Buried for 100,000 years at Xujiayao in the Nihewan Basin of northern China, the recovered skull pieces of an early human exhibit a now-rare congenital deformation that indicates inbreeding might well have been common among our ancestors, new research from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Washington University in St. Louis suggests.
Studying gene activity in tissue removed from injured knees, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that genes related to obesity and aging may contribute to the development of osteoarthritis, the most common knee disorder and the most common disorder in all of the joints.
Mike Parker Pearson’s research team spent six years on a comprehensive dig in and around Stonehenge, emerging with surprising discoveries and new theories on the origins and purpose of the prehistoric ruins. He will share some of these findings in his Assembly Series lecture, “Stonehenge: New Discoveries” at 4 p.m. Wed., March 27, in Steinberg Hall Auditorium on the Danforth Campus.
WUSTL students