Life, Earth And Space

Following the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission, Vanderbilt astronomer Keivan Stassun leads the next phase of discovery to find atmospheres like our own. Read More

Paleoclimatologist Jessica Oster uses geological clues from stalagmites to explore implications for future climate change. Read More

On a quest to find the Universe’s largest black holes, Vanderbilt researcher identifies the center of the solar system within 100 meters. Read More

International collaboration shows that marsupial saber-tooth cats were more closely related to possums than fearsome predators. Read More

Stars mapped out by Vanderbilt astronomers for exploration by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission and recently decommissioned Spitzer Space Telescope have led to the discovery of AU Mic b, a newly formed Neptune-like exoplanet located a relatively short 31.9 light-years away. Read More

Paleontologist and associate professor of biological sciences Larisa DeSantis finds answers about early hominin diets are with an unrelated group of mammals—tapirs. Read More

A team of scientists at Vanderbilt has discovered the first known instance of a hybrid fungal species causing aspergillosis, an ensemble of different types of lung infections that often impacts immune-compromised people. Read More

With a new app from a team at Vanderbilt, birdsong researchers can better leverage crowdsourced fieldwork and audio recordings from amateur birders and citizen songbird scientists. Read More

A new cellular biology study reports the first visualization of a unique shape-shifting structure in the human body which plays an important role in the timely delivery of fats and proteins.  Read More

According to a new study published by biological science researchers at Vanderbilt, the answer to eating (or fasting) windows lies in the circadian rhythms of the body’s biological clock.  Read More

The Genetics Society of America has recognized Seth Bordenstein, an evolutionary geneticist and microbiologist at Vanderbilt, for an initiative that brings real-world scientific research into middle school, high school and college biology classes. Read More

With a population of roughly 150 million people, the delta country of Bangladesh holds about half the population of the entire United States in an area the size of Louisiana, and exists under a near-constant risk of sea level rise and other dynamic climate changes. Read More

The quokka, a small marsupial native to Australia, is an example of a species vulnerable to extinction in the country’s harsh surroundings. In a new study, researchers at Vanderbilt University demonstrate evidence for the dramatic decline of quokkas over the past century. Read More

As part of its continuing commitment to understanding and combating climate change issues through education and action, Vanderbilt University is now an accredited, official observer of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change. Read More

Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Vanderbilt University have identified a new species of thalattosaur, a marine reptile that lived more than 200 million years ago.  Read More

In a new study, scientists at Vanderbilt report definitive evidence of a mechanism within ants that is responsible for unlocking aggression. The research—the first to pinpoint this mechanism and its precise role in ant biology—reports a social characteristic which could help account for their evolutionary success. Read More

A promising new study developed by one Vanderbilt astrophysicist may give us a method for finding the number of available stars in the history of the universe that collide as binary black holes.  Read More

A new study into two-dimensional amorphous carbon is providing answers to long-standing questions regarding the atomic makeup of bulk amorphous materials, opening the door to exciting device applications in the future. Read More

The Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative is receiving attention for its role as a standard bearer for other microbiome programs, thanks to a new article on the importance and emergence of microbiome centers – academic hubs of microbiome-related research. Read More

A team of STEM researchers, including Vanderbilt astrophysicist Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, have published a new collaborative study on Ph.D. bridge programs as a mechanism to empower students, foster diversity and spur a more holistic approach to graduate education.  Read More