Scientists are using ever more complex models running on ever more powerful computers to simulate the earth’s climate. But new research suggests that basic physics could offer a simpler and more meaningful way to model key elements of climate.

A multi-university research team has used a new spectroscopic method to gain a key insight into how light is emitted from layered nanomaterials and other thin films. The technique, called energy-momentum spectroscopy, enables researchers to look at the light emerging from a thin film and determine whether it is coming from emitters oriented along the plane of the film or from emitters oriented perpendicular to the film. Knowing the orientations of emitters could help engineers make better use of thin-film materials in optical devices like LEDs or solar cells.

The strong, flapping flight of bats offers great possibilities for the design of small aircraft, among other applications. By building a robotic bat wing, Brown researchers have uncovered flight secrets of real bats: the function of ligaments, the elasticity of skin, the structural support of musculature, skeletal flexibility, upstroke, downstroke.

Three Brown scientists have won National Science Foundation CAREER awards to advance their research. The five-year grants all start this month. Eric Darling, assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology and a member of Brown’s Center for Biomedical Engineering, will receive $401,792 to look at spatial variation in gene expression and mechanical properties of stem cells to learn more about how they turn into more specific tissue cells.

This week, Vice President for International Affairs Matthew Gutmann travels to Brazil, where he'll sign agreements with two local agencies that will serve to strengthen scholarship and research ties between Brown and the South American country, including one that will bring a Brazilian scholar to Brown each year to teach. He'll also join a delegation from the Alpert Medical School that will be touring area medical schools and meeting with health researchers. Gutmann spoke with Courtney Coelho about his trip and Brown's ongoing relationship with Brazil.

The Corporation of Brown University has approved creation of a School of Public Health in July. The new school will allow Brown’s already strong research and teaching in public health to expand further. Terrie “Fox” Wetle, associate dean of medicine for public health, will serve as the school’s inaugural dean. Her first task is to gain national accreditation, which should take about two years.