Life, Earth And Space

James Patton and colleagues have demonstrated how colon cancer cells transmit genetic data to other cells. Read More

The extinction of one of Australia’s top predators, the marsupial lion, was likely a result of changing weather patterns and loss of habitat rather than human impacts, a study led by Vanderbilt University paleontologist Larisa DeSantis has found. Read More

After studying layers of pumice, measuring the amount of crystals in the samples and using thermodynamic models, the team determined magma moved closer to the surface with each successive eruption. Read More

Ediacara biota were forming complex communities tens of millions of years before the Cambrian explosion. Read More

Paleontologist Larisa DeSantis' latest research confirms that the shape of tooth wear best indicates the kind of food koalas and kangaroos ate, not whether it was covered in dust and dirt. Read More

Prof. Carl Johnson and his team discovered on-and-off interactions between KaiA and KaiC take only seconds but combine to create a 24-hour oscillation of phosphorylation in a test tube. Read More

The Nature Index tracks author affiliation information from articles published in 68 prestigious natural science journals and ranks institutions according to their rate of inclusion in those journals. Read More

Humans aren't the only animals who can learn vocal communication from others. By studying the process in zebra finches, we may better understand how it works in humans, too. Read More

A prehistoric community in the Mississippi Delta may have abandoned a large ceremonial site after the bayou it sits on began to dry up. Read More

Bordenstein’s team studied Nasonia parasitic wasps, which are about the size of a sesame seed, and they serve as one of the best models to dissect and characterize the evolution of insect genomes. Read More

Vanderbilt scientists have developed a new process that can rapidly and inexpensively identify personalized cancer drugs derived from nature. Read More

How a bacteria hijacked insect fertility remained a mystery for five decades, until Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Seth Bordenstein and his team helped solve it. Read More

We can go to Mars—soon. But should we? Astronomy Professor David Weintraub asks the ethical questions in his new book, "Life on Mars: What to Know Before We Go." Read More

Vanderbilt’s Keivan Stassun serves as a deputy principal investigator on the mission and is tasked with identifying the most promising stars to target in its search for habitable nearby planets. Read More

Before the Industrial Age, the Mississippi Delta grew at a rate of two to three square miles per year, suggesting that, even with current reclamation efforts, it is unlikely that it will be possible to offset the current rate of loss--15 to 20 square miles per year Read More

Is the mystery of human speech hidden in the song of a finch? Vanderbilt researchers in the Music, Mind and Society TIPs program are analyzing the songs of zebra finches to study the development and nuance of spoken language. Learn more in this fascinating VUBreakThru blog post written by Ph.D. candidate Kate T. Snyder. Read more about TIPs grants and other internal faculty funding programs—including University Courses, Discovery Grants and Research Scholar Grants—at the VU BreakThru blog. Read More

Vanderbilt geologist Dan Morgan and undergraduate Andrew Grant took immersion to an extreme, trekking all the way to Antarctica to hunt for the oldest ice ever found. Read More

The newly discovered planets appear to have too much water to sustain life but provide hints at what sorts of planets might do so. Read More

Sandra Rosenthal, the Jack and Pamela Egan Professor of Chemistry and director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, is being recognized for her development of nanocrystal probes for neuroscience and white-light emitting nanocrystals as well as her leadership in the NSF-funded TN-SCORE program. Read More

Astrophysicist Keivan Stassun has been named mentor of the year by AAAS for his efforts in increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in STEM Ph.D. programs. Read More