Science & Technology

Biologist Bruce Carlson in Arts & Sciences draws parallels between human language and electric communication in fish. His new research published in Current Biology reveals an underlying mechanism for how pauses allow neurons in the midbrain to recover from stimulation.

A new study from the laboratory of Rick Vierstra in Arts & Sciences helps explain how proteins called phytochromes respond to light intensity and temperature, thus enabling land plants to colonize the planet many millions of year ago.

Using ancient DNA and tools from the modern genomic age, Susanne Renner in Arts & Sciences discovered that domesticated watermelons most likely came from wild crop progenitors near Sudan.

Hani Zaher, associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, won a four-year $1.2 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a project titled “Reading Frame Maintenance by the Ribosome during Stalling.”

Laura Escobar Vega, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics in Arts & Sciences, shows students and young professionals new ways to connect with math and see themselves in the field.

Two psychological and brain sciences students in Arts & Sciences received Research Excellence Awards from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences.

A team led by researchers including Jianmin Cui, professor of biomedical engineering, discovered a compound that prevents and even reverses the underlying physiological change that can lead some drugs to cause heart problems.

The Office of Naval Research is funding research at the McKelvey School of Engineering to put cyborg locusts’ sense of smell to the test.

Irene Hamlin, a senior majoring in biology with a minor in medical humanities in Arts & Sciences, will receive this year’s Harrison D. Stalker Award, in recognition of outstanding scientific scholarship with significant contributions in the arts and humanities.

A new study with zebrafish shows that a deadly form of skin cancer — melanoma — alters the metabolism of healthy tissues elsewhere in the body. The research led by chemist Gary Patti suggests that these other tissues could potentially be targeted to help treat cancer.