Newsroom Stories

The newest computer ransomware to hit on a global scale first appeared late last week. Dubbed “WannaCry,” the malware attacks computers, then demands a ransom in Bitcoin to regain the ability to access files. A cybersecurity expert at Washington University in St. Louis says programmers were aware of the potential trouble months ago, but playing catch-up to remedy the problem is difficult.

No matter how smart, well-prepared or hard-working, many college students struggle with rigorous introductory science courses because their approach to learning fails to provide a working knowledge of abstract concepts that underlie examples presented in the classroom, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Architect and urban designer Anu Samarajiva is deeply attuned to the particularity of place and to the ways social networks shape our experience of the built environment. She graduates wanting to help people think about how social, political and economic systems impact their lives.

With a master’s degree in statistics, a PhD in chemical engineering, an MBA and, soon, a JD from Washington University School of Law, Wei Zhu is clearly brilliant. But also, perhaps, a little crazy? “Oh yes,” Zhu said with a laugh. “I am definitely crazy.” She will serve as the graduate student speaker at Commencement on May 19.

Washington University in St. Louis brain scholars will join teams from four other universities in a five-year, $7.5 million research project that aims to build and test the most comprehensive model yet of how people understand and remember events.

Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on a major transformation of the east end of its Danforth Campus. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held May 5 to recognize the generous donors who made the project possible and to mark the planned start of construction May 22.

A new study by Nancy Morrow-Howell, a leading gerontologist at the Brown School, shows that issues related to safety were of highest concern to Ferguson’s older citizens following the social unrest that gripped the city in August, 2014.

Three students arrived at Washington University in the fall of 2013 with a desire to do something to help the environment. This month, sustainability champions Nick Annin, Elise Fabbro and Nicola Salzman graduate and are poised to fight the globe’s most pressing problem with a powerful tool: the free market.

The Women’s Society of Washington University announced the winners of the Harriet K. Switzer Leadership Award and the Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarship during its annual membership meeting recently.

Over the last four months, students in the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design at Washington University in St. Louis have digitally designed, modeled and constructed prototypes for a 100-foot-long public sculpture. Now, over the next several weeks, the students will fabricate and install the finished piece, titled “Spectroplexus,” at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.