Newsroom Stories

Biologists led by Richard Vierstra in Arts & Sciences have determined the molecular structure of the vital photoreceptor PhyB, revealing a wholly different structure than previously known. The findings, published March 30 in Nature, have many implications for agricultural and “green” bioengineering practices.

Architecture inspired by biology is not a new concept. But typically, “architecture has imitated the imagery of biology and nature without awareness of the underlying mechanisms,” argue Ram Dixit and Sung Ho Kim in “Cellular Transformations: Between Architecture and Biology.”

In the wake of the slap heard ‘round the world — actor Will Smith’s blow to comedian Chris Rock’s left cheek — scholars in the business of entertainment in the Olin Business School say the situation is shot through with reputational risk.

Mae Jemison, an engineer, physician and the first woman of color to travel into space, will deliver the 2022 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. The university’s 161st Commencement ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. Friday, May 20, on Francis Olympic Field on the Danforth Campus.

Women continue to be underrepresented in top jobs in America’s institutions of higher education, holding less than 40% of executive leadership roles. One notable exception is Washington University in St. Louis, where women comprise 89% of Chancellor Andrew D. Martin’s cabinet.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have found that many people who tested positive for the coronavirus in the early months of the pandemic also experienced peripheral neuropathy — pain, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet — during and following their bouts with COVID-19.

With the war in Ukraine only seeming to ramp up, instead of down, and Vladimir Putin’s aggression against those who defend the Ukrainian people increases, Liberty Vittert, a data science expert at Olin Business School, said it’s only a matter of time until the U.S. faces a cyber attack. But that begs the question: What constitutes an act of war against the United States?

Shantanu Chakrabartty at the McKelvey School of Engineering proposes a new kind of encryption to protect data in the age of quantum computers.

Biologist Michael Landis has developed a new method to measure the extent to which regional geographic features — including barriers between regions, like mountains or water — affect local rates of speciation, extinction and dispersal for species. He considered anole lizards as a test case.

Although not every violation of the law of war amounts to a ‘war crime,” the facts emerging from the conflict thus far are deeply troubling, says international criminal law expert Leila Sadat.