal history, he said.

The School of Nursing is Penn's smallest undergraduate school, but it's looking to get a whole lot bigger. As the nation tries to cope with a projected shortage of 800,000 nurses by the year 2020, Nursing School administrators prepare for a different type of shortage - a lack of research space.

WILMINGTON, Del. - After seldom showing much emotion during her five weeks on trial, Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya cracked a smile yesterday when she learned that jurors had failed to agree - again.Judge John Babiarz declared a mistrial in the first-degree murder case at about 1:20 p.m. yesterday after jurors released a note stating their inability to reach a decision. They split 6-6 after 27 total hours of deliberating.The first mistrial, which occurred in February, resulted from a jury split 11-1 in favor of acquittal.

Penn alumnus Dennis Spivack says his political career began at age six, when he would place bumper stickers on the back of his parents' car. Now, the Democrat is a first-time candidate running for Delaware's sole congressional seat. After fending off his party rivals in the primary last month, Spivack faces popular 14-year incumbent Mike Castle in the election on Nov.

Some friends are coming over to watch the football game in a couple hours. Only one thing is on your mind - we're going to need beer.

Penn's Engineering School has a new motto: There is no such thing as too much publicity. Especially when it arrives as rave reviews of a project initially met with skepticism. This month, architecture critics will flock to University City to review Penn's new bioengineering building, Skirkanich Hall.

It would be hard to imagine England without tea, Italy without tomato sauce or Egypt without cotton. But without human intervention, these and other domesticated crops may never have reached the cultures with which they are now associated, according to Paul Gepts.

Veronica Medina knew for many years that she was a lesbian, but was still married with three children until her mid-30s.

Determining what makes a person a Native American is harder than you might think, according to Bethany Schneider. Schneider, a professor who teaches a graduate-level Native American literature class at Penn, discussed Indian identity at a meeting of Six Directions, a student-run group focusing on Native American issues, yesterday.

Two students have been charged with aggravated assault for allegedly smashing a beer bottle into another student's ear last week.