Research and Discovery

Health, Medicine, and Wellness

Are We Underestimating the Prevalence of Iron Deficiency?

New proposed test values for iron deficiency could double the number of women and triple the number of children considered deficient and at risk for fatigue and other effects of low iron.

one-in-three people in the United States illustration

A new study finds that 31 percent of the U.S. population had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 by the end of 2020.

One in Three Americans Had COVID-19 by End of 2020

Undocumented infections accounted for an estimated three-quarters of infections last year, according to a new study led by Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.

The new brain imaging study shows that parts of the TPJ—involved in the understanding of complex social scenes—are less active in people with schizophrenia. (Image: Gaurev Patel lab)

How Scenes from A Clint Eastwood Western Are Helping Researchers Better Understand Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia causes hallucinations and psychotic behavior, but it also impairs thinking and social skills, which can have a bigger impact. New research points to where in the brain these social deficits occur, and how they might be fixed.

The Brain and Psychology

neurotransmitter heat maps for spinal cord segments

Heat maps of neurotransmitter intensities for each spinal segment. (Credit: Felix Fiederling/Mason-Dodd Lab/Columbia's Zuckerman Institute)

Map of Mouse Spinal Cord May Help Reveal How Nerve Cells There Work

Columbia researchers have developed a way, for the first time, to map the full spinal cord of mice in 3-D.

emerging wing tissue in fruit fly embryos

In this image of fruit fly embryos, emerging wing cells and gene expression are revealed. (Credit: Ryan Loker/Mann Lab/Columbia's Zuckerman Institute)

Flies with Four Wings? Investigating Genes that Pattern Animal Bodies

In this Q&A, Zuckerman Institute researchers discuss what their latest research could mean for our understanding of the architecture of bodies in animals and how it might one day help treat neurodegenerative disorders impacting mobility.

Cells from two different parts of the hippocampus of a titmouse color-coded by their response as the bird explores its environment (Credit: Hannah Payne, PhD / Aronov Lab / Columbia's Zuckerman Institute

Brain Region Draws Map for Food-Caching Birds

A brain region that allows birds to remember thousands of food hiding spots during the winter offers a new way to study memory, with implications for disease and AI.

Earth, Climate, and Environmental Science

Why the U.S. Northeast Coast Is a Global Warming Hot Spot

Rising Atlantic Ocean temperatures and altered wind patterns that blow the warmth toward land are helping heat the U.S. Northeast coast at a fast pace, according to a new study.

Columbia researchers Pierre Gentine (left) and Galen McKinley will lead the new climate modeling center. (Image: Marley Bauce)

Columbia to Launch $25 Million AI-based Climate Modeling Center

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the center will leverage big data and machine learning to improve climate projections and motivate societies to invest in policies and infrastructure to confront rising seas and warmer temperatures.

Timbers extracted from old buildings in NYC to capture historical climate data

Here, joists are carted away from the 2018 demolition of a circa 1890s warehouse in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. (Alan Solomon)

New York City's Hidden Old-Growth Forests

Tree-ring scientists from Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are extracting climate data from timbers salvaged out of old New York City buildings.

Science, Technology, and Engineering

Columbia climate scientist Galen McKinley and computer scientist Carl Vondrick

Columbia climate scientist Galen McKinley (left) and computer scientist Carl Vondrick

How Next-Generation Models Will Leverage Big Data and AI for More Accurate Estimates of Future Climate

In this Q&A, climate scientist Galen McKinley and computer scientist Carl Vondrick explain how Columbia’s new climate modeling center will improve on the latest projections.

drawing of e-coli

Bacteria Employed as "Living Hard Drives"

Columbia scientists have found a way to encode digital information straight into the genomes of living E. coli bacteria cells, which, they say, preserves the data in a surprisingly stable, robust manner.

Toward a Better Hate Speech Detector

Researchers at Columbia Engineering and the Data Science Institute are enlisting women journalists in their quest to build a better AI model for detecting abusive language online.