Newsroom Stories

Cereal grains — including wheat, rice, barley and millet — are the most important food sources in the world today. Focusing on the ancient history of staple cereals in China, archaeologist Xinyi Liu in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis shows how the timing of the translocation of novel food crops reflects a range of choices that communities made — sometimes driven by ecological pressure and sometimes by social conditions or ‘culinary conservatism.’

Although viruses such as herpes simplex can infect the eye’s cornea and Zika virus has been found in corneal tissue and tears, new School of Medicine research suggests the cornea can resist infection from the novel coronavirus.

By studying animals choosing between drink options, School of Medicine researchers have found that the activity of certain neurons in the brain leads directly to the choice of one option over another. The findings could lead to better understanding of how decision-making goes wrong in conditions such as addiction and depression.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and the Washington University in St. Louis Athletic Complex is ready to welcome students, faculty and staff who are registered to vote in St. Louis County. Polls open at 6 a.m Tuesday and will remain open until all voters in line by 7 p.m. have voted. Daily self-screening and face masks will be required. 

The School of Medicine is a testing site for a phase 3 clinical research study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate from the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies. The school will enroll up to 500 adults ages 18 and older in the St. Louis region.

Researchers in the lab of Daniel Giammar, in McKelvey School of Engineering have devised a simple, quick and inexpensive way to quantify how much lead is trapped by a water filter.

Penina Acayo Laker, assistant professor of communication design, discusses the Sam Fox School’s new interdisciplinary minor in creative practice for social change.

A recent survey conducted by the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis found that a majority of voters — 95% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans — recognize evidence for climate change. But partisans differ in how serious they view the issue, what they believe is causing global warming and their support for policies to address the problem.

For the fourth year, the Source asked a group of first-year students to track their first 40 days on campus, one second of video at a time. They captured walks on campus, Zoom classes and masks — lots and lots of masks. And previous vloggers shared how the COVID crisis has impacted their college careers.

In the past three years, eight students kept a video diary of their first days as first-year students. Find out what has changed for them in the past year.