Science & Technology

Five Washington University scientists, including Jung-Tsung Shen, PhD, recently received Bear Cub grants. The funding helps researchers commercialize their discoveries.

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, a geologist and Apollo 17 astronaut, will be visiting Washington University in St. Louis the week of May 20 for a round of activities centered on lunar exploration, including a seminar about Schmitt’s geological exploration of the Moon’s Valley of Taurus-Littrow, an “exploration forum” and the review meeting of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera’s team, which is being hosted by WUSTL’s Brad Jolliff.

Two WUSTL graduate students are competing in a National Science Foundation essay contest, the Innovation in Graduate Education Challenge. They propose a new course to teach graduate students how to communicate their work to the general public. Vote for their idea online now through May 29.

Bethany Ehlmann, who graduated from WUSTL in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in earth and planetary science, has been selected as one of 17 Emerging Explorers by National Geographic. The Emerging Explorers Program recognizes and supports uniquely gifted and inspiring adventurers, scientists and innovators who are at the forefront of discovery, adventure and global problem-solving while still early in their careers.

WUSTL neurologist John C. Morris, MD, has received the Alzheimer’s Association’s Medical and Scientific Award for 2013.

Four startup companies with ties to Washington University in St. Louis have received $50,000 each in the Arch Grants 2013 Global Startup Competition designed to stimulate and support the early stage entrepreneurial community in St. Louis.

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) has announced the award winners for its 2013 Call for Proposals. This year, special emphasis was placed on projects related to climate change.

The Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion in Bowman v. Monsanto holds that farmers who lawfully obtain Monsanto’s patented, genetically modified soybeans do not have a right to plant those soybeans and grow a new crop of soybeans without Monsanto’s permission. “The Court closed a potential loophole in Monsanto’s long-standing business model, prevents Monsanto’s customers from setting up ‘farm-factories’ for producing soybeans that could be sold in competition with Monsanto’s soybeans, and it enables Monsanto to continue to earn a reasonable profit on its patented technology,” says Kevin Collins, JD, patent law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis

School of Medicine researchers have shown that several markers for presymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease identified in recent years are accurate predictors of Alzheimer’s years before symptoms develop. Catherine Roe, PhD, says researchers found no differences in the accuracy of the biomarkers.

High school students competed at the annual Boeing Engineering Challenge at the WU Field House May 3. About 100 area high school students from six school districts on 25 teams visited the WUSTL campus to take part in the Boeing Challenge. The teams competed to determine which glider had the farthest flight, straightest path, longest hang time or highest quality of flight. Pictured are Eureka High School students who built a glider.