WashU Experts

On Monday, Aug. 29, NASA plans to launch its Orion spacecraft from the world’s most powerful rocket for a trip around the moon. Lunar scientist Bradley L. Jolliff in Arts & Sciences explains why the Artemis mission represents the next great leap in human exploration of space.

John Horn, an economics expert at Olin Business School, explains the math of inflation and why focusing on the annual rate of change, rather than month-to-month inflation changes, makes an already bad situation look worse.

Make peace with food. Honor your hunger. Reject a diet mentality. These are the important lessons that Rebecca Miller, assistant director for nutrition and dietary wellness at Washington University Dining Services, shares with new students.

Want more moderate candidates in the general election? Increasing voters’ participation in primary elections is one of the most effective ways to combat hyperpartisanship, says Daniel Butler, an expert in American politics at Washington University in St. Louis.

Yevgeniy Vorobeychik says discussions about AI sentience are, and always will be, misguided.

Experts from Washington University in St. Louis offer perspectives on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the impact it will have on American law, people and politics.

While the ruling in the Maine case is unsurprising given the court’s recent decisions around freedom of religion, some of the rhetoric around the case misrepresents the role of constitutional protections for religion in a pluralistic society, said John Inazu, expert on law and religion at Washington University in St. Louis.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has displaced millions of people, most of them women and children. This mounting crisis suggests that conflict-related sexual violence, which has been reported in Ukraine, requires urgent action, say Washington University in St. Louis experts on refugees and displaced populations.

If Florida’s action to strip Walt Disney World of its status as a special tax district is indeed retaliatory against the company for its opposition to the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, then Florida has plainly violated the First Amendment, says a constitutional law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

In the wake of the slap heard ‘round the world — actor Will Smith’s blow to comedian Chris Rock’s left cheek — scholars in the business of entertainment in the Olin Business School say the situation is shot through with reputational risk.