Newsroom Stories

Mark Alford, PhD, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, participated Jan. 29 in a roundtable discussion in New York about the quantum mind theory of consciousness. Quantum mind is a fashionable theory originally proposed by physicist Roger Penrose that grounds perception in the periodic collapse of quantum entangled electrons in our brain. Alford, who studies phenomenon that can only be explained by quantum mechanics nonetheless played the role of the skeptic in the discussion, which was videotaped and posted on the web.

Doc M. Billingsley, graduate student in anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has received a one-year, $9,445 grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for research titled “Networks of K’iche Knowledge Production: An Ethnography of Memory in Practice.” … Peter Burgers, PhD, the Marvin A. Brennecke Professor of Biological Chemistry, received an honorary doctorate in medicine from Umeå […]

The inaugural class has been selected for the Professional Leadership Academy & Network (PLAN), a yearlong professional development program intended to cultivate future leaders at Washington University in St. Louis. And according to PLAN committee members, it was no easy task to choose the class of 26 from the “talented staff pool” of applicants.

Poet Kathleen Peirce will ready from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, for Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences. Peirce is the author of four books of poetry: Mercy (1991), Divided Touch, Divided Color (1995), The Oval Hour (1999) and The Ardors (2004). 

High school students who smoke, drink, use drugs or engage in other risky behaviors also are more likely to become pregnant or to impregnate a sexual partner, according to new research from psychiatry researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And it wasn’t just one pregnancy. Those involved in risky activities had an even greater risk for multiple pregnancies. 

Cultural critic and Iranian scholar Hamid Dabashi, PhD, will give an Assembly Series presentation at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, in Steinberg Hall Auditorium. His address, “The End of an Islamic Republic,” is free and open to the public. A prolific author, Dabashi has published 20 books on Islamic and Iranian history, philosophy, art and culture; Persian and comparative literature; current affairs; world cinema; and the aesthetics of art.

The Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Washington University will hold an opening celebration symposium Tuesday, March 1.

Crop yields from India’s first genetically modified crop may have been overemphasized, as modest rises in crop yields may come at the expense of sustainable farm management, says a new study by a Washington University in St. Louis anthropologist.

CBS interactive / cnet UK Can 3D movies and games damage your eyes, or those of your children? 2/3/2011 So are all we all risking blindness by gawping at 3D displays and movies through those dangerously uncool glasses? Dr. Lawrence Tychsen, professor of pediatrics and ophthalmology at Washington University in St Louis, has been making […]

Commercials during the Super Bowl may be some of the most watched ads on broadcast T.V., but Olin marketing professors say social media has changed the game. Advertisers need to engage the audience before, during and after the game with strategies that include everything from smartphones to Twitter.