Cause and effect, or effect and cause?

Cause and effect, or effect and cause?

A lab at Washington University in St. Louis is one of the first in the world to look at spontaneous emission with an instrument sensitive to the wave rather than the particle nature of light. Because the light is entangled with the atom that emitted it, this kind of detection may provide a way to control the quantum state of the atom.
Multicultural geology

Multicultural geology

This spring, theory-heavy Washington University in St. Louis geology students went on a field trip to southeastern Spain with field-trained students from Trinity College, Dublin. What they learned from each other transcended earth — and time.
Why is radioactive iron raining down on us?

Why is radioactive iron raining down on us?

Most of the galactic cosmic rays reaching Earth come from nearby clusters of massive stars, according to new observations from NASA’s ACE spacecraft. The distance between the cosmic rays’ point of origin and Earth is limited by the survival of a radioactive isotope of iron, Fe-60, which has a half life of 2.6 million years. These tiny clocks indicate there was a source within spitting distance of Earth within the past few million years.
Why don’t plants grow upside down?

Why don’t plants grow upside down?

We take so many things for granted. Why do trees grow only so tall and no taller? Why do some potatoes have those mysterious brown holes in them? And why do plants grow right-side up instead of upside-down? Eric Hamilton, PhD ’16, explores the question.
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