Science and Technology

Pioneering computer science professor Andy van Dam honored as Computer History Museum fellow

October 5, 2021

A virtual event celebrated the legendary Brown University computer science professor for his foundational work in computer graphics and five decades of influential teaching.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Brown scientist wins NIH innovator award to illuminate undetected brain activity

October 5, 2021

A five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will support Ahmed Abdelfattah’s research to shed light on brain activity, which could ultimately benefit patients facing a range of disorders.

Read Article

Science and Technology

NIH awards Brown $10.8M to expand data-informed research to fight human disease

September 29, 2021

The COBRE Center for Computational Biology of Human Disease is advancing the use of computational tools among biomedical scientists at Brown, helping them unlock new insights that could ultimately benefit patients.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Asteroid sample brought back to Earth gets a close-up look at Brown

September 27, 2021

Brown scientists are analyzing a tiny chunk of the asteroid Ryugu in an effort to better understand the early history of the solar system.

Read Article

Science and Technology

New report assesses progress and risks of artificial intelligence

September 16, 2021

A report by a panel of experts chaired by a Brown professor concludes that AI has made a major leap from the lab to people’s lives in recent years, which increases the urgency to understand its potential negative effects.

Read Article

Science and Technology

New $19.9M grant will expand hub for translational science, biomedical research in Rhode Island

August 19, 2021

With five years of renewed federal funding, Advance-CTR will support researchers in taking their work from bench to bedside to the broader community, ultimately making a direct and positive impact on the people of Rhode Island.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Beware the ‘molecular parasites’ involved in aging and disease

August 17, 2021

Brown researcher John Sedivy, lead author of a sweeping review article about transposons, explains what these mobile genetic elements are, how they are more harmful than benign and where their weaknesses may lie.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Researchers take step toward next-generation brain-computer interface system

August 12, 2021

A new kind of neural interface system that coordinates the activity of hundreds of tiny brain sensors could one day deepen understanding of the brain and lead to new medical therapies.

Read Article

Science and Technology

50 years after historic Moon mission, Brown geologist shares stories from Mission Control

August 9, 2021

Jim Head, a planetary geologist at Brown, worked closely with the Apollo 15 astronauts on “the first true scientific expedition to the Moon” in 1971.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Brown professor who worked on massive climate change report shares key takeaways

August 9, 2021

Brown professor Baylor Fox-Kemper discusses a landmark report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for which he served as a coordinating lead author.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Nathan Brown: Toward a better, more versatile wheelchair

August 5, 2021

With the help of a Royce Fellowship from the Swearer Center, Nathan Brown is developing a wheelchair design with the aim of increasing mobility for users on both indoor and outdoor terrain.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Computational brain science summer program at Brown opens up a world of science

August 3, 2021

Through a nine-week program organized by the Carney Institute for Brain Science, undergraduates from multiple universities learn the building blocks of computational brain science, a growing and increasingly important field.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Brown physicist, Ph.D. student launch mentoring program for underrepresented students

August 2, 2021

Working with the National Society of Black Physicists and the Harlem Gallery of Science, Brown physicist Stephon Alexander with the help of Ph.D. student Farrah Simpson launched the Dream+Inspire: Mentoring Future Leaders program.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Leading xenon researchers unite to build next-generation dark matter detector

July 19, 2021

Even as two powerful dark matter detectors are set to switch on later this year, scientists including a Brown professor are already planning a new experiment aimed at mysterious dark matter particles.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Initiative to expand Ph.D. student diversity in STEM graduate programs has lasting positive effects

July 8, 2021

A study that looked at 10-year outcomes of the Initiative to Maximize Student Development showed that it increased diversity within academic programs and prepared underrepresented students for successful careers in STEM.

Read Article

Science and Technology

New data science platform speeds up Python queries

July 1, 2021

Data queries written in Python, a commonly used programming language, can grind data analytics platforms to a crawl, but a new platform developed by researchers from Brown and MIT may finally solve the Python efficiency problem.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Grant will support gravity research that could update Einstein’s theory of gravity

June 30, 2021

With a $1 million grant from the Simons Foundation, Brown physicist Stephon Alexander will look to expand Einstein’s theory of gravity to explain cosmic mysteries like dark matter and black hole singularities.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Brown professor wins prestigious computing award named for his late predecessor

June 15, 2021

Eli Upfal, a professor of computer science, is the winner of this year’s ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award, which is named for a beloved Brown professor who died in 1995.

