Arts And Science

Vanderbilt researchers studied 1,307 appointments made by the Obama administration in its first six months, seeking data about the appointees’ education, work history and political involvement. Read More

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 More

In this week’s VUcast: Why your fingers sometimes know more than your brain; Vanderbilt athletes participate in a life-changing trip; and see the top five most-watched Vanderbilt videos. Watch now. Read More

With their intricate, translucent shapes and elaborate bioluminescent displays, comb jellies add beauty and mystery to the ocean depths. They also have an important story to tell about the origin of animals. Read More

A NASA astrophysicist and Vanderbilt graduate student Lisa Upton have confirmed the existence of giant convection cells flowing slowly on the sun, lending further insight into the transport of heat from its core and the origin of cycles of sunspot activity that affect essential satellite-based communications such as cell phones and TV broadcasting. Read More

Nelson Mandela, who became the symbol of freedom in a country torn by segregation, died Dec. 5 at 95. Meet an Arts and Science student from South Africa, and watch as she remembers this human rights leader. [vucastblurb]… Read More

A new study has found that skilled typists can’t identify the positions of many of the keys on the QWERTY keyboard and that novice typists don’t appear to learn key locations in the first place. Read More

High-quality preschool is an effective way to reduce social problems associated with poverty because it teaches children the psychological skills they need to succeed as adults, according to a Vanderbilt professor who studies the economics of human development. Read More

Tricking algae’s biological clock to remain in its daytime setting can dramatically boost the amount of commercially valuable compounds that these simple marine plants can produce when they are grown in constant light. Read More

Labor organizing victories in Southern states could have far-reaching political implications for the region and the nation, according to Vanderbilt University labor sociologist Dan Cornfield. Read More

Science has progressed from wild speculation about Earth’s planetary neighbors—including how they formed and whether they are inhabited—to a better understanding of our celestial neighborhood, David Weintraub, professor of astronomy, writes in "Scientific American." Read More

Analysts with Vanderbilt's LAPOP team say Chilean authorities might want to brace for more civil discord in that country. Read More

Authors Dan Balz, Lynn Vavreck and John Sides discuss the 2012 presidential election with David Lauter of the Los Angeles Times and John Seignethaler of the First Amendment Center. The “Perspectives on Election 2012” event was held Sept. 24, 2013, at the First Amendment Center on the Vanderbilt campus.To learn… Read More

Vandy’s supporting role in hit show Nashville Who is that with actor Alan Alda? And the sound of music for the Mighty Sky   All this and more in VUCast, Vanderbilt’s online newscast. Watch now.   [vucastblurb]… Read More

Policymakers in Washington, D.C., increasingly are earning the distrust of the American people, and the current impasse that led to a government shutdown is no exception, according to Marc Hetherington, a political science professor and author of two books on trust and polarization in American government. Read More

Neuroscientists have identified the location in the brain's visual cortex responsible for generating a common perceptual illusion: seeing shapes and surfaces that don't really exist when viewing a fragmented background. Read More

Professor Jay Clayton of Vanderbilt University is chatting with me over Skype, but he admits that his attention is slightly divided. He's got Lord of the Rings Online running on a second monitor, and countless players are sending him messages to say hello. Read More

Tiffiny Tung, associate professor of anthropology, is on familiar terms with the dead. She may not know their names, but she can tell you a surprising amount of information about how they lived—and even, on occasion, how they died. Read More

The Politics of Health Conference Oct. 3-4 at Vanderbilt is a free event that will speak to the scale, urgency and intimacy of health as a critical American economic and political issue. Read More

Forty years after Atari’s digital table tennis game Pong bleeped onto the scene and made video games mainstream entertainment, we’ve become a nation of video gamers. We’re playing games on phones, tablets, computers, game consoles, social networks, and even TVs connected directly to the Internet. Read More