‘Lost crops’ could have fed as many as maize
For thousands of years, goosefoot and knotweed were grown as crops, possibly feeding as many indigenous people of North America as corn. But the domesticated forms of these lost crops became lost over the years, and now a Washington University in St. Louis archaeologist is trying to figure out why — and recreate them.
New Year’s resolution: Wait until spring
Winter is dark. It’s exhausting. It also features the flu, colds and a tendency to stay indoors. So is Jan. 1 really a good time for resolutions? WashU’s Tim Bono has a better idea: Wait a few months.
Survey: Electorate wants candidates, parties to act on climate change
In a November wave of The American Social Survey conducted by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, political scientists polled likely primary voters to find that — despite consensus among Democratic candidates and the Trump administration’s actions to repeal environmental regulations — the two parties’ electorates don’t match their candidates’ stances on climate change.
Staging Frontiers
The Making of Modern Popular Culture in Argentina & Uruguay
Swashbuckling tales of valiant gauchos roaming Argentina and Uruguay were nineteenth-century bestsellers. But when these stories jumped from the page to the circus stage and beyond, their cultural, economic, and political influence revolutionized popular culture and daily life. In this engaging book, William Acree delivers a deep history of Latin American popular entertainment that culminates in […]
Division of Computational and Data Sciences marries AI, social science
The interdisciplinary Division of Computational and Data Sciences, one of a few of its kind in the country, focuses on turning the computational lens on social sciences. In the new PhD program, students have two advisers, one in computer engineering and one in a social science domain from social work and public health, political science, or psychological and brain sciences.
WashU Expert: A ‘powerful and helpful’ word
Merriam-Webster has chosen “they” as the 2019 Word of the Year, a move applauded by an expert on later-in-life gender transitions at Washington University in St. Louis.
The Genealogical Adam & Eve
The Surprising Science of Universal Ancestry
In The Genealogical Adam and Eve, S. Joshua Swamidass tests a scientific hypothesis: What if the traditional account is somehow true, with the origins of Adam and Eve taking place alongside evolution?
Why health insurance in rural communities is so expensive
Small risk pools may contribute to the challenges faced by private insurance plans in rural areas, in which case risk reinsurance, or insurance for the insurer, is a potential policy solution, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
New book examines eating disorders, failure to care for those impacted
A new book from Washington University in St. Louis cultural anthropologist Rebecca Lester explores eating disorders — a topic that impacts and kills almost as many people in the United States as the opioid crisis yet receives a fraction of the sympathy, support or funding.
Tuning into the world of song
Is music universal? To answer that question, Christopher Lucas, assistant professor of political science, worked with colleagues from Princeton and Harvard to analyze music from 315 societies from across the planet. Their findings are published in the Nov. 21 issue of Science.
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