Life, Earth And Space

In his new blog “Cosmic Yarns,” Robert Scherrer, who is both chair of the Astronomy and Physics Department and a published science fiction author, explores the intersection between science and science fiction. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified the role that a key protein associated with autism and the co-occurrence of alcohol dependency and depression plays in forming the spines that create new connections in the brain. Read More

Bob O'Dell reflects on the challenges of building the Hubble Space Telescope, launched 25 years ago. Read More

The evolutionary history of whales, sea turtles and other land animals that have returned to the sea details the radical changes to their life style, body shape, physiology that they made to survive in an aquatic environment. Read More

Seth Bordenstein, associate professor of biological sciences and pathology, microbiology and immunology, has been awarded a $950,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research into the regulation of bacterial infections that are passed from mother to offspring. Read More

EPA is establishing a new center at Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh to develop an alternative approach for toxicity testing to help evaluate the safety of the 80,000-plus chemicals in general commerce. Read More

The American Association of Physics Teachers has given its 2015 Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award to Vanderbilt’s David A. Weintraub, professor of astronomy. The award recognizes educators who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics. Read More

Researchers have reconstructed the climate in the Western United States 21,000 years ago and are using the data to improve climate models that forecast future precipitation patterns. Read More

A new brain mapping study pinpoints the areas of the brain responsible for “mental time travel." Read More

Vanderbilt biologists have found a direct link between the biological clock and Angelman syndrome, a neurogenetic disorder that occurs in more than one in every 15,000 live births. The link may provide a valuable way to judge the effectiveness of the first experimental drugs under development for treating the syndrome. Read More

The discovery of a new "reset" button for the brain’s master biological clock could eventually lead to new treatments for seasonal affective disorder, reduce the adverse health effects of working the night shift, and possibly even treat jet lag. Read More

Dennis Hall writes that while 'The Imitation Game' film dramatizes technological discoveries that shortened World War II, there is a lesser known story about radar advances that brought us the microwave. Read More

Victoria Greene and Julia Velkovska have been named fellows of the American Physical Society, an organization of physicists dedicated to advancing knowledge and growth in the field. Read More

A low-lying island in Southwest Bangladesh provides a dramatic foretaste of the impact facing 10 percent of the world's population in terms of global sea level rise due to unforeseen consequences of last century's flood control efforts, according to a new Vanderbilt interdisciplinary study. Read More

Vanderbilt mathematician Glenn Webb and NYU microbiologist Martin Blaser propose that the microbes which live on our bodies may have influenced the age structure of human populations in prehistoric times. Read More

A Vanderbilt biologist has determined that electric eels possess an electroshock system uncannily similar to a Taser. Read More

Larisa DeSantis, assistant professor of Earth and environmental sciences, is a featured expert on Nat Geo Wild’s Future Cat, part of the network’s Big Cat week. Read More

Vanderbilt biologists played an important supporting role in a major genetic study of malaria-carrying mosquitoes published this week in the journal "Science." Read More

A family of single-celled organisms that thrive in environments too extreme for most other species to survive may be an untapped source of new antibacterial drugs. Read More

Scientists at Vanderbilt and ORNL have discovered a new form of crystalline order that could make better thermoelectric devices. Read More