Author: Gerry Everding

A widespread pattern of human-caused environmental degradation and related flood-mitigation efforts began changing the natural flow of China’s Yellow River nearly 3,000 years ago, setting the stage for massive floods that toppled the Western Han Dynasty, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Biology researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are placing their bets on the wild side as they prepare a pack of social amoeba for competition Friday, May 16, in the first-ever Dicty World Race, an international science competition that carries a $5,000 prize for the single-celled organism deemed to be the “smartest and fastest” in negotiating a microscopic maze.

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Three biomedical engineering seniors at WUSTL are gaining national attention for the robotic prosthetic arm they developed for a 13-year-old St. Louis girl. Built on a 3-D printer, the arm  is cheap, functional — and pink.

David Balota, PhD, a leader in the study of cognitive breakdowns that occur in Alzheimer’s, and Steven L. Teitelbaum, MD, a world-renowned bone biologist, will receive Washington University in St. Louis’ 2014 faculty achievement awards, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced.

“Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning” offers students of all ages a clear and compelling primer on the best and worst ways to store and retrieve new knowledge. The book is co-authored by psychologists Henry L. “Roddy” Roediger III and Mark A. McDaniel, leading experts on human learning and memory at Washington University in St. Louis, along with nonfiction writer and novelist Peter C. Brown. 

WUSTL economist Steven Fazzari sees the need for building a strong macroeconomy that can establish a healthy demand for the new products and services created by innovators. His research suggests that innovation alone is not sufficient to build a healthy economy.

Anthropologist Tristram Kidder, PhD, was installed April 7 as the Edward S. and Tedi Macias Professor in Arts & Sciences during a ceremony in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall. Kidder has served as chair of the Department of Anthropology since 2008.

A symposium exploring social and cultural issues at the intersection of professional sports, race, gender and sexual identity will attract leading scholars and book authors to Washington University in St. Louis on April 11.

Charred grains of barley, millet and wheat deposited nearly 5,000 years ago at campsites in the high plains of Kazakhstan show that nomadic sheepherders played a surprisingly important role in the early spread of domesticated crops throughout a mountainous east-west corridor along the historic Silk Road, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.