Research & Discovery

This page highlights the astonishing amount of scientific discovery happening at Columbia, one of the world’s leading research universities. 

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Photo from the National Weather Service office on July 15 in Upton, New York, with the sky obscured by a thick layer of smoke. (Credit: NWS Forecast Office New York, NY via Wikimedia Commons)
Wildfire Smoke Returns: What to Know About This Week’s Air Quality

Smoke-filled skies and unhealthy air quality alerts have hit the Upper Midwest and the Northeast U.S. this week.

FIND OUT MORE

The Pepacton Reservoir.
CLIMATE
Illustration of a person's face with sound bars.
ENGINEERING
A bottle of colorful pills tipped over
HEALTH
A Modular Neuronal Network (MoNNet) with interconnected spheroids, each one featuring several types of brain cells.
NEUROSCIENCE

COLUMBIA SCIENCE IN THE NEWS

The Rate at Which Earth Is Absorbing Energy Is Alarming Climate Scientists

The Economist
July 16, 2026

What a Sleep Expert Eats in a Day for Better Rest at Night

The Washington Post
July 9, 2026

What to Know About Alpha-Gal Syndrome, the Life-Threatening Meat Allergy Caused by Tick Bites

Associated Press
June 17, 2026

RECENT STORIES

Columbia C at Muscota Marsh
Campus & Community

2024 Year in Review: The Top 12 Stories That Garnered Your Attention on ‘Columbia News’

What stories grabbed the attention of our readers in 2024? The results may surprise you.

This artist's illustration depicts a reconstruction of what the Firefly Sparkle galaxy looked like about 600 million years after the big bang if it wasn’t stretched and distorted by a natural effect known as gravitational lensing. This concept is based on images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford [STScI]).
In the Lab

Kartheik Iyer Found a Milky Way-Like Galaxy, and Nicknamed It the Firefly Sparkle

Iyer, a NASA Hubble fellow at Columbia, has also developed an AI-powered search tool for astronomers.

A 3D rendering of high-energy particles from cosmic rays.
Research

A New Discovery About the Source of the Vast Energy in Cosmic Rays

New research suggests that these ultra-high energy rays derive their energy from magnetic turbulence.

Integrated circuit at the core of the BIOSYNC implant will interface to the cell reservoirs electrically and optically.
Awards & Milestones

Interdisciplinary Columbia Team Wins ARPA-H Award for Up to $41 Million

Engineering school and medical center researchers will build a wireless bioelectronic device to treat obesity and diabetes.

Clockwise from top left: Swirling hydrogen emissions and stars in an area of the night sky known as the cone nebula. The image was taken by the MDW Survey; Illustration of a brain dividing the day into chapters, including "commuting," "meeting," "lunching," and "relaxing"; illustration of a new technique to deliver anti-cancer cargo to the lungs; image of E. coli bacteria, grown in culture and adhered to a cover slip; illustration of a human brain surrounded by neurons.
Research

13 Columbia Science Discoveries That Had an Impact in 2024

Columbia researchers made major breakthroughs in cancer research, neuroscience, earth science, and other fields this year.

Pathological Tau protein (red-orange) phosphorylation (yellow) leads to disintegration of microtubuli and aggregation to neurofibrillary tangles (orange) in a neuron axon. The transport of synaptic vesicles(spheres) is disrupted.
Research

Identifying Protein Biomarkers Associated With Alzheimer's

New findings from Columbia Public Health could lead to advancements in early Alzheimer's detection and treatment strategies.

A worker observes New York City from atop scaffolding.
Research

Data Science Institute Researchers Pioneer Real-Time AI for Smarter, Safer Cities

In the not-so-distant future, many cities will be powered by AI that continuously analyzes data to improve urban living. 

Jane Huang
Office Hours

What Makes Planets Form? And Why Don’t They All Look Like Our Own?

Astronomer Jane Huang is interested in the behavior of protoplanetary disks made of gas, dust, and ice.

A robot cooks eggs.
Research

Advancing Robotics with the Power of Touch

Columbia computer scientists have developed a robot learning system that gives the machines a new level of dexterity.

A map of heatwave hotspots around the world.
Research

Unexplained Heat-Wave ‘Hotspots’ Are Popping Up Across the Globe

Certain regions are seeing repeated heat waves that fall far beyond what any model of global warming can predict or explain.

A textile antenna created by Columbia engineers.
Research

Columbia Engineers Knit a “Blanket” of Sophisticated Radio-Frequency Antennas

Columbia researchers are using traditional knitting techniques to fabricate flexible, lightweight, textile antennas.

Image of a band-aid on a patient's shoulder.
Research

Immune Memory to COVID-19 Vaccination Is Stored Throughout the Body

A study found that, after vaccination, the immune system stockpiles cells for long-term immunity in tissues around the body.