Arts and Science Faculty Stories
Vanderbilt astronomers among NASA’s TESS Mission team to discover a rare newly formed planet
Jun. 24, 2020—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.
Vanderbilt researcher finds COVID-19 pandemic shapes opportunities for radical change to the U.S. health care system
Jun. 4, 2020—A new article from Jonathan Metzl details how COVID-19 has dramatically revealed the ways that institutionalized inequality and structural racism shape health, and provides recommendations for radical change to the U.S. health care system.
Jonathan Metzl examines how hot-button political issues impact health
Mar. 11, 2019—Professor Jonathan Metzl isn’t afraid to tackle society’s most controversial issues, like guns, mass shootings, health care, race, politics and mental illness.
Karate kicks keep cockroaches from becoming zombies, wasp chow
Oct. 31, 2018—Far from being a weak-willed sap easily paralyzed by the emerald jewel wasp’s sting to the brain, the cockroach can deliver a stunning karate kick that saves its life, biologist Ken Catania has found.
Immune system emerges as partner in opioid cravings fight
Sep. 5, 2018—There’s promise in specific immune system peptides—amino acid compounds that signal cells how to function. In this case, they may be affecting brain activity and, by extension, drug cravings.
Professor and student travel to the bottom of the earth, searching for climate clues
Apr. 4, 2018—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.
VU Inside: Students dig into super-massive volcanic eruptions
Jan. 25, 2018—A dozen Vanderbilt students went on a monthlong science adventure of a lifetime, studying super-eruptions, glaciers and earthquakes in New Zealand.
Sorry, Grumpy Cat—Study finds dogs are brainier than cats
Nov. 29, 2017—The first study to actually count the number of cortical neurons in the brains of a number of carnivores, including cats and dogs, has found that dogs possess significantly more of them than cats.
Cinema and media arts professor’s Alaskan dog mushing film to be screened at Nashville festival
Oct. 9, 2017—Jonathan Rattner's passion for creating films that draw the audience into places often unseen or forgotten is reflected in "The Interior," to be screened at the Southern Festival of Books.
Design professor’s vision for Mr. Commodore’s makeover
Aug. 30, 2017—When it comes to getting a stellar makeover, Mr. Commodore goes straight to Vanderbilt fashion design professor Alexandra Sargent-Capps.
A VU Inside: Professor explores caves for clues to climate change
Sep. 1, 2015—VIDEO» For Vanderbilt Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Jessica Oster, getting data means getting dirty. Oster and her team are collecting mineral deposits deep inside caves to find clues to climate change.