Science & Technology

Some species have evolved to display far more genetic crossover than others—and scientists have discovered a gene in fruit flies that is responsible for the evolution of these recombination rates.

Imagine if, many millions of years ago, dinosaurs drove cars through cities of mile-high buildings. A preposterous idea, right? In a compelling thought experiment, professor of physics and astronomy Adam Frank and director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Gavin Schmidt wonder how we would truly know if there were a past civilization so advanced that it left little or no trace of its impact on the planet.

Researcher Mohammad Kazemi has proposed an entirely new concept for computer architecture to overcome the problems of heat transfer inherent in traditional microprocessors.

Farran Briggs, a new associate professor of neuroscience and of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, studies how attention affects the brain’s ability to process visual information.

Researchers in the University’s Ice Core Lab shared a viral video that shows the “unexpected and fascinating” noise that when it hits the bottom of a borehole in Antarctica.

Using new data gathered from sites in southern Africa, researchers have extended their record of Earth’s magnetic field back thousands of years to the first millennium.

Rochester researchers have been using lasers to change the properties of metals in incredible ways. But to make the technology commercially viable, a partnership between scholars and business will focus on making the lasers much more powerful.

Biomedical engineers have identified a brain signal that indicates whether a person is comprehending what others are saying—and have shown they can track the signal using relatively inexpensive EEG readings taken on a person’s scalp.

Meet Michele Rucci, a new professor in the University's brain and cognitive sciences department, and his robot “Mr. T.” Rucci and his robot are using eye-tracking tools and virtual reality to replicate the small eye movements experienced by humans.

Using recital halls as their “labs,” and recording some of the best music students in the world, University researchers are creating virtual reality videos of concerts that literally immerse viewers “within” the performance onstage.

Coffee mugs and popsicle sticks are transformed into chemical reactors as part of an innovative teaching experiment that allows student engineers to simulate reactions in a real-life, sprawling chemical plant.

A multidisciplinary team of University doctors, engineers, and musicians is working together to create an immersive, customized experience that brings cognitive-behavioral therapy to a patient's smartphone.