Exploration, Vanderbilt's Online Research Magazine http://exploration.vanderbilt.edu Voices from the lab: Multimedia stories about basic research conducted at Vanderbilt University en-US Publisher: Michael J. Schoenfeld, Editor-in-Chief: David F. Salisbury Exploration@Vanderbilt http://exploration.vanderbilt.edu/rss/rss_logo.gif http://exploration.vanderbilt.edu Voices from the lab: Multimedia stories about basic research conducted at Vanderbilt University http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1617&story_id=396 Research identifies dead neuron clean-up crew in peripheral nervous system (January 29, 2010) Biochemists have identified members of the "clean-up crew" -- including a protein named Jedi-1 -- responsible for getting rid of the corpses of dead sensory neurons in the peripheral nervous system following apoptosis. 2010-01-29 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1617&story_id=396 Melissa Marino http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1599&story_id=392 Sequencing wasp genome sheds new light on sexual parasite (January 14, 2010) Sequencing of the wasp genome sheds new light on how nature's most successful sexual parasite works. 2010-01-14 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1599&story_id=392 David F. Salisbury http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1596&story_id=391 Studying how black holes grow (December 17, 2009) Kelly Holley-Bockelman has received a $1.1 million grant to study how supermassive black holes grow. 2009-12-17 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1596&story_id=391 David F. Salisbury http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1587&story_id=388 Research confirms graphene's exotic electrical nature (November 17, 2009) 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: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire. 2009-11-17 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1587&story_id=388 David F. Salisbury http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1583&story_id=387 Inconspicuous leaf beetles reveal environment's role in formation of new species (October 29, 2009) Unnoticed by the nearby residents of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, tiny leaf beetles that flit among the maple and willow trees in the area have just provided some of the clearest evidence yet that environmental factors play a major role in the formation of new species. 2009-10-29 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1583&story_id=387 David F. Salisbury http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1577&story_id=385 Antonis Rokas trims tree of life (October 8, 2009) In a sense, Antonis Rokas is an arborist: He is a member of a small cadre to scientists who are applying the growing power of genomics to untangle and correctly arrange the branches of the Tree of Life. 2009-10-08 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1577&story_id=385 David F. Salisbury http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1574&story_id=384 First direct information about the prion's molecular structure reported (October 5, 2009) A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions. In addition, the study has revealed surprisingly large structural differences between natural prions and the closest synthetic analogs that scientists have created in the lab. 2009-10-05 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1574&story_id=384 David F. Salisbury http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1571&story_id=383 Vanderbilt astronomers participate in new search for dark energy (October 1, 2009) Vanderbilt astronomers are participating in the most ambitious attempt yet to trace the history of the universe which has seen "first light." The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), took its first astronomical data on the night of Sept. 14-15 at the Sloan Foundation telescope in New Mexico. 2009-10-01 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1571&story_id=383 David F. Salisbury http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1552&story_id=381 Paul Bock: the art of science (September 5, 2009) Whether biochemist Paul Bock is painting a picture or conducting research on blood coagulation, creativity is the name of the game. 2009-09-05 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1552&story_id=381 Joan Brasher, David F. Salisbury http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1549&story_id=380 Training can increase brain's ability to multitask (August 20, 2009) Training increases brain processing speed and improves our ability to multitask, according to research from Vanderbilt University published in the journal Neuron. 2009-08-20 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=1549&story_id=380 Melanie Moran