Science & Technology

Tropical hummingbirds use a hibernation-like state called torpor in varying ways, depending on their physical condition and what is happening in their environment, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis and Colombian biologists.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have developed a new imaging method to produce detailed 3D maps of uterine contractions in real time. The technology could help define the progression of healthy labor and identify when problems may be developing, such as in preterm labor or labor arrest.

A team of researchers led by Guy Genin, at the Center for Engineering MechanoBiology and the McKelvey School of Engineering, explores new approaches to surgical tendon-to-bone repair.

Yevgeniy Vorobeychik, an associate professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering, recently won a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to use artificial intelligence to improve game-theory analysis methods to tackle increasingly complex problems.

Scientists at Tyson Research Center are carefully tracking the timing of salamander breeding as part of a larger research effort examining the impacts of climate change on amphibians and plants.

Jian Wang, a professor and director of the Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, won a $766,552 grant from NASA for new research on Arctic aerosols. Wang aims to understand how aerosols impact Arctic climate change.

Michael Vahey, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, received an NSF CAREER award to establish the factors that drive the assembly of viral immune complexes and to study how they interact with immune cell receptors.

Garland (“Gar”) Edward Allen III, a professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences, died peacefully in Palm Springs, Calif., Feb. 10. He was widely known for his work in the history of genetics and was an international leader on the history of eugenics.

Scientists led by Emily Wroblewski, in Arts & Sciences, discovered that bonobo populations differ in a key immune trait depending on the presence of malaria infection. Infected populations have a higher frequency of an immune variant that protects against developing severe disease, a pattern that mirrors what is observed among human populations.

Cells migrate to different tissues for a variety of reasons, including organ development, tissue repair and the spread of cancer. Researchers led by Amit Pathak at the McKelvey School of Engineering have found unexpected activity in the nucleus of healthy cells that provides new insight into cell mechanics.