Text reads: “Student identifies new meat-eating dinosaur three times older than T. rex.” Above is an illustration of a dinosaur.
A crushed fossil led to a clearer picture of dinosaur history. 🦖
#VirginiaTech undergraduate student Simba Srivastava spent two years unscrambling an ancient fossil. His findings shed light on how dinosaurs dominated the Jurassic period.
Learn more ➡️ go.vt.edu/un381
Wires on a circuit board.
Students huddle around a computer.
A woman poses smiling in front of computers.
The future of computing is being built at Virginia Tech. 🙌 Inside Yang "Cindy" Yi's new BRICCS Lab in Alexandria, researchers and students are designing smarter, faster, ultra-low-power chips that could shape the next generation of AI.
More about the lab ➡️ brnw.ch/21x1NyX
Michael Halassa, a professor with @fralinbiomed.bsky.social, is integrating neural circuit experiments with computational tools to better measure and treat mental illness. 👏
🔗: brnw.ch/21x1L1G
A drone image shows the April 16 memorial.
Today, we’re remembering and honoring the lives of the 32 Hokies who were tragically taken from their loved ones and the Virginia Tech community on April 16, 2007.
On this 2026 Day of Remembrance, we honor the potential they carried and the lasting impact they have. 🧡 #VTWeRemember
Medical professionals examine the new clean room. Text on screen reads: "new lab removes barrier between research and patient care"
The clean room at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC will enable researchers and companies to manufacture clinical-grade materials that meet federal standards required for testing in patients. 🩺
🔗: go.vt.edu/unPs0
The dense northern Jakarta coastline shows the result of rapid urban expansion as sinking land and rising sea levels threaten low-lying districts and future city resilience. Text reads "Sinking land drives coastal flood risk on densely populated Java Island."
A new #VirginiaTech study reveals that sinking land, not just rising oceans alone, will be the main cause of future coastal flooding along Indonesia’s densely populated Java Island, putting millions at risk sooner than expected.
🔗: go.vt.edu/unHR6
Students work on an architecture project at a long table, blindfolded. Text on screen reads: "redefining architecture for accessible design."
For most people, architecture starts with what they see. For Virginia Tech’s Andrew Gipe-Lazarou and his students, it starts with sound, touch, memory, and movement.
This year, they’re expanding accessible design for people who are blind or visually impaired.
🔗: go.vt.edu/unxr5
Gardens & farms often use herbicides to control weeds. But these same places attract honeybees, which are essential for pollination. What happens when bees are exposed to weedkillers while they forage?
Virginia Tech researchers are looking into it.
🔗: go.vt.edu/unt5J
A photo of a mosquito. Text reads "Scientists identify potential new target for disrupting mosquito reproduction."
A decades-old mosquito mystery, solved. 🦟
Researchers found a single protein (MET) controls reproduction, something scientists thought required two receptors.
The discovery could unlock new ways to control mosquitoes and the diseases they spread.
🔗: go.vt.edu/untii
Carrie Fearer shows models of the endangered butternut tree on her computer. Text reads "New study pinpoints climate conditions for restoring the endangered butternut tree."
#VirginiaTech researchers used advanced habitat modeling to identify where the endangered butternut tree can survive and thrive again. 🙌
🔗: brnw.ch/21x1m39
A phone receiving a spam call. Text reads "Research aims to defeat spam with AI and algorithms."
Every day, millions get the most annoying notification: a spam call.📱
29.6 billion robocalls hit U.S. phones in 2025, many designed to steal info and money.
A #VirginiaTech research team is working to stop them.
🔗: go.vt.edu/und5U
Janusz Jeremiasz Filipiak ’05 (at left) and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Executive Director Zac Doerzaph. Text reads "$2.5 million gift will support transportation safety research and engineering scholarships."
Generosity from Janusz Jeremiasz Filipiak ’05 will advance work at the #VirginiaTech Transportation Institute and in the College of Engineering. 🙌
🔗: go.vt.edu/unbjF
A photo of Xuansong Mao in a lab. Text reads "Understanding how cells adapt after exercise."
Xuansong Mao of @fralinbiomed.bsky.social will use a Lyerly Postdoctoral Excellence Award to research the role of exercise in Alzheimer’s, metabolic conditions, and age-related cognitive decline.
🔗: brnw.ch/21x16Lv
Researchers interact with robots. Text on screen reads: "robots and AI are tackling challenges in construction"
The U.S. construction industry builds $2.1 trillion in projects each year, but many face delays.
A team at Virginia Tech is working on a solution: using robots, drones, and AI-powered technology to monitor construction sites in real time and keep projects on track.
🔗: go.vt.edu/um2s1
A drone slowly lowers a water sampler through the rainforest canopy to collect environmental DNA during the 2024 XPRIZE games. Text reads "What’s that critter? New tech guidelines can help ensure we get the right answer."
Ever wondered what you’re hearing in the woods? New tech can help identify nearby wildlife, but not all tools are created equal. Biologist Julie Allen helped develop guidelines for more trustworthy biodiversity data. 🌳
🔗: go.vt.edu/um2rl
Landon Marston analyzes detailed pictures of where and how water is used. Text reads "$9.5 million grant launches global effort to reanalyze freshwater systems under pressure."
Freshwater systems are under growing strain from overuse, pollution, and climate change, threatening health, ecosystems, and economies.
A new $9.5M effort will build a detailed, daily record of the world’s freshwater systems spanning 60 years.
🔗: go.vt.edu/umZzh
An illustration shows snowflakes forming in the sky. Text on screen reads: "microbes make microplastics more likely to form ice in clouds."
Microplastics are showing up everywhere, even in the water in clouds, rain, and snow, and they may be affecting our weather and temperatures.
🔗: brnw.ch/21x10Zt
A photo of Webster Santos, who was one of numerous Virginia Tech faculty members who worked to achieve patents in 2025. Text reads "Virginia Tech ranks among nation's best for invention patents."
#VirginiaTech is making moves in innovation. 🔬
Ranked No. 59 by the National Academy of Inventors on its 2025 Top 100 U.S. Universities list for granted utility patents, turning ideas into real-world impact.
🔗: go.vt.edu/umSLD
Gabriel Isaac holds a medical device in a lab. Text reads "Research goal: Noninvasive therapy for chronic pain."
Gabriel Isaac, a neuroscience doctoral student conducting research at Virginia Tech, is working to develop safe, effective treatments for chronic pain — without the need for surgery. 🔬
🔗: brnw.ch/21x0SpK
Researchers work in a lab. Text on screen reads: "Reserachers focus on genetics to guide treatment for leukemia patients."
Researchers at Virginia Tech are aiming to refine relapse prediction in leukemia patients.
🔗: go.vt.edu/umMK1
(From left) Chrissy and Flori Bliss doing physical rehabilitation exercises at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Text reads "How one rescue dog found new life in rehab at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital."
When Chrissy lost mobility, her family explored every option, finding hope through rehabilitation at Virginia Tech’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital. 🧡
🔗: go.vt.edu/umMD3
An image shows a scientist working in a lab. Text on screen reads: "experimental vaccine could help turn the tide on America's opioid epidemic."
Virginia Tech researchers are advancing a new generation of vaccines designed to block opioids from reaching the brain and triggering their addictive effects, work that could help prevent overdose deaths that now exceed 100,000 each year in the United States.
🔗: brnw.ch/21x0QKs
A plane flies high above the clouds. Text reads "fantastic fungi found with ability to freeze water."
Can fungi influence the weather? Turns out, they just might. 🍄
A recent study unveils how fungal proteins have lead to new discoveries in weather engineering.
🔗: brnw.ch/21x0Qws
A photo of U.S. 21 near Independence, Virginia, closed because of a landslide from Hurricane Helene. Independence serves as the county seat of Grayson County in southwestern Virginia, where Hurricane Helene caused significant damage, including landslides that destroyed much of U.S. 21 along the mountainside outside town. Text reads: Study focuses on health care in Appalachian areas recovering from Hurricane Helene.
Julie Gohlke is leading a multi-university research effort to understand how the catastrophic inland impacts of Hurricane Helene will continue to shape the health of Appalachian communities for years — perhaps decades — to come.
🔗: go.vt.edu/umIDY
The Illuminate 2023 student cohort in Senegal. Text reads: Illuminate links Appalachia and Senegal through food safety education
Through immersive, applied training, students design and deliver community workshops in food safety and home food preservation while gaining hands-on experience that prepares them for careers in Extension and agricultural education. 🙌
🔗: go.vt.edu/umGyn
From left) Zhen Shao, Kaiwu Huang, and Victor Akinlosose conduct flotation experiments in the lab as part of a new research agreement with Hindustan Zinc Limited, one of the world’s leading zinc and silver producers.
#VirginiaTech’s Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering launched a new research agreement with one of the world’s top zinc and silver producers to improve silver recovery across its lead-zinc processing plants in India. 👏
🔗: go.vt.edu/umvfK
Reid Dameron poses with a laptop. Text on screen reads: "game design starts here"
Reid Dameron '25 turned his passion for games into practical tools that help students learn how games are built, step by step, in Newman Library’s fourth-floor Gaming Studio. 🎮
🔗: go.vt.edu/umu9y
McKenzie Tate next to a rain gauge at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's office in Blacksburg. Text reads: Student research would improve high-impact flash flood warnings in rural Virginia
McKenzie Tate’s work on expanding ground-based observation networks across Appalachia could improve rainfall estimates, strengthen warning systems, and help protect communities facing increasingly extreme precipitation events. 🌧️
🔗: brnw.ch/21x0Gn2
A photo of the inside of a building where cosntruction is being done. Text reads "A better built environment."
The Virginia Tech-led Coalition for Smart Construction connects researchers, industry partners, and emerging technologies to accelerate innovation in the construction industry through collaborative research and development. 🙌
Learn more ➡️ go.vt.edu/umohz
Pedestrians walk on the Creeper trail. Text on screen reads: "Study underscores Virginia Creeper Trails role in Virginia economy"
A new Virginia Tech study quantifies the Virginia Creeper Trail's growing regional significance and its role as a major economic engine for Southwest Virginia.
🔗: brnw.ch/21x0wxG
