Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1902 as an organization for scientific discovery. His intention was for the institution to be home to exceptional individuals—men and women with imagination and extraordinary dedication capable of working at the cutting edge of their fields. more »
This image was selected as our holiday card for 2014. Milky Way -- Image Courtesy: Consuelo González, Carnegie Institution for Science, The Observatories
Biologist Marnie Halpern of Carnegie’s Department of Embryology has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her
“fundamental contributions to developmental biology, particularly using novel genetic approaches to study patterning of the nervous system.”
Learn how Peru's carbon was quantified; understand how meat turns up the global heat; and read the inaugural letter from Carnegie's new president Matt Scott in the latest issue of CarnegieScience.
Carnegie trustee and Congressman Rush Holt has been selected to lead the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. For more see here
Carnegie astronomer Mark Phillips, interim director of the Las Campanas Observatory, is one of a group of scientists being honored with the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The prize recognizes “major insights into the deepest questions of the Universe” and is being shared by two research teams, the Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-Z Supernova Search Team, of which Phillips is a member.
Carnegie announced today that it will receive Phase II funding through Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that enables individuals worldwide to test bold ideas to address persistent health and development challenges. Department of Plant Biology Director Wolf Frommer, together with a team of researchers from the International Rice Research Institute, Kansas State University, and Iowa State University, will continue to pursue an innovative global health research project, titled “Transformative Strategy for Controlling Rice Blight.”
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A team of researchers working on a Carnegie expedition in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has documented that coral growth rates have plummeted 40 percent since the mid-1970s. The scientists suggest that ocean acidification may be playing an important role in this perilous slowdown.
Hydrogen is the most-abundant element in the cosmos. With only a single electron per atom, it is deceptively simple. As a result, hydrogen has been a testing ground for theories of the chemical bond since the birth of quantum mechanics a century ago. Understanding the nature of chemical bonding in extreme environments is crucial for expanding our understanding of matter over the broad range of conditions found in the universe.
Recent advances in our understanding of the quantities, movements, forms and origin of carbon in Earth are summarized in a just-published report. The research represents fast-paced progress on the depths of the biosphere, Earth, what erupts from volcanoes and leaks from sea floors, what descends back into Earth’s great depths, and the nature of carbon-bearing materials within planets.
The MESSENGER Education and Public Outreach (EPO) Team, led by Julie Edmonds, is launching a competition this week to name five impact craters on Mercury. The contest is open to all Earthlings, except for members of the mission’s EPO team. The contest runs from December 15, 2014, to January 15, 2015.
We would not expect a baby to join a team or participate in social situations that require sophisticated communication. Yet, most developmental biologists have assumed that young cells, only recently born from stem cells and known as “progenitors,” are already competent at inter-communication with other cells. New research shows that infant cells have to go through a developmental process that involves specific genes before they can take part in the group interactions that underlie normal cellular development and keep our tissues functioning smoothly.
