Science & Technology

Rohan Mishra, assistant professor of mechanical engineering & materials science in the McKelvey School of Engineering, led a widespread team of researchers — including at Washington University, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and at the University of Missouri-Columbia — that studied the structure and properties of the commonly occurring planar defects at the atomic scale, which spans only a few tenths of a nanometer.

Long before Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and even MySpace, early Mississippian Mound cultures in America’s southern Appalachian Mountains shared artistic trends and technologies across regional networks that functioned in similar ways as modern social media, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Ray Arvidson, professor of Earth and planetary sciences and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, talks about the end of Opportunity’s longer-than-expected 15-year mission — he was the deputy principal investigator for the Mars exploration rover for NASA.

Pratim Biswas, the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, considered one of the highest honors in the field of engineering.

The Green New Deal, announced this week by Democratic members of Congress, may not amount to quick change but at least begins a conversation toward critical climate change goals, said an environmental law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

While Trump’s legacy may indeed hinge on his ability to overcome partisan differences, ongoing research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that most U.S. presidents are destined to fade quickly from the nation’s collective memory.

A recent study in Geophysical Research Letters proposes a new way to leverage signals contained in water molecules to decode the atmospheric processes that accompany changing tropical weather and climate patterns.

Prehistoric peasant farmers struggling to put more food on the table fueled the global spread of some of the world’s first and most important domesticated grain crops beginning as early as 7,000 years ago, according to an international study led by anthropologists at Washington University in St. Louis.

Does this recent extreme cold snap spell bad news for mosquitoes and ticks this summer? Not necessarily. Researchers at Tyson Research Center, the environmental field station for Washington University in St. Louis, offer insight into how both insects are surviving the Polar Vortex that has gripped most of the Midwest and eastern United States.

If an event is otherwise highly enjoyable, pausing to take photographs will detract from a person’s engagement and enjoyment … and potentially affect the business visited, according to research by a team that included Olin Business School’s Robyn LeBoeuf.