Science & Technology

Researchers at Washington University are working to develop an anaerobic digestion process using cyanobacterium to grow food in space.

The forgotten story of how a diminutive 1955 fine arts major named Pat Bridges played a key role in sending astronauts to the Moon.

Paul Byrne, an associate professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at WashU, was featured in “Volcano Worlds,” a PBS Nova documentary about the powerful volcanic eruptions that have shaped worlds across our solar system.

McKelvey School of Engineering researchers received a federal grant to develop low-power, high-performance radar systems.

A WashU-led team successfully launched the DR-TES mission Sept. 24 from NASA’s balloon launch facility in New Mexico. Physicists in Arts & Sciences are using this mission to test quantum X-ray and gamma-ray detectors in near-space conditions.

The Europa Clipper mission is the first to specifically target Jupiter’s ocean moon for detailed science investigation. In this Q&A, WashU’s William B. McKinnon, a science team member, describes what’s at stake when it launches next month.

Scientists from Washington University in St. Louis have launched a balloon-borne telescope to unlock the secrets of astrophysical black holes and neutron stars, some of the most extreme objects in the universe. XL-Calibur launched July 9.

In a laboratory setting, experimental petrologists at Washington University recreated the magnetizing reactions that could be causing the mysterious, light-colored features on the Moon’s surface, known as lunar swirls.

Washington University scientists, including Kun Wang in Arts & Sciences, are part of a team that reported that near-Earth asteroid Bennu’s dust is rich in carbon and nitrogen, as well as organic compounds, all of which are essential components for life as we know it. 

Tomás Collado, a rising senior studying mechanical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, has been named an Astronaut Scholar, one of the nation’s most prestigious STEM fellowships.