Vanderbilt University

Musicians use both sides of their brains more frequently than average people

Supporting what many of us who are not musically talented have often felt, new research reveals that trained musicians really do think differently than the rest of us. Vanderbilt University psychologists have found that professionally ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Oct 02, 2008 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (100) | comments 12

'Mind's eye' influences visual perception

Letting your imagination run away with you may actually influence how you see the world. New research from Vanderbilt University has found that mental imagery—what we see with the "mind's eye"—directly impacts ...

Biology /

created Jul 01, 2008 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (41) | comments 7

Large Hadron Collider could be world's first time machine

(PhysOrg.com) -- If the latest theory of Tom Weiler and Chui Man Ho is right, the Large Hadron Collider – the world's largest atom smasher that started regular operation last year – could be the ...

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 15, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (38) | comments 72 | with audio podcast

Psychopaths' brains wired to seek rewards, no matter the consequences

The brains of psychopaths appear to be wired to keep seeking a reward at any cost, new research from Vanderbilt University finds. The research uncovers the role of the brain's reward system in psychopathy ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Mar 14, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (27) | comments 18 | with audio podcast

Robot biologist solves complex problem from scratch

First it was chess. Then it was Jeopardy. Now computers are at it again, but this time they are trying to automate the scientific process itself.

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Oct 13, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (27) | comments 25 | with audio podcast

New type of insect repellant may be thousands of times stronger than DEET

(PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine an insect repellant that not only is thousands of times more effective than DEET – the active ingredient in most commercial mosquito repellants – but also works against all types of insects, ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 09, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (23) | comments 22 | with audio podcast

New study confirms exotic electric properties of graphene

(PhysOrg.com) -- First, it was the soccer-ball-shaped molecules dubbed buckyballs. Then it was the cylindrically shaped nanotubes. Now, the hottest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (23) | comments 1

Babies' biological clocks dramatically affected by birth light cycle

The season in which babies are born can have a dramatic and persistent effect on how their biological clocks function.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 05, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

The day the universe froze: New dark energy model includes cosmological phase transition

Imagine a time when the entire universe froze. According to a new model for dark energy, that is essentially what happened about 11.5 billion years ago, when the universe was a quarter of the size it is today.

Physics / General Physics

created May 08, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (23) | comments 16

Worth the effort? Not if you're depressed

New research indicates that decreased cravings for pleasure may be at the root of a core symptom of major depressive disorder. The research is in contrast to the long-held notion that those suffering from ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Aug 12, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (20) | comments 8

Barrier to faster graphene devices identified and suppressed

These days graphene is the rock star of materials science, but it has an Achilles heel: It is exceptionally sensitive to its electrical environment.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 13, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (19) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

1918 flu antibodies resurrected from elderly survivors

Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have recovered antibodies to the virus – from elderly survivors of the original outbreak.

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Aug 17, 2008 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (17) | comments 0

Network turns soldiers' helmets into sniper location system

(PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine a platoon of soldiers fighting in a hazardous urban environment who carry personal digital assistants that can display the location of enemy shooters in three dimensions and accurately ...

Technology / Engineering

created Mar 24, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (17) | comments 8

Newly born identical twin stars show surprising differences

The analysis of the youngest pair of identical twin stars yet discovered has revealed surprising differences in brightness, surface temperature and possibly even the size of the two.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jun 18, 2008 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (16) | comments 3

Why surprises temporarily blind us

Reading this story requires you to willfully pay attention to the sentences and to tune out nearby conversations, the radio and other distractions. But if a fire alarm sounded, your attention would be involuntarily ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Mar 11, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (15) | comments 3 | with audio podcast