Inside the black box of iron oxide formation
Young-Shin Jun, an engineer at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed a new use for a high-energy X-ray technique that has allowed her the first glimpse at the formation of iron hydroxides on a quartz surface. The implications are sweeping.
AAAS names 7 Washington University faculty as 2020 fellows
Seven faculty members at Washington University in St. Louis are among 489 new fellows selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society.
Stronger memories can help us make sense of future changes
Jeffrey Zacks’s latest research turns on its head some popular beliefs about memory, showing that a failed prediction isn’t simply a failure, but also a cue which can help people update their understanding — as long as they realize their prediction was wrong.
Secrets of the ‘lost crops’ revealed where bison roam
Research from Washington University in St. Louis helps flesh out the origin story for the so-called “lost crops” of the Midwest and Northeast. These plants that may have fed as many Indigenous people as maize, but until the 1930s had been lost to history. Natalie Mueller, assistant professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, shares evidence that bison were “co-creators” — along with Indigenous peoples — of landscapes of disturbance that gave rise to greater diversity and more agricultural opportunities.
Bryan Hall recognized with 2020 Merit Award in Architecture
The American Institute of Architects St. Louis recognized Washington University in St. Louis’ Bryan Hall with a 2020 Merit Award in Architecture. Bryan Hall had at one time housed office and lab space for the McKelvey School of Engineering. It was transformed into additional research space for the Department of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences.
Solving for nuclear structure in light nuclei
Saori Pastore, assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, helps explain what happens in nuclei when they decay, scatter among each other or come into contact with subatomic particles. Her recent paper, “Weak Transitions in Light Nuclei,” published in Frontiers in Physics, contributes to a body of increasingly accurate, descriptive calculations of nuclear structure and reactions.
Quantum tunneling pushes the limits of self-powered sensors
Using quantum tunneling, the lab of Shantanu Chakrabartty, at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed self-powered sensors that can run for more than a year.
Pollution and pandemics: A dangerous mix
Research from the lab of Rajan Chakrabarty in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis has found a close relationship between certain pollutants and the spread of COVID-19 through the United States.
Sustainable sanitation
Alumnus Ani Vallabhaneni is co-founder of Sanergy, an organization employing systems-based solutions to solve urban sanitation challenges — and transforming lives in the process.
How a human cousin adapted to a changing climate
A fossil discovery in South Africa suggests that P. robustus evolved rapidly during a turbulent period of local climate change about 2 million years ago, resulting in anatomical changes that previously were attributed to sex. An international research team including anthropologists at Washington University in St. Louis reported their discovery in Nature Ecology & Evolution on Nov. 9.
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