Science

By mapping a specialized sensory organ that the malaria mosquito uses to zero in on its human prey, an international team of researchers has taken an important step toward developing new and improved repellants and attractants that can be used to reduce the threat of malaria, generally considered the most prevalent life-threatening disease in the world. Read More

Combine a mechanical arm with a miniature rocket motor: The result is a prosthetic device that is the closest thing yet to a bionic arm. Read More

Most of America's low-cost stores have much of their merchandise made in foreign countries, like China. What's become better known, because or recent news reports, are the serious safety and environmental concerns that can arise from these foreign suppliers. Read More

In a way, nanotubes are nature's smallest candles. These tiny tubes are constructed from carbon atoms and they are so small that it takes about 100,000 laid side-by-side to span the width of a single human hair. Read More

Fast forward to a civilization about three trillion years in the future. Astronomers at that time equipped with instruments equal to those of today would likely come to a much different conclusion about the basic nature of the universe, one that harks back to static models that were popular at the turn of the century. Read More

If you've ever wondered about the ultimate fate of the universe, Lawrence Krauss and Robert Scherrer have some good news...sort of. Read More

A man with no prior history of sexual misconduct was caught trying to molest a child. A brain scan found that he had a large tumor pressing on his right frontal cortex. When the tumor was removed, he no longer wanted to molest children. A suicidal man tried to kill himself with a crossbow. When the arrow went into his skull, the damage done to his prefrontal cortex reversed his anti-social tendencies. Read More

Vanderbilt engineers have won an award from Microsoft Corp. to develop a real-time, online, detailed and accurate picture of air quality in large metropolitan areas like Nashville. The mobile air quality monitoring system will make it possible to monitor air quality more accurately than the current system of fixed stations performing low-resolution sampling by including car-mounted sensors that measure, process and report emission levels. Read More

A new Vanderbilt University study has identified a chemical signal that plays a critical role in forming the heart, which could lead to new strategies to combat congenital heart defects. Read More

An assistant professor of physics at Vanderbilt University has won a $45,000 research fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation aimed at encouraging promising young scholars. Read More