Newsroom Stories

Using a miniature electronic device implanted in the brain, scientists have tapped into the internal reward system of mice, prodding neurons to release dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure. This LED light can activate brain cells and may lead to the mapping of circuits involved in sleep, depression and addiction.

Washington University’s Gerald L. Early, PhD, a noted essayist and American culture critic, will get a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.  A eremony marking Early’s induction into the Walk of Fame in The Loop will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 11, in front of the Moonrise Hotel, 6177 Delmar Blvd.

The nation’s oldest and largest student-run carnival gets under way soon. The community event brings together students, faculty and staff from WUSTL with surrounding neighbors and the greater St. Louis community for a weekend filled with rides, carnival fare and family-friendly plays. More than 80,000 people are expected to attend the Thurtene Carnival April 19-21.

The City of St. Louis is poised to lead the way in innovative solutions to the national urban issue of vacant land, thanks to a unique partnership between the city and Washington University. Four of the city’s vacant lots will be the new home for five demonstration projects that test new ways to think of vacant space, thanks to the winning teams in the inaugural Sustainable Land Lab Competition.

Winners of the eight annual YouthBridge Social Enterprise and Innovation Competition (SEIC) and $164,000 in awards were announced April 10. Winning teams represented community and WUSTL social entrepreneurs. Their social venture ideas ranged widely, covering youth, teens, homeless and collaboration among all types of social enterprises.

The Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis has announced the appointment of Richelle Simmons Clark as co-director of the Center for Community Health & Partnerships.

On April 15, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, a case that could answer the question, “Under what conditions, if any, are isolated human genes patentable?” Kevin Emerson Collins, JD, patent law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, believes that layered uncertainties make this case an unusually difficult case in which to predict the outcome.

Filibuster has become a popular tool for legislators. “Republicans have held the U.S. Senate hostage despite their minority status and losses in the last election,” says Merton Bernstein, emeritus professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Indeed, the threat of a filibuster enables the minority to exact concessions that the electorate had already rejected in several elections. This sabotage of the democratic process not only shuts down the legislative process, short circuits the confirmation of presidential nominees, but also threatens large foreign purchases of U.S. bonds that lower interest rates for federal, state and business borrowing.”

Two WUSTL offices earned gold-level certified in the first year of the Green Offices Program: the Institute for Public Health and Environmental Health & Safety. The program uses a points-based, self-assessment checklist so offices across the university can become sustainability champions. The plaques, made out of reclaimed lumber, embody the values of sustainability.

Either physical therapy or arthroscopic surgery can relieve pain and improve mobility in patients with a torn meniscus and arthritis in the knee, according to researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and six other centers. But the results are not simple because many of the patients assigned to physical therapy eventually had surgery.