Entries Tagged as ‘Science’

June 5, 2008

Defense

One of the most auspicious events that takes place at any university is the conferring of its highest degree, the doctorate. Representing the culmination of over 20 years of education, creative exploration, rigorous research, and a willingness to work hours that far surpass what most humans see as reasonable, the PhD is a singular academic [...]

September 27, 2007

Cockroaches: they’re not morning “people”

Before I go any further let me say the fact that I am even writing this is evidence of my dedication to share the latest and greatest Vanderbilt news with you, dear readers, regardless of the great personal toll it may take on me. Because even writing about cockroaches gives me the shivers. And to [...]

August 30, 2007

Tricking mosquitos

New research from Vanderbilt brings us one step closer to reducing the threat of what’s considered the most prevalent life-threatening disease in the world - malaria. Biological sciences star researcher Larry Zwiebel and his team have honed in on special receptors they believe mosquitos use to smell and find their victims, in other words, us. [...]

August 23, 2007

When is a viral “infection” a good thing?

When it happens to one of your videos on YouTube. Views of our bionic arm video have been going through the roof this week, up from a couple hundred last week to 6,300 today. The story on Exploration has been viewed over 23,000 times this week. Join the party.

August 21, 2007

Rockets! Bionics! Revolution!

I could not resist the chance to use three of my favorite words in a headline - how often does that happen? Vanderbilt engineer Michael Goldfarb’s research has resulted in something that involves all three - a prosethetic arm powered with a miniature rocket motor that is the closest thing yet to a real bionic [...]

May 25, 2007

Scouting out Vanderbilt Research

The Internet Scout Project, a University of Wisconsin endeavor to find the most interesting and innovative stuff on the web, has just recognized Vanderbilt’s very own Exploration science research magazine. Exploration also received accolades from the Webby awards earlier this year. Congratulations Exploration!!! Click here to visit the Exploration website.

May 9, 2007

So, two astronauts walk into an observatory…

The hilltop just south of campus that houses Dyer Observatory is a seemingly bottomless font of exciting, interesting, thought-provoking and mind-expanding stories. The latest is a new episode of Dyer’s podcast, Stellar Conversations, featuring an interview with retired astronaut Charlie Bendon by Dyer chief Rick Chappell, himself a former NASA leader. Listen to the interview [...]

April 27, 2007

Astronaut speaks at Vanderbilt

Major General (Retired) and Astronaut Charles Bolden Jr. spoke at the Dyer Observatory Exploration Society Dinner on April 20, 2007. General Bolden spent 14 years with NASA and participated in four shuttle flights, including the mission that launched the Hubble Space Telescope. You can watch video of his speech at VUCast. (This video [...]

April 13, 2007

Vanderbilt and Fisk partner to increase minority doctorates

Vanderbilt and Fisk have partnered to increase the number of minority doctorates, particularly in the sciences. Watch a video about this program and its leader Keivan Stassun.

April 13, 2007

Congratulations Exploration!!!

Vanderbilt University’s Exploration website has been named as an official honoree for the 2007 Webby Awards. The Webby Awards are the Internet equivalent of the Oscar’s, and only 15% of the 8,000 or so websites nominated each year are recognized as honorees. Exploration, the online research magazine for Vanderbilt’s science and engineering community, [...]