First People in the US to Experience Drone Delivery Give It a Seal of Approval
The week of Thanksgiving last year, a postcard arrived in mailboxes in Christiansburg. A link to a survey was on the back. On the front,…
Virginia Tech
Infectious Diseases and Social Distancing in Nature
Forager ants do it, vampire bats do it, guppies do it, and mandrills do it. Long before humans learned about and started “social distancing due…
Jumping Frost Crystals: Electrostatic De-icing Effect Could Be a Game-Changer for Aircraft and HVAC Industries
If you have ever gotten up on a winter morning and thrown yourself into the arduous task of scraping frost from a windshield, a Virginia…
Incredible 635 Million-Year-Old Fungi-Like Microfossil That Bailed Our Planet Out of an Ice Age
When you think of fungi, what comes to mind may be a crucial ingredient in a recipe or their amazing ability to break down dead…
Fatal Attraction: Bats With White-Nose Syndrome Prefer Deadly Habitats Despite the Consequences
Since 2006, a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has caused sharp declines in bat populations across the eastern United States. The fungus that causes the…
The Original Story of Flight: Pterosaur Precursors Discovered That Fill Gap in Early Evolutionary History
Here’s the original story of flight. Sorry, Wright Brothers, but this story began way before your time — during the Age of the Dinosaurs. Pterosaurs…
Lurking in Genomic Shadows: How Giant Viruses Fuel the Genetic Evolution of Organisms
Viruses are tiny invaders that cause a wide range of diseases, from rabies to tomato spotted wilt virus and, most recently, COVID-19 in humans. But…
New Species of Ancient Cynodont Discovered – 220-Million-Year-Old Precursor of Modern-Day Mammals
Fossilized jaw bone fragments of a rat-like creature found at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona last year by a Virginia Tech College of…
Scientists Find Neurochemicals – Dopamine and Serotonin – Have Unexpectedly Profound Roles in the Human Brain
Dopamine, serotonin involved in sub-second perception, cognition. In first-of-their-kind observations in the human brain, an international team of researchers has revealed two well-known neurochemicals —…
Improved Understanding of Blood-Brain Barrier Health Has Implications for a Variety of Neurological Diseases
Hard skulls help protect our brains from physical injuries. In addition to a tough outer shell, brains have internal defenses, including a powerful shield called…
New Heat Conduction Technology a Game Changer for Server Farms and Aircraft
Jonathan Boreyko, an associate professor in mechanical engineering, has developed an aircraft thermal management technology that stands ready for adaptation into other areas. The research…
Discovery Could Lead to More Potent Garlic, Boosting Flavor and Aroma
For centuries, people around the world have used garlic as a spice, natural remedy, and pest deterrent — but they didn’t know how powerful or…
Mystery of How Flying Snakes Move Solved by 3D Modeling and Motion Capture
Interdisciplinary team finds the motion enhances Chrysopelea paradisi’s rotational stability. The snakes which comprise the Chrysopelea family are the only known limbless vertebrates capable of…
New Explanation for Strange Neutrino Anomalies in Antarctica That Perplexed Physicists
Scientists remain perplexed by the activity, with some 40 papers so far giving wildly different answers. A new research paper co-authored by a Virginia Tech…
Viral Dark Matter: Giant Viruses Have Metabolic Genes – Even Though Viruses Don’t Have a Metabolism
Virginia Tech researchers discovered genes for cellular metabolic cycles in the genomes of giant viruses. In satellite photos of the Earth, clouds of bright green…
Quasar Tsunamis Discovered – Highest Energy Outflows Ever Witnessed in the Universe
Using the unique capabilities of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers led by Virginia Tech’s Nahum Arav has discovered the most energetic outflows…
How Environment Influences the Spread of Infectious Disease Revealed in Banded Mongoose Study
With outbreaks of infectious diseases making headlines around the world, scientists are under pressure to understand the drivers that influence the transmission of pathogens in…
Remarkable Discovery of 1 Billion-Year-Old Green Seaweed Micro-Fossils in China
Virginia Tech paleontologists have made a remarkable discovery in China: 1 billion-year-old micro-fossils of green seaweeds that could be related to the ancestor of the…