Newsroom Stories

Even in the strange world of open quantum systems, the arrow of time points steadily forward — most of the time. A video details new experiments conducted at Washington University in St. Louis that compare the forward and reverse trajectories of superconducting circuits called qubits, and find that they largely tend to follow the second law of thermodynamics. The research is published July 9 in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Washington University will begin a national search this summer for its next provost. Marion Crain, who holds a dual appointment as vice provost and the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law, will serve as interim provost during the transition.

As ecosystem engineers, bison have been hiding in plain sight for the past 40 years, since archaeologists first discovered that several native plants were domesticated in eastern North America. New research by Natalie Mueller, assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, explains the connection, published July 8 in Nature Plants.

Anne Peterson, of Olin Business School, tapped into the Live Near Your Work employee housing assistance program to rehab an abandoned home in St. Louis’ West End neighborhood. The result was so impressive the Landmarks Association of St. Louis gave Peterson an award for historic rehabilitation. This year, the popular program’s budget expands to $300,000.

Researchers from Olin Business School studied self-managed teams, and found that they tend to create pay inequality. Women “consistently receive bargaining outcomes below their productivity level, while men are consistently overcompensated,” the researchers wrote.

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ 2019 MFA in Visual Art Thesis Exhibition features work by 17 graduating students. Works in various media explore themes such as the politics of race, the role of gender, the poetics of the everyday, and utopian or dystopian futures.

Policy approaches such as tuition-free primary education and paid parental leave both transform norms and improve health for women and their children, finds a new study co-authored by Jessica Levy, associate professor of practice at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting May 3, several faculty members were appointed or promoted with tenure, with most effective July 1.

Researchers at the School of Medicine in St. Louis and Rush University in Chicago have found a compound that promotes a vigorous immune assault on pancreatic cancer. The findings, in mice, suggest a way to improve immunotherapy for the deadly disease in patients.

Two nationally renowned neurosurgeons at the School of Medicine will present BrainWorks, a live theatrical performance that explores the wonders of the human brain by dramatizing real-life neurological cases. The performance, comprised of four one-act plays, will debut July 19-21.