Author: Talia Ogliore

Eric Hsu, a senior majoring in biology in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded the 2019 Spector Prize. The prize recognizes academic excellence and outstanding undergraduate achievement in research.

An internship gave Cameron Hill, a senior in Arts & Sciences, the opportunity to make real connections with people at a St. Louis jail and informed her effort to propose changes to the bail system. After graduation, and before applying to medical schools, she will embark on a traveling research fellowship with the American Voices Project.

Iris Marie Chin, a senior majoring in biology in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded the 2019 Ralph S. Quatrano Prize. The prize is awarded to the thesis showing greatest evidence of creativity in design, research methodology or broader scientific implications.

The university’s interdisciplinary Center for Quantum Sensors aims to harness the power of quantum mechanics to detect and decipher some of the universe’s greatest mysteries. The effort is timely as Congress recently approved a federal program supporting the development of quantum technologies.

New research from Washington University in St. Louis finds that women and mice both shift their daily schedules earlier by up to a few hours during the first third of their pregnancy. The new study shows how impending motherhood induces changes in daily timing of a mother which, when disrupted, may put a pregnancy at risk, as reported in the Journal of Biological Rhythms.

The American Society of Naturalists has recognized Jonathan B. Losos, the William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor at Washington University and director of the Living Earth Collaborative, with its 2019 Sewall Wright Award.

Researchers in Arts & Sciences made an energy storage device that can withstand a hammer striking it more than 40 times. The shatterproof supercapacitor is also nonflammable, unlike lithium-ion batteries. The new work is the cover story of the April 23 issue of the journal Sustainable Energy and Fuels.

A new study reveals the surprising way that family quarrels in seeds drive rapid evolution. Conflict over resources seems to play a special role in the development of certain seed tissues, according to Washington University in St. Louis research led by David Queller and Joan Strassmann in Arts & Sciences.

Helium is a valuable, non-renewable resource that is critical for many medical and research applications. But helium supply and pricing are unreliable. Sophia Hayes, a professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, spoke at a recent American Chemical Society webinar about the need for congressional action to address these challenges.

Researchers in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis have figured out how to feed electricity to microbes to grow truly green, biodegradable plastic, as reported in the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology.