Science

Smaller than molecules, smaller than atoms, smaller than the sub-atomic particles that make up atoms — is string. Undetectably small, vibrating loops of string, to be exact. It‘s this string — the smallest of all the building blocks — that composes all matter in the universe, according to Brian Greene, a leading physicist and upcoming speaker in the Chancellor‘s Lecture Series at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Vanderbilt University encourages active journalists to apply to attend its Council for the Advancement and Support of Education media fellowship, "Autism: Rates, Causes and Treatment," April 10-13, 2005, in Nashville, Tenn. Read More

The Vanderbilt University Center for Science Outreach and the Adventure Science Center are co-hosting a forum on tsunamis and other natural disasters Tuesday, Feb. 1, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The forum will be held at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville and is free and open to the public. Read More

Frank L. Parker, the Distinguished Professor of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering at Vanderbilt, has been named a "national associate" by the National Academies, which includes the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council. Read More

The Vanderbilt Learning Sciences Institute is starting 2005 with a new lecture series designed to bring minority scholars to Vanderbilt to share ideas and discuss trends in the learning sciences, a field that encompasses learning, teaching, curriculum, assessment, policy and educational design. Read More

A portable device similar to today‘s home pregnancy tests that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles as well as biological agents such as ricin and anthrax, is the object of a new joint university-industry research project. Read More

In a process comparable to that of an artist who turns a two-dimensional canvas into a three-dimensional work of art, astronomers use the two- dimensional images that they capture in their high-powered telescopes to reconstruct the three-dimensional structures of celestial objects. Read More

Kenneth C. Catania, assistant professor of biological sciences, has won the 2005 C.J. Herrick Award in Neuroanatomy from the American Association of Anatomists. Read More

If you run into Ed Saff at a cocktail party and ask him what he does for a living, the mathematician is likely to reply that he is working on a "method for creating the perfect poppy-seed bagel." Then he'll pause and add, "Maybe that's not the most accurate description, but it's the most digestible." Read More

Vanderbilt chemist Chuck Lukehart has received a $50,000 grant from Honda Corporation to develop new breakthroughs in fuel cell technology. Lukehart was one of five researchers selected this year by Honda to receive its annual Honda Initiation Grant. Lukehart will accept the grant at the 2004 Honda Initiation Grant Symposium Nov. 19 in Hollywood, Calif. Read More

The modern world is filled with the uncoordinated beeping and buzzing of countless electronic devices, so it was only a matter of time before someone designed an electronic network with the ability to synchronize dozens of tiny buzzers in much the same way that frogs and cicadas coordinate their nighttime choruses. Kenneth D. Frampton, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University, dreamed up the project. Read More

In recognition of his efforts "to protect and conserve" its cultural resources, Maya archaeologist Arthur Demarest has received one of the Republic of Guatemala's highest awards, the National Order of Cultural Patrimony. Read More

Russian and American scientists hope to help each other avert nuclear disasters by coming together at Vanderbilt Nov. 14-17 to share methods, techniques and scientific research related to secure management of nuclear materials, including those at nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons' sites and nuclear waste facilities. Read More

Nashville Christian School students will have a chance to explore the field of astronomy Tuesday, Nov. 9, thanks to a visit from the Fisk-Vanderbilt NASA Roadshow. Astronomers from Vanderbilt and Fisk universities will bring a portable, inflatable planetarium to the school to help teach students about the stars with the goal of interesting them in a career in science. Read More

Four Vanderbilt scientists ñ Walter J. Chazin, Raymond N. Dubois Jr., Leonard C. Feldman and Dennis G. Hall ñ have been elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor bestowed upon them by their peers. They are being honored for contributions to research that runs the gamut from determining the atomic structure of proteins to paving the way for improved treatments of digestive diseases including colon cancer, from investigating the atomic structure of materials to providing new insights into the fundamental nature of light. Read More

More than 300 students at Franklin's Page High School will have a chance to visit a planetarium without leaving school grounds Wednesday, Oct. 27. Astronomers from Vanderbilt and Fisk universities will bring a portable, inflatable planetarium to the school to help educate students about the stars with the goal of interesting them in a career in science. The planetarium is the centerpiece of the Fisk-Vanderbilt NASA Roadshow, made possible by a grant from NASA. Read More

Biomedical engineers and physicians at Vanderbilt University have brought the day when artificial limbs will be controlled directly by the brain considerably closer by discovering a method that uses laser light, rather than electricity, to stimulate and control nerve cells. Read More

There are many terms that can be used to define Monica J. Casper, the new director of the women's studies program at Vanderbilt University ñ feminist scholar, bioethicist, medical sociologist and mom. Indeed, Casper's varied roles reflect one of her major goals since joining the university this fall ñ to expand people's definition of women's studies. Read More

Call it the illuminated brain cell: Imagine a neuron decked out with thousands of tiny red, yellow, green and blue lights. As the neuron fires and recovers, visualize these lights as blinking on and off, moving this way and that, revealing the location and movement of the nerve's molecular machinery in action. Read More

Does environment determine the reading success of a student? Stephen Petrill will address this question as he presents a lecture in a series on development and developmental disabilities on Thursday, Oct. 7, at 4 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. Read More