Study: Wireless sensors limit earthquake damage
Shirley Dyke (left) and Pengcheng Wang adjust wireless sensors onto a model laboratory building in Dyke’s laboratory. An earthquake engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has successfully performed the first test of wireless sensors in the simulated structural control of a model laboratory building. Shirley J. Dyke, Ph.D., the Edward C. Dicke Professor of Civil Engineering and director of the Washington University Structural Control and Earthquake Engineering Laboratory, combined the wireless sensors with special controls called magnetorheological dampers to limit damage from a simulated earthquake load. More…
Blacks aren’t playing baseball simply because ‘they don’t want to,’ says Gerald Early
NO BYLINEGerald Early’s “Unpopular Answer to a Popular Question.”As Major League Baseball prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary on April 15 of Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the “color barrier,” there’s been a groundswell of dire warnings about the diminishing ranks of African-Americans on big-league rosters. Some say young urban blacks are isolated from the game by racism, poverty and little access to facilities, but Gerald Early, Ph.D., a noted essayist and black culture expert at Washington University in St. Louis, has a much simpler explanation: “Black Americans don’t play baseball because they don’t want to.” More…
Improperly stored or used chemicals can have fatal consequences
Bottles without original labels pose risk.With spring comes cleaning — the house, the yard, the basement and the car. And with cleaning comes potential hazards. People use them every day, but if common cleaners and pesticides are stored or applied incorrectly, they can have fatal consequences, say experts in environmental safety and emergency medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. More…
Majority of American Indians move off reservations, but their cultural, financial services remain behind
Urban American Indian community centers help keep traditions alive.Urban American Indian community centers in the United States can look to their neighbors to the north for an example of how to create a strong national voice, says Dana Klar, J.D., founding and interim director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Today, nearly 60 percent of American Indians reside off-reservation, and because of that, the majority of American Indians do not have ready access to the cultural and financial services provided by tribal and federal agencies on the reservations. “We have more recently realized that a national organization can aid the individual centers in advocacy and policy development efforts that affect all urban American Indians,” Klar says. More…
Wired magazine cites WUSTL’s Science on Tap
Science on Tap, Washington University’s monthly informal science colloquium, is cited in Wired magazine’s April issue. The program is noted along with seven similar forums across the country that promote science conversation in a pub-like setting. Established in fall 2005, Science on Tap highlights topics developed by Danforth Campus scientists through public discussions at Schlafly Bottleworks at 7260 Southwest Ave. in Maplewood.
Blacks not playing baseball is a matter of choice, Early says
As Major League Baseball prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary on April 15 of Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the “color barrier,” Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., professor of English, of African & African American studies and of American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences, publishes a column that argues: “Black Americans don’t play baseball because they don’t want to.”
Rwandan hero to give final spring talk for Assembly Series
Rwandan hero Paul Rusesabagina will speak on his experiences, his ongoing support of Rwanda, the genocide in Darfur, and current issues involving international humanitarian aid, for the final Assembly Series program at 11 a.m.. It is free and open to the public.
Dead Sea cave archaeology is focus of Richard Freund lecture, April 20
Richard Freund, director of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford, will discuss “Temple Treasures in the Dead Sea Caves: New Insights from Archaeology” at 11 a.m. April 20 in Room 301, Lab Sciences Building, Danforth Campus.
Prenatal smoking increases ADHD risk in some children
Smoking while pregnant combined with genetic factors greatly increases the risk of severe ADHD.Past research has suggested that both genes and prenatal insults — such as exposure to alcohol and nicotine — can increase the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But the identified increases in risk have been very modest. Now, a team of Washington University scientists has found that when those factors are studied together, risk of a severe type of ADHD greatly increases.
Activist Brown Trickey speaks for Assembly Series
Social activist, educator and one of the Little Rock Nine, Minnijean Brown Trickey will present “Return to Little Rock” for the Women’s Society annual Adele Starbird Lecture at 11 a.m. April 11 in Graham Chapel. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the event that made Brown Trickey part of American history.
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