Research Blog
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Computer scientist: reveal thyself!
(iSTOCK) Like the Wizard of Oz, computer scientists have largely been happy to perform their magic behind the curtain, out of public view. However, this reticence has begun causing problems in the digital realm. “Computer scientists face the drawbacks of lacking public awareness,” wrote an international team… Read MoreSep 16, 2011
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Vanderbilt’s links to the solar neighborhood
Astronomer Davy Kirkpatrick (Courtesy of Davy Kirkpatrick) If Davy Kirkpatrick’s calculations stand up, then Vanderbilt will have solid connections to two of the Sun’s nearest stellar neighbors. One link is long standing. Barnard’s star, which is six light years away from the Sun and its second-closest… Read MoreSep 15, 2011
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Primer on political impacts of Sept. 11
Thomas Schwartz Thomas Schwartz, professor of history, recently responded to an interview request from a journalist in São Paulo, Brazil, about the lasting political impacts of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Professor Schwartz’s responses provide a concise overview of the lasting impact of a day… Read MoreSep 2, 2011
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Picture the intangible: the intersection of art and science
Scanning electron micrograph of a Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus colony by Perrin Ireland. Art and science are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, these two important fields of human endeavor often draw from and inspire each other. Think Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin. A 21st century version of this cross-fertilization currently… Read MoreAug 31, 2011
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Nashville innovations
Last week when the Nashville Scene’s annual Innovations Issue hit the newsstands, three of its ten “forward-thinking ideas that are pushing Nashville – and the world – into the future” came from Vanderbilt. The three campus projects that impressed the Scene editors were: Digging for Drugs:… Read MoreAug 23, 2011
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Defending funny-sounding science
It’s easy to make fun of things you don’t understand. That is particularly true of scientific research. In fact, making fun of federally funded science projects has become an unfortunate political tradition. The Association of American Universities has taken up the challenge of defending publicly… Read MoreAug 9, 2011
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Jumping genes make the funny pages
Every so often a piece of research makes it into the popular culture. That is the case with the discovery of Vanderbilt biologists Antonis Rokas and Jason Slot that entire gene clusters have jumped between unrelated species of mold millions of years… Read MoreJun 24, 2011
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Real science in X-Men
First appearance from "Uncanny X-Men" #96. Art by Dave Cockrum. Via Wikipedia. Here’s another reason to love the X-Men: real science. Listen carefully to the dialogue between Professor Charles Xavier and CIA agent Dr. Moira MacTaggart in the new movie, “X-Men: First Class,” and you’ll hear a… Read MoreJun 21, 2011
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Cell phone bee mortality link: sensationalism not science
Vanderbilt graduate student Cassidy Cobbs has investigated recent news reports linking cell phone emissions with bee mortality and found that there is no scientific basis for the claims. Read MoreJun 14, 2011
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Bad buzz about blue-eyed cicadas
Photo of a true blue-eyed cicada (Matt Weiss, Cicada Mania) Have you heard the latest buzz going round that scientists at Vanderbilt are paying as much as $3,000 for specimens of the rare blue-eyed cicada? If you have, I hope you haven’t spent a lot of time… Read MoreJun 2, 2011
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Laboratory throws away cookbooks in pursuit of discovery
Students at BSC111c poster session discussing project that determined the phylogenetic relationship of a number of common insects (Susan Urmy / Vanderbilt) In an educational environment increasingly characterized by canned and virtual science experiments that always come out right, Vanderbilt’s alternative introductory biology laboratory (BSC 111c) stands… Read MoreMay 20, 2011
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From Yugoslavia to endowed chair: six pillars of academic success
Karoly Mirnics and Krassimira Garbett, staff scientist in his laboratory (Susan Urmy / Vanderbilt). I arrived in the states 21 years ago as a student, from what was to become the war-torn country of Yugoslavia. Twenty-one years later I am holding a title of James G. Blakemore Chair and vice… Read MoreMay 18, 2011
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Prof. Rosenthal goes to Washington
Representative Phil Roe (R-TN) chatting with Prof. Sandra Rosenthal, front, graduate student Scott Niezgoda and Christina West, assistant vice chancellor of federal relations, in Washington D.C. at the 17th annual CNSF Exhibition & Reception. (David Scavone) Last Wednesday, Sandra Rosenthal and Scott Niezgoda accepted the invitation… Read MoreMay 13, 2011
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Cicadas 101: All buzz, no bite
An adult cicada (John Russell / Vanderbilt) Vanderbilt commencement speakers may have some unusual competition this year: Nashville’s largest brood of cicadas are predicted to emerge in May and hang around for about five or six weeks. Besides their practice of appearing in 13- or 17-year… Read MoreMay 12, 2011
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Investment in biomedical research yields jobs, billions in return
Federal funding from the National Institutes of Health contributed to the development of a new laser technique being used at Vanderbilt to aid in drug discovery. Research Amanda Kussrow is pictured. (Joe Howell / Vanderbilt) Federal investment in scientific research is a major driver of job growth… Read MoreMay 11, 2011
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Attacking malaria on several fronts
Vanderbilt researchers are using a variety of approaches to hasten the beginning of the end of malaria. Read MoreApr 27, 2011
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Get some science with your coffee
"Genetics Today" was the subject of a recent Science Café, a monthly free scientific exploration held at Nashville coffee shop Fido and sponsored by the Adventure Science Center. Read MoreApr 25, 2011
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Vandy rocketeers strike again
Last Sunday, Vanderbilt’s Aerospace Club participated in a major NASA rocket competition at Huntsville, Alabama and came away with a first place award for their payload design. This is the fourth year that the Vanderbilt group has been invited to the NASA Student Launch Projects rocketry challenge and… Read MoreApr 22, 2011
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Build Haiti back better
With the beginning of the spring rains, cholera is on the rise in Haiti once again. Pioneering Haitian physician Jean William "Bill" Pape is determined to be ready. "The new vision is to build back better," Pape said during this year's Tennessee Global Health Forum hosted by the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health. Read MoreApr 21, 2011
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It takes a (global) village
When the residents of Lwala, Kenya, raised $900 for a one-way ticket to send Milton Ochieng' to college in the United States nearly a decade ago, they could not have envisioned that he would return to build a medical clinic in the heart of their rural village near the shores of Lake Victoria. Read MoreApr 21, 2011