Science & Technology

December/January Science & Technology Tip Sheet

Image by Trent L. Schindler, Nat’l Science Foundation, Arlington, VAComputer-based reconstruction of an arsinoithere, an extinct fossil mammal from Ethiopia that lived 27 million years ago.Tab Rasmussen, Ph.D., a professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, and two of his graduate students, were part of an international team of researchers that discovered new fossils in the highlands of Ethiopia that are filling gaps in scientists’ understanding of the evolution of African mammals. The results are reported in the Dec. 4, 2003, issue of the journal Nature.

Researchers have devised a new hearing test that measures the auditory brainstem response 20 times faster than current methodology.The marvels of mathematics may open the door to a new, improved hearing test for newborns. A mathematician and a recent electrical engineering doctoral graduate from Washington University in St. Louis have devised a hearing test that measures the auditory brainstem response 20 times faster than current methodology. The technique allows for testing on small digital machines that takes just two minutes instead of the hour current methods take, and volunteers instead of medical personnel can administer it. This bodes well for mandatory hearing testing of newborns within three years.

Meriwether Lewis and William ClarkLewis and Clark, meet Robert Criss. Virtual explorer Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has teamed up with Lewis and Clark to provide the oldest determinations of the magnetic declination of America’s interior.

John Lockwood programs the data enabling device to stop the SoBig worm.A computer scientist at Washington University in St. Louis has developed technology to stop malicious software – malware – such as viruses and worms long before it even has a chance to reach computers in the home and office. John Lockwood, Ph.D., an assistant professor of computer science at Washington University, and the graduate students that work in his research laboratory have developed a hardware platform called the Field-programmable Port Extender (FPX) that scans for malware transmitted over a network and filters out unwanted data.

Jeff Ojemann/University of WashingtonImproved imaging of brain’s language areas may replace more invasive pre-surgery mapping techniques, such as the electrocortical stimulation method shown here.Advances in neurosurgery have opened the operating room door for an amazing array of highly invasive forms of brain surgery, but doctors and patients still face an incredibly important decision – whether to operate when life-saving surgery could irrevocably damage a patient’s ability to speak, read or even comprehend a simple conversation. Now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are developing a painless, non-invasive imaging technique that surgeons here are using to better evaluate brain surgery risks and to more precisely guide operations so that damage to sensitive language areas is avoided. The breakthrough could improve odds of success in an increasingly common surgery in which damaged sections of a patient’s temporal brain lobe are removed in an effort to alleviate epileptic seizures. November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month.

November Science & Technology Tip Sheet

SukhatmeA “Colloquium on Energy” lecture and panel discussion will be held on Friday, Oct. 31 from 10 am to 12 pm at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center. The symposium is part of the Washington University “Sesquicentennial Environmental Initiative” to help better understand the role that research universities can play in addressing issues related to the environment. The lecture and panel discussion is co-sponsored by the John M. Olin School of Business and the School of Engineering and Applied Science Environmental Engineering Science Program. A Keynote address on “Alternate Energy Sources: The Indian Context,” will be presented by Professor S. P. Sukhatme, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board in India and professor emeritus and former director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. A panel discussion on energy related issues will follow Professor Sukhatme’s lecture.

Courtesy photoBiologists at Washington University in St. Louis studying groups of lizards have proposed a general pattern among groups in the timing of evolutionary diversification.Many scientists believe that each group of living things evolves in its own idiosyncratic manner. But now biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have proposed a general pattern among groups in the timing of evolutionary diversification.

David Kilper/WUSTL photoWashington University’s Katharina Lodders has developed an innovative periodic table slanted toward astronomy.The periodic table isn’t what it used to be, thanks to innovations by a planetary chemist at Washington University in St. Louis. Katharina Lodders, Ph.D., Washington University research associate professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences, has evalutated data from numerous studies including her own and arranged the data into a periodic table slanted toward astronomers and cosmochemists.