Science Spotlights

Pollock: Artist and physicist?

Jul 29, 2011

At a glance, a painting by Jackson Pollock can look deceptively accidental: just a quick flick of color on a canvas. A quantitative analysis of Pollock’s streams, drips, and coils by scientists reveals, however, that the artist had to be slow — he had to be deliberate — to exploit fluid dynamics in the way that he did.

Beyond Darwin: Ways to Evolve New Functions

Jun 15, 2011

At a recent Kavli Futures Symposium, nineteen experts from a diverse range of fields discussed the promise of using the lab to understand and exploit the evolution of organisms -- an advance that may one day be used to develop new vaccines or other biotechnology products.

The Hunt for Dark Matter in the Universe

Jun 6, 2011

A dark matter detector about 700 meters below the ground in a Minnesota mine has recorded a seasonal modulation in staggeringly faint electrical pulses – the possible result of dark matter particles called WIMPs that envelope the Milky Way galaxy and collide with atoms in the detector’s germanium crystal. The head of the research team, KICP's Juan Collar, discusses the meaning of the results.

The Brain and the Public: Q&A with Susan G. Amara, President, the Society for Neuroscience

May 22, 2011

Susan G. Amara, President of the Society for Neuroscience, responds in-depth to questions about Brainfacts.org, the Society's anticipated new public website about brain research, and how SfN’s own efforts at outreach have evolved since its inception.