Read Article

Science and Technology

New model accounts for the effect of behavior changes to predict COVID-19 cases

June 10, 2021

A new infectious disease model that accounts for people’s ‘level of caution’ or ‘sense of safety’ accurately captures surges and declines in COVID-19 cases since March 2020 — and could help predict how the pandemic will eventually end.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Study of past South Asian monsoons suggests stronger monsoon rainfall in the future

June 4, 2021

New research finds that increases in monsoon rainfall over the past million years were linked with increases in atmospheric CO2 and the import of moisture from the southern hemisphere, which suggests stronger rains in the future as CO2 levels rise.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Brown alumni to oversee new NASA robotic missions to Venus

June 3, 2021

The space agency will send two new spacecraft to Earth’s “evil twin” in the next decade, and both Discovery Program missions will be led by Brown graduates.

Read Article

Science and Technology

New algorithm could help enable next-generation deep brain stimulation devices

June 1, 2021

Brown University researchers have developed a technique that could allow deep brain stimulation devices to sense activity in the brain and adjust stimulation accordingly.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Scientific computing technology should benefit all, Brown researcher tells Congress

May 19, 2021

Speaking before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee, computer scientist Seny Kamara urged lawmakers to make sure computing technology benefits society at large, not just a privileged few.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Researchers use ‘hole-y’ math and machine learning to study cellular self-assembly

May 18, 2021

A new study shows that mathematical topology can reveal how human cells organize into complex spatial patterns, helping to categorize them by the formation of branched and clustered structures.

Read Article

Science and Technology

‘Molecular glue’ makes perovskite solar cells dramatically more reliable over time

May 6, 2021

In a study that could help to bring inexpensive, efficient perovskite solar cells one step closer to commercial use, researchers found a way to strengthen a key weak point in the cells, dramatically increasing their functional life.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Mars has right ingredients for present-day microbial life beneath its surface, study finds

April 22, 2021

New research suggests that rocks in the Martian crust could produce the same kind of chemical energy that supports microbial life deep beneath Earth’s surface.

Read Article

Science and Technology

How Brown neuroscientists are using CRISPR to accelerate brain research — and more

April 22, 2021

Brown University neuroscientist Kate O’Connor-Giles discusses how the revolutionary gene editing technology can help reveal secrets of the brain’s function and role in disease.

Read Article

Science and Technology

NASA to launch new Brown student satellite

April 21, 2021

NASA has agreed to provide space on a future rocket launch for a new satellite designed and built by Brown University students to test the performance of next-generation solar cells in space.

Read Article

Science and Technology

What a glacial river reveals about the Greenland ice sheet

April 5, 2021

New research shows that water pressure beneath a glacier influences how fast it flows, a finding that could help in predicting the pace at which glaciers slide into the ocean and drive sea level upward.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Researchers demonstrate first human use of high-bandwidth wireless brain-computer interface

March 31, 2021

In an important step toward a fully implantable intracortical brain-computer interface system, BrainGate researchers demonstrated the first human use of a wireless transmitter capable of delivering high-bandwidth neural signals.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Researchers discover new type of ancient crater lake on Mars

March 30, 2021

An ancient crater lake in the southern highlands of Mars appears to have been fed by glacial runoff, bolstering the idea that the Red Planet had a cold and icy past.

Read Article

Science and Technology

New AI technique could help doctors predict aneurysm rupture

March 25, 2021

A new study shows that an artificial intelligence system informed with the physical laws governing flowing fluids can infer pressures and stresses on capillaries just by analyzing images or videos of blood flow.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Research finds surprising electron interaction in ‘magic-angle’ graphene

March 18, 2021

New research in the journal Science describes a technique that weakens the repulsive force between electrons in “magic-angle” graphene superconductors, providing physicists with exciting new details about this strange state of matter.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Brown researchers uncover the underlying genetics that make flies champion fliers

March 18, 2021

A complex network of wing, muscle and nervous system genes all contribute to flight performance, a new PLOS Genetics study shows.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Virtual Brain Week will help schoolkids, home-bound attendees get out of their heads

March 12, 2021

This year’s cerebral celebration will bring a packed roster of researchers from Brown’s Carney Institute for Brain Science and beyond into classrooms and homes to expand knowledge about the brain.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Brown researchers explore possibilities for an ultra-secure gun registry

March 11, 2021

Brown University computer scientists, working with a U.S. senator, have proposed a gun registry database that’s ultra-secure and decentralized, potentially easing concerns about privacy and federal overreach.

Read Article

Science and Technology

With NASA eyeing return to the Moon, Brown students helping the agency deal with pesky lunar dust

March 5, 2021

With a new grant from NASA, a team of Brown and RISD students is developing a system that may help protect spacesuits from sticky and highly abrasive lunar dust.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Humans control majority of freshwater ebb and flow on Earth, study finds

March 3, 2021

Satellite observations show that more than half of seasonal freshwater level changes on Earth happen in human-managed reservoirs, underscoring the profound impact humanity has on the global water cycle.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Math, applied math scholars at Brown earn prestigious Simons Foundation fellowships

March 1, 2021

With yearlong sabbaticals to focus on research projects, Dan Abramovich, Hongjie Dong and Benoit Pausader will use the fellowships to advance their scholarship on cutting-edge mathematics.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Crisis and action: Brown researchers launch wide range of approaches to COVID-19 research

March 1, 2021

Called to action, students and faculty across disciplines worked to contribute to an expansive pool of COVID-19 research projects, from contact tracing apps to DIY ventilator designs.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Researcher delves into the big world of tiny nanocrystals

March 1, 2021

In his lab at Brown, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ou Chen is turning tiny artificial particles into building blocks for energy harvesting, cancer detection and more.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Brown's ICERM reimagines what mathematics can be

March 1, 2021

The Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics — one of just six U.S. mathematical institutes — takes novel approaches in discovery, research and presentation.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Apollo rock samples capture key moments in the Moon’s early history, study finds

February 24, 2021

A new analysis of samples brought back from the Moon to helps clear up questions about the isotopic composition of Moon’s interior.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Mars rover touches down at Brown-discovered landing site

February 18, 2021

The Perseverance rover will look for signs of ancient life in Jezero crater, a spot Brown researchers have studied for years and championed during the landing site-selection process.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Why even try? Using brain science to answer one of life’s biggest questions

February 15, 2021

A new study from a research team based at Brown University sheds light on the cognitive processes that occur when humans decide to exert mental effort.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Neurons from patient blood cells enable researchers to test treatments for genetic brain disease

February 10, 2021

A team led by Brown University researchers reprogrammed patient blood cells into stem cells to test treatments for Christianson syndrome, finding that treatment responses varied according to the mutations present.

Read Article

Science and Technology

To figure out how dinosaurs walked, start with how they didn’t

February 8, 2021

By analyzing limb poses from modern birds and alligators with innovative 3D imaging technology developed at Brown, scientists have developed a better way to infer how extinct animals might have moved from place to place.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Tiny sensor technique reveals cellular forces involved in tissue generation

February 4, 2021

A team of Brown University researchers developed a technique that uses tiny polymer spheres to sense the forces at play as body tissue forms and grows.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Thick lithosphere casts doubt on plate tectonics in Venus’s geologically recent past

January 28, 2021

A study of a giant impact crater on Venus suggests that its lithosphere was too thick to have had Earth-like plate tectonics, at least for much of the past billion years.

Read Article

Science and Technology

New technique builds super-hard metals from nanoparticles

January 22, 2021

Brown University researchers have shown a way to make bulk metals by smashing tiny metal nanoparticles together, which allows for customized grain structures and improved mechanical and other properties.

Read Article

Science and Technology

Breadcrumb

News Search

News Archive

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter