Science

Reddish-brown crystals of a radioactive mineral called monazite can act as microscopic clocks that allow geologists to date rock formations that have been altered by the action of high-temperature fluids, a process that frequently leads to the formation of rich ore deposits. Read More

A Vanderbilt University physics professor is one of 13 young scientists named a 2006 Cottrell Scholar, a $100,000 fellowship designed to encourage early-career science researchers who show promise. Read More

President George W. Bush announced June 15 that he will nominate Camilla P. Benbow to the National Science Board, an independent body that oversees the National Science Foundation. Benbow is Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. Read More

With a thousand distractions vying for your attention, how do you stay focused? Just who, or rather what, is in charge of your brain? New research into how the brain manages information has found that an area previously thought to be just an information collector in fact plays the role of an executiveóhelping to filter out extraneous information to help you stay focused. The findings offer potential insights into helping people with attention disorders. Read More

Vanderbilt engineers are a key part of the team in an ambitious national effort to advance the field of fluid power, which could lead to reductions in fuel consumption, state-of-the-art rescue robots and new devices to aid people with mobility impairments. Read More

A team of researchers has achieved a long-sought scientific goal: using laser light to break specific molecular bonds. The process uses laser light, instead of heat, to strip hydrogen atoms from silicon surfaces. This is a key step in the manufacture of computer chips and solar cells, so the achievement could reduce the cost and improve the quality of a wide variety of semiconductor devices. Read More

Frustrated with cell phone dead zones, busy signals, e-mail spam, endless voice mail loops and other exasperating aspects of technology? Now, imagine the plight of a soldier needing quick information in a life-or-death scenario who has to deal with the same issues. Read More

Last year, the amount of external funding that Vanderbilt University researchers received from peer-reviewed contracts and grants increased by 15 percent to reach an all-time high of $444 million. Read More

Doug Fisher, associate professor of computer science and computer engineering at Vanderbilt University, talks about the state of the art in artificial intelligence and robotics in this interview by Adelyn Jones of WRLT FM radio in Nashville. The interview was aired Sunday, March 19, and was co-produced by Dan Buckley. Music by John Scofield. (Used with permission from Tuned In Broadcasting and John Scofield.) Read More

Henry Petroski, the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of history at Duke University, will speak on "The Paradox of Design: Success through Failure" on Wednesday, April 12, at Vanderbilt University in the final presentation of the 2005-06 Chancellor's Lecture Series. Read More

Pity the brown dwarf. It's too large to be a planet, but too small to be a star. Although these "failed stars" are neither fish nor fowl, they play an important role in the cosmic scheme of things. Many astronomers think that they may actually be the most common product of the stellar formation process. So information about brown dwarfs can provide valuable new insights into the dynamic processes that produce stars out of collapsing whirlpools of interstellar dust and gas. Read More

Vanderbilt psychologist Jon Kaas has received approval and sponsorship from the National Academy of Sciences to host a special research colloquium Nov. 16-18 at the Beckman Center of the National Academies in Irvine, Calif. Read More

Educators and researchers have reacted with both enthusiasm and skepticism to President Bush's State of the Union call to improve America's competitiveness in math and science. Vanderbilt education and science experts are available to discuss what it will take to stop the United States' slide towards scientific and mathematic irrelevancy on the global stage. Read More

Charles Darwin would undoubtedly be both pleased and chagrined. Read More

The genetics of brain development, and the impact of mutations that can occur during development, will be the topic of a lecture by Christopher Walsh, Bullard Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 4:10 p.m. His lecture is titled "Human Mental Retardation: Genes that Control the Shape and Size of the Human Brain." Read More

In his State of the Union Address, President Bush called for a sharpening of America's competitiveness and highlighted the need to pick up the pace of innovation in order to thrive on the playing field of global commerce. Read More

Peter T. Cummings -- John R. Hall Professor of Chemical Engineering at Vanderbilt University and director of the Nanomaterials Theory Institute of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory — has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society. Read More

Classroom-based interventions for children with emotional and behavioral disorders was the topic of a Jan. 11 Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Devleopment lecture. Read More

For the past few months, Bob O'Dell has been mapping the winds blowing in the Orion Nebula, the closest stellar nursery similar to the one in which the sun was born. Read More

Thomas Weisner, an expert on the mental health challenges and needs of teens with disabilities, will deliver the 2006 Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Martin Luther King Jr. lecture Monday, Jan. 16, at 4:10 p.m. in Room 241 of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. The lecture is free and open to the public. Read More