Sensor networks protect containers, navigate robots
Aristo, the Washington University robot, uses sensor networks to avoid simulated “fire” – red cups – while navigating near “safe” areas,which are blue cups.Agent 007 is a mighty versatile fellow, but he would have to take backseat to agents being trained at Washington University in St. Louis. Computer scientist engineers here are using wireless sensor networks that employ software agents that so far have been able to navigate a robot safely through a simulated fire and spot a simulated fire by seeking out heat. Once the agent locates the fire, it clones itself – try that, James Bond — creating a ring of software around the fire. A “fireman” can then communicate with this multifaceted agent through a personal digital assistant (PDA) and learn where the fire is and how intense it is. Should the fire expand, the agents clone again and maintain the ring – an entirely different “ring of fire.” More…
Firstborns under the right circumstances more likely to be creative
Expectant parents eagerly await the arrival of their bundle of joy, hoping that they will have the most beautiful and intelligent baby in the world. While parents might not have direct control over brains and looks, new research from a business professor at Washington University in St. Louis finds that parents can influence their firstborn’s creativity. More…
Lewis and Clark data show narrower, more flood-prone River
Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, has analyzed data from the Lewis and Clark expedition and says it shows that the Missouri River today is but a shadow of what it was two hundred years ago, narrower and more prone to serious flooding.A geologist at Washington University in St. Louis and his collaborator at Oxford University have interpreted data that Lewis and Clark collected during their famous expedition and found that the Missouri River has markedly narrowed and its water levels have become more variable over the past two hundred years. This narrowing, or channeling, created by wing dikes and levees constructed mainly in the 20th century, has put the Missouri River at an increased risk of more damaging floods, the authors say. They blame the fact that the river cannot spread out as it did naturally at the turn of the 19th century, thus forcing water levels higher. More…
Researchers study reimbursing living organ donors for out-of-pocket expenses
More than 80,000 people in the United States are on waiting lists for organ transplants. Some will have to wait for the death of a matching donor, but more and more people are receiving organs from living donors. In an effort to close the gap between organ supply and demand, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, the University of Michigan and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons are studying ways to reimburse living donors for some of their out-of-pocket expenses when they choose to donate an organ.
Elusive civil rights court records now just a click away with new online database
Photo courtesy Library of Congress.Thurgood Marshall (center) with George E.C. Hayes and James Nabri celebrating the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.For the past 50-plus years, civil rights litigation has greatly affected Americans’ lives. It has secured our Constitutional rights, and it has dramatically improved many of our public and private institutions. Information about these cases, however, has been exceedingly difficult to locate. Until now. More…
Native American Indian Heritage month comes and goes with little fanfare
Preserving a treasured culture.Nearly every federal policy directed toward Native Americans since the time of America’s discovery has been a policy of either annihilation or assimilation. For this reason, Native Americans have not been fully recognized as vibrant, valued and productive, 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. “Our government has sent the message, ‘We’ve been able to assimilate you. Why separate you?'” This paradox, says Klar, helps to explain why Native American Indian Heritage month, which began Nov. 1, often comes and goes with very little fanfare. More…
Wrongful executions to be examined at WUSTL law conference Nov. 17
The WUSTL School of Law’s Clinical Education Program and Center for Interdisciplinary Studies will host the sixth annual Access to Equal Justice conference Nov. 17 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall. The conference will focus on “Examining the Risks of Wrongful Executions and the Role of Prosecutors, Defense Attorneys, Academia and the Press.” Panelists will examine four criminal cases that many critics believe ended in the executions of innocent defendants.
Exploring the social responsibility of business: Final Danforth Lecture features former head of Merck
Vagelos will explore these examples in detail for his talk on “The Social Responsibility of Business” to be held at 4 p.m. Monday, November 13, in Graham Chapel. The program will also feature a panel discussion featuring Washington University-associated business experts. It is the final installment of the Danforth Lecture Series.
Assembly Series closes fall schedule with Holocaust Memorial Lecture
Journalist and author David Rieff will give a talk for the Holocaust Memorial Lecture as part of the Washington University Assembly Series at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, November 8, in Graham Chapel on the Danforth Campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Feminist author and critic bell hooks to deliver Black Arts & Sciences address
bell hooks, the ground-breaking feminist author, teacher, social activist and cultural critic, will give the Black Arts & Sciences Lecture for the Assembly Series at 11 a.m., Wednesday, November 1 in Graham Chapel. The lecture, “Self-Determination: Where Do We Begin?” is free and open to the public.
Older Stories