How bias shows up in maps made with citizen science data
When biologist Elizabeth Carlen in Arts & Sciences saw that squirrels were not being reported in north St. Louis, she wanted to know why. Her new paper in People & Nature illustrates how social and ecological factors can create bias in contributory science data.
Space sciences team wins microanalysis award
A team from the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences won the Microanalysis Society’s Macres Award for the best instrumentation/software paper.
Peter Alan Fedders, professor emeritus of physics, 85
Peter Alan Fedders, a professor emeritus of physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died Feb. 22, 2024, in La Jolla, Calif. He was 85. Fedders was an expert in condensed-matter physics who made significant contributions to the theory of nuclear magnetic resonance.
New insight into orchid origins
Research from Washington University in St. Louis shows that orchids probably originated in Eurasia. Biologist Susanne Renner in Arts & Sciences is a senior author of the study in New Phytologist.
Weedy rice gets competitive boost from its wild neighbors
Rice feeds the world, but a look-alike weed can outcompete the crop. A study led by biologist Ken Olsen in Arts & Sciences shows how weedy rice gets its edge in tropical regions of the world.
The ties that bind
Researchers in Arts & Sciences discovered that a common mineral called goethite, found in red soils all over the Earth, tends to naturally trap trace metals over time, locking them out of circulation.
Get your eclipse fix during Saturday Science events
The Department of Physics in Arts & Sciences is offering a series of free public lectures in advance of the 2024 total solar eclipse. The first one, taking place Saturday, Feb 10, is titled: “Cosmic coincidence: The science of eclipses.”
‘Elegance in simplicity:’ A prototype is born
Students at the McKelvey School of Engineering designed prototypes for a device that could help environmental engineers monitor the air quality impact of factory farms in Missouri. The students built their prototypes in the Spartan Light Metal Products Makerspace in Jubel Hall.
Samples from a Wild comet reveal a surprising past
Eighteen years after NASA’s Stardust mission returned to Earth with the first samples from a known comet, the true nature of that icy object is coming into focus, according to physicist Ryan Ogliore in Arts & Sciences.
Four factors that drove 2023’s extreme heat
2023 was the hottest year in recorded history. Michael Wysession, a professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, explains four factors that drove the year’s extreme heat and climate disasters — and what this means for the future.
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