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Life, Earth And Space

  • mosquito heart

    Setting mosquito hearts racing

    Vanderbilt researchers have figured out how to set the mosquito's heart racing, helping them understand how the insect's immune system works and the methods that mosquito-borne parasites like those that cause malaria and yellow fever employ to circumvent it. Read More

    Apr 23, 2013

  • This year the Fisk–Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge program, directed by Keivan Stassun, professor of astronomy, will become the nation’s No. 1 producer of minority Ph.D. recipients in physics, astronomy and materials science.

    Apr 16, 2013

  • According to Seth Bordenstein, assistant professor of biological sciences, studying Wolbachia has yielded some surprising new insights on microbial evolution that could help us understand, treat and prevent certain infectious diseases. "It's what gets me up every day and keeps me excited about doing this work."

    Mar 29, 2013

  • Milky Way

    CSI: Milky Way

    Two astronomers from Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, sharing a car after a snowstorm canceled their flights home from a conference, put together everything they had learned at the conference during that snowy drive and worked out that a collision between two black holes could explain most of what is known of a violent episode in the Milky Way's past. Read More

    Mar 6, 2013

  • Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, assistant professor of astronomy and physics, wraps up this three-part podcast series with an interview about her specialty, supermassive black holes.

    Feb 27, 2013

  • Vanderbilt University

    Circadian clock linked to obesity, diabetes and heart attacks

    Disruption in the body’s circadian rhythm can lead not only to obesity, but can also increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. That is the conclusion of the first study to show definitively that insulin activity is controlled by the body’s circadian biological clock. Read More

    Feb 21, 2013

  • In today’s Academic Minute, Dr. Larisa DeSantis of Vanderbilt University reveals what North America’s largest predators were eating just before they died out.

    Feb 18, 2013

  • alarm clock

    ‘Snooze button’ on biological clocks improves cell adaptability

    (iStock) The circadian clocks that control and influence dozens of basic biological processes have an unexpected “snooze button” that helps cells adapt to changes in their environment. A study by Vanderbilt University researchers published online Feb. 17 by the journal Nature provides compelling new evidence that at least some species… Read More

    Feb 17, 2013

  • aspergillus

    What beer, dogs, cats and soy sauce have in common: The movie

    A new video report of research by Antonis Rokas and John Gibbons describes how humans domesticated microbes like yeast just as we domesticated cats and dogs. Read More

    Feb 5, 2013

  • Mole Smell Vanderbilt

    Evidence moles can smell in stereo

    Neuroscientist Kenneth Catania has resolved a long-standing scientific debate by showing that the common mole can smell in stereo. Read More

    Feb 5, 2013

  • Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, assistant professor of astronomy, continues her discussion of black holes in the second part of this interview for Red Orbit.

    Jan 28, 2013

  • Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, assistant professor of astronomy, talks about what sets black holes apart from other objects in the universe and explains how the laws of space, time and gravity bend and even break down to create the most destructive force in the cosmos.

    Jan 24, 2013

  • National Academy Sciences Vanderbilt Neurosciences

    Vanderbilt neuroscientist honored by National Academy of Sciences

    Kenneth Catania, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University, is one of 18 scientists who have been honored by the National Academy of Sciences for their outstanding scientific achievements in a wide range of fields spanning the physical, biological and social sciences. Read More

    Jan 17, 2013

  • Smilodon and bison

    Evidence shows starvation did not cause saber-tooth cat extinction

    The latest study of the microscopic wear patterns on the teeth of the American lions and saber-toothed cats that roamed North America in the late Pleistocene found that they were living well off the fat of the land in the period just before they went extinct. Read More

    Dec 26, 2012

  • Leipzig Vanderbilt

    The Leipzig Connection

    In the last five years a grassroots faculty collaboration with the University of Leipzig has flowered, making the historic German university one of Vanderbilt's half dozen strategic international partners. Read More

    Dec 14, 2012

  • "Our scientists and engineers are making discoveries today that will lead to unimaginable technological breakthroughs tomorrow in medicine, energy and technology. Without long-term sustained federal investments in science and engineering research, these discoveries simply will not be made," write Chancellor Zeppos and University of Tennessee president Joseph Di Pietro in The Tennessean.

    Dec 6, 2012

  • mosquito circulatory system

    Mosquitoes as involuntary bioterrorists

    Vanderbilt biologists have discovered that mosquitoes possess a previously unknown mechanism for destroying pathogens which takes advantage of the peculiarities of the insect’s circulatory system to increase its effectiveness. Read More

    Nov 29, 2012

  • Alligator

    Despite their thick skins, alligators and crocodiles are surprisingly touchy

    Researchers have discovered that alligators and crocodiles possess one of the most acute senses of touch in the animal kingdom. Read More

    Nov 8, 2012

  • Vanderbilt University

    VUCast: Gators Give Researchers Clues

    This Week on VUCast, Vanderbilt’s online newscast: What these “sensitive” alligators have in common with humans.  Brainy bugs! Why ants are smarter than the average bug.  And a worldwide “girl power” movement comes to Vanderbilt. Read More

    Sep 28, 2012

  • Fighting ants

    Ants have an exceptionally high-def sense of smell

    Ants have four to five times more odor receptors than most other insects, a team of researchers have discovered. Read More

    Sep 10, 2012