Science & Technology

Photo by Patrick ShoreAnatahan eruption yields spectacular images, seismic data trove.Washington University geophysicists were fortunate to observe the May 10 eruption of a long dormant volcano on the uninhabited island Anatahan, part of the U.S.-administered Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas in the western Pacific. A seismograph they deployed there only a few days before the unexpected eruption has captured a trove of important seismic data — a detailed chronology of pre- and post-eruption rumblings. While the team’s primary focus is exploring the tectonic forces in the region, the chance capture of detailed volcanic eruption data may offer new avenues of research, perhaps providing tools to help access volcanic and seismic hazards to the people of the Marianas.

TempletonThe notion of race in humans is completely a social concept without any biological basis, according to a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis. There are not enough genetic differences between groups of people to say that there are sub-lineages (races) of humans, said Alan R. Templeton, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. On the other hand, there are different races in many other species, including chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary relatives. Templeton was part of a recent St. Louis panel discussion that previewed the first episode of the National Public Television’s “Race: The Power of an Allusion” series running nationally on May 4, 11, and 18 (check local stations for times).

Viewers will be treated to a lunar eclipse May 15th.A total lunar eclipse of the moon will be visible from across North America late Thursday, but whether the moon turns red depends on the presence of tiny particles in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, says Richard Heuermann, Outreach Program Coordinator in the University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

WillAn astrophysicist at Washington University in St. Louis is disputing the claim that measurements of light bending are useful for determining the speed of gravity.

Science & Technology Tip Sheet

Lewis the robotic photographerMay and June are prom, graduation and wedding months, times when the family camera gets a steaming workout. Computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis can take that camera out of your designated photographer’s hands and perch it atop Lewis, the world’s first robotic photographer.

Valencius unearths a common theme among early settlers in *The Health of the Country*.Poring over stacks of yellowed aging letters and other documents from the 19th century while researching American western expansion, Conevery Bolton Valencius, Ph.D., an environmental historian at Washington University in St. Louis, noted a common theme. Assessments of the “sickliness” or “health” of land pervade settlers’ letters, journals, newspapers and literature from that time. Valencius says that the numerous references throughout 19th-century writings to “healthy country,” “sickly” countryside, or “salubrious” valleys reveal the importance settlers placed on the connections between their bodies and their land. One of the main criteria for choosing where to farm and where to raise a family for the early settlers was whether or not the area would be a healthy place to live.

ChenIn the age of SARS, what the world needs is a better respirator, or breathing mask. As hospitals worldwide face major shortages of masks, Da-Ren Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed material for a breathing mask using nanofibers so tiny and skinny that the entry of harmful particles as minute as viruses and bacteria is nearly impossible. Comprised of just less than two percent material, it is inexpensive to mass-produce, allowing companies a good profit opportunity.

Eighty percent of the United States soybean crop is genetically modified (GM).The clear, cold logic of science is the only approach that can take the hysteria out of the hot debate over genetically modified (GM) crops, says a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis. Barbara Schaal, Ph.D., Washington University professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, told an international gathering of biotechnology researchers at Washington University that GM crops need more close scrutiny and less fear.

Da-Ren Chen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and environmental engineering science at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed material for one using nanofibers so tiny and skinny that the entry of harmful particles as minute as viruses and bacteria is nearly impossible.