Internal political struggles are not new to China. Tracy Miller, associate professor of history of art, researched the architecture and art of the Jin Shrines complex (Jinci) of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127 C.E.) and found that the very structure and religious art of the complex reflected the struggles of competing social and political groups [...]

He’s not a medical doctor and he doesn’t play one on TV, but Glenn Webb, professor of mathematics, has a prescription for reducing the transmission of drug-resistant infections among hospital patients. While hospitals combat the life-threatening problem with hygiene—which is vital—Webb’s mathematical analysis indicates that the solution could be briefer courses of antibiotics. Webb worked [...]

When kids blow bubbles, it’s usually for fun. But neuroscientist Kenneth Catania discovered that the star-nosed moles he studies blow bubbles as they swim to smell underwater objects. “This came as a total surprise because the common wisdom is that mammals can’t smell underwater,” says the associate professor of biological sciences. 
Catania, who received a $500,000 [...]

Professor Terry L. Page

It’s not just night owls who have trouble being alert in early morning hours. According to new research by Professor Terry L. Page, then-student Susan Decker BS’07, and student Shannon McConnaughey, cockroaches trained in the evening retain knowledge for several days, but are incapable of forming new memories during morning hours. “This [...]

A group of Vanderbilt chemists didn’t set out to make traditional light bulbs obsolete and cut carbon emissions, but that may be what they have done. 
Then-chemistry graduate student Michael Bowers, PhD’07, was working with Associate Professor of Chemistry Sandra Rosenthal when he discovered a new way to make solid-state lights (light-emitting
diodes—LEDs) that produce white light. [...]

Keivan Stassun

Pity the brown dwarf. It’s too large to be a planet, but too small to be a star.
Brown dwarfs are smaller and dimmer than true stars. Only in recent years have improvements in telescope technology allowed astronomers to catalog hundreds of faint objects that may be brown dwarfs. Yet to actually determine if a [...]

If you want someone’s attention fast, look afraid. Vanderbilt researchers confirmed that the brain registers fearful faces more quickly than those showing other emotions. Randolph Blake, Centennial Professor of Psychology; Eunice Yang, doctoral student; and David Zald, associate professor of psychology; co-authored the study, which appeared in the November 2007 issue of Emotion. 
The researchers will [...]

You can’t bring a rod and reel in, so why does Vanderbilt have a newly renovated fishery in the Stevenson Center? The fishery is a special genetics facility that is home to the zebra fish, a small tropical fish you might have in your aquarium. Vanderbilt’s fishery for biological research allows researchers to view and [...]