Humanities & Society

Innovative researcher and distinguished professor George M. Whitesides, Ph.D., will speak on revolutionary ideas in the field of chemistry about the origin of life at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, in Graham Chapel as part of the Assembly Series. His talk, “Questions about Questions about the Origin of Life,” is the annual Ferguson Science Lecture […]

Looking back over the recent past, the advances in biomedicine seem astonishing. The birth of the first “test tube baby” 30 years ago, for example, was viewed as exotic and, to some, scary. Now, in vitro fertilization is commonplace. And yet, justifiable ethical concerns surround the human outcomes of these medical breakthroughs. Leon Kass, M.D., […]

Increasing levels of a protein that helps the brain use cholesterol may slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease changes in the brain, according to researchers studying a mouse model of the disease at the School of Medicine.

The university hopes car-sharing will make it easier for faculty, staff and students to use public transportation or carpools to commute to and from campus.Washington University in St. Louis’ Parking & Transportation Services and Enterprise Rent-A-Car© have partnered to bring WeCar™, a car-sharing program, to the university’s Danforth Campus. The program, the first of its kind in the St. Louis area, allows Washington University students, faculty, staff and employees of qualified service providers over age 18 to rent vehicles at an hourly rate. The vehicles will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

As part of his continuing efforts to serve his native country, A. Peter Mutharika, J.S.D., professor of law, has been named Malawi’s Chief Advisor to the President on Constitutional, Legal and International Affairs. Mutharika currently is on leave in Malawi for the 2007-08 academic year. Upon his return, he will serve as Washington University School of Law’s Charles Nagel Professor of International and Comparative Law. In his current role, Mutharika is advising President Bingu wa Mutharika on the constitutionality of the president’s decisions, constitutional reforms and judicial appointments. He also acts as a special presidential envoy to other heads of state and heads of international organizations.

Rather than being gentle giants, new research reveals that Pleistocene cave bears ate both plants and animals and competed for food with the other contemporary large carnivores of the time.Rather than being gentle giants, new research conducted in part by Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, reveals that Pleistocene cave bears ate both plants and animals and competed for food with the other contemporary large carnivores of the time: hyaenas, lions, wolves and our own human ancestors.

When complete, China’s Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River will cost $25 billion and displace more than 1.4 million people.The Chinese government’s recent decision to scrap controversial plans for a huge dam at Tiger Leaping Gorge on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River represents a milestone for growing grassroots political movements in China, suggests the author of a new book on the politics behind China’s epic dam-building campaign.

It’s been almost 100 years since Oxford University Press published the collected works of Edmund Spenser. An English professor and a team of Arts & Sciences undergraduate and graduate students at Washington University in St. Louis are involved in a major project to publish a new edition for Oxford University Press — which will be complemented by an even more substantial digital archive.

Steven SmithToday’s Iowa Caucuses may be the last in which the largely rural, sparsely populated and predominately white conservative Midwestern state exerts such a huge influence on the presidential nomination process, predicts Steven S. Smith, a political expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

It’s easy being green: Idling computers and bottled water, when used wisely, can make minimal impacts on the Earth.Want to begin to be more environmentally friendly in 2008 but can’t afford a hybrid car? Don’t worry — there are plenty of ways to lessen your impact on the environment that don’t come with such a daunting price tag, says Matt Malten, assistant vice chancellor for campus sustainability at Washington University in St. Louis. And they likely will even save you some money without cramping your carbon-creating lifestyle — much.