Life, Earth And Space
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Early Earth less hellish than previously thought
Conditions on Earth in its first 500 million years may have been cool enough to form oceans of water instead of being hellishly hot. Read MoreSep 15, 2014
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Mosquito facts and fictions
Mosquito researcher Jason Pitts collects interesting facts and stories about his research subjects, nature’s ultimate bioterrorists. Read MoreSep 9, 2014
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Landers, Fuchs win awards at Fall Faculty Assembly
An international expert on slavery and emancipation during the 18th and 19th centuries was awarded the prestigious Earl Sutherland Prize for Achievement in Research during Vanderbilt University’s Fall Faculty Assembly. Read MoreAug 22, 2014
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Vanderbilt astronomers play key role in major new sky survey
The influential Sloan Digital Sky Survey is launching a major new program called SDSS-IV this month, and Vanderbilt astronomers are directly involved. Read MoreJul 15, 2014
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Thomas Weiler receives prestigious Simons Foundation Fellowship
Professor of Physics Thomas Weiler has been awarded a prestigious Simons Foundation Fellowship in Theoretical Physics. Read MoreJul 7, 2014
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Vanderbilt physicists help confirm identity of the Higgs particle
Vanderbilt physicists played a leading role in the latest findings on the nature of the Higgs particle, which explains why objects have weight and mass. Read MoreJun 26, 2014
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‘Thought Leader’ named for ion mobility mass spectrometry research
Vanderbilt's John McLean has received Agilent Technology's Thought Leader Award in recognition of his contributions to ion mobility mass spectrometry. Read MoreJun 20, 2014
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Quanta Magazine: Evolving with a little help from our friends
Seth Bordenstein, associate professor of biological sciences, and graduate student Robert Brucker, discovered that the survival of a new hybrid of wasp depended not on their genes but on the microbes that naturally lived on and inside the insects. Read MoreJun 5, 2014
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Twenty-one Vandy grad students snag prestigious NSF fellowships
This year 21 Vanderbilt Graduate School students have won prestigious National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships. Read MoreMay 22, 2014
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Astronomers identify signature of Earth-eating stars
Vanderbilt astronomers have developed a model that predicts the effect that ingesting earth-like planets has on the chemical composition of stars like the Sun -- a capability that can aid in efforts to find Earth-like exoplanets. Read MoreMay 16, 2014
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How to create nanowires only three atoms wide with an electron beam
A Vanderbilt graduate student has used a focused beam of electrons to create some of the smallest nanowires ever made, which could bring us closer to flexible, paper-thin tablets and television displays. Read MoreApr 28, 2014
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Cougars’ diverse diet helped them survive the mass extinction that wiped out the saber-tooth cat, American lion
Cougars may have survived a mass extinction that took place about 12,000 years ago because they were not particular about what they ate. Read MoreApr 22, 2014
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Significant progress toward creating “benchtop human” reported
Vanderbilt physicist John Wikswo reported significant progress toward creating “homo minutus” – a human-on-a-chip that can be used to test drugs and toxins – on Mar. 26 at the Society of Toxicology meeting in Phoenix. Read MoreMar 27, 2014
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Shifting evolution into reverse promises cheaper, greener way to make new drugs
By shifting evolution into reverse to produce an expensive HIV drug out of a simple sugar, Vanderbilt chemist Brian Bachmann has shown that it may be possible to manufacture exotic and expensive synthetic drugs as easily as brewing beer. Read MoreMar 24, 2014
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Vanderbilt awarded $16.5 million agreement to determine how toxic agents affect human cells
Vanderbilt University has been awarded a Cooperative Agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Army Research Office that is worth up to $16.5 million over five years. Read MoreMar 3, 2014
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Baby hearts need rhythm to develop correctly
The mechanical forces generated by the rhythmic expansion and contraction of cardiac muscle cells play an active role in the initial stage of heart valve formation. Read MoreFeb 18, 2014
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Mosquito sperm have a sense of smell
Vanderbilt biologists have discovered that mosquito sperm have a “sense of smell” and that some of same chemicals that the mosquito can smell cause the sperm to swim harder. Read MoreFeb 3, 2014
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In the brain, the number of neurons in a network may not matter
A study has found that the time it takes neural networks in the brain to make decisions is remarkably stable regardless of size: a finding that could make it easier to achieve the goal of the President's BRAIN Initiative established last spring. Read MoreFeb 3, 2014
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Vanderbilt research featured in Science News’ top science story of 2013
The popular science magazine Science News has chosen a story featuring research by Vanderbilt's Seth Bordenstein and Robert Brucker as its top science story for the year. Read MoreJan 17, 2014
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Surprising new class of “hypervelocity stars” discovered escaping the galaxy
Two Vanderbilt astronomers are among an international team that has discovered a surprising new class of “hypervelocity stars” – solitary stars moving fast enough to escape the gravitational grasp of the Milky Way galaxy. Read MoreJan 9, 2014