physics Archives
Quantum mechanics work lets oil industry know promise of recovery experiments before they start
Sep. 27, 2018—Vanderbilt University physicists developed detailed quantum mechanical simulations that accurately predict the outcomes of various additive combinations in water used for enhanced oil recovery.
Planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 star provide clues to the nature of habitable worlds
Mar. 20, 2018—The newly discovered planets appear to have too much water to sustain life but provide hints at what sorts of planets might do so.
Forensic science comes to Vanderbilt
Nov. 13, 2017—Vanderbilt scientists have teamed up with the Italian Scientific Police to apply nanoscience techniques to improve the accuracy of forensic investigations.
Filling the early universe with knots can explain why the world is three-dimensional
Oct. 13, 2017—Filling the universe with knots shortly after it popped into existence 13.8 billion years ago provides a neat explanation for why we inhabit a three-dimensional world. That is the basic idea advanced by an out-of-the-box theory developed by an international team of physicists.
Exhibit translates scientific discoveries into art celebrating Vanderbilt’s Nobel laureates
Oct. 13, 2017—A new exhibit on display at the Wond'ry honors the discoveries of Vanderbilt's Nobel laureates by translating them into beautiful works of art.
Cell signals that trigger wound healing are surprisingly complex
Oct. 3, 2017—Vanderbilt scientists have taken an important step toward understanding the way in which injured cells trigger wound healing, an insight essential for improving treatments of all types of wounds.
Racing the eclipse, School of Engineering weather balloon sends striking video
Aug. 24, 2017—A high-altitude weather balloon rose yesterday from a Vanderbilt garage rooftop to the edge of space to live-stream the eclipse from above Nashville and record the temporary atmospheric changes it caused.
A&S student featured in 2017 Shakespeare in the Park
Aug. 8, 2017—Miranda Pepin, an Arts and Science rising senior, performs two roles in the Nashville Shakespeare Festival's double feature, "The Winter's Tale" and "Antony and Cleopatra," at Centennial Park.
Puffy planet provides opportunity for testing alien worlds for signs of life
May. 18, 2017—Astronomers from Vanderbilt, Lehigh and Ohio State universities have discovered a “puffy planet" with the density of Styrofoam that is an excellent test-bed for probing exoplanets for signs of life.
Vanderbilt scientist directs new national graphene association
May. 2, 2017—Zina Jarrahi Cinker, a visiting scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will serve as executive director of the newly established National Graphene Association.
Class of 2017: Zachary Bednarke thrives at the intersection of science and music
Apr. 25, 2017—After hours of thinking about theoretical physics, senior Zachary Bednarke relaxes by playing his trumpet. While running through scales on the instrument, he is also, technically, still doing schoolwork.
Three students named Goldwater Scholars for 2017
Apr. 6, 2017—Vanderbilt students Lauren Branscombe, Joshua Fleck and David Zhang have been recognized in this year’s Goldwater Scholars competition. They are among a group of 240 scholars selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,286 mathematics, science and engineering students nationwide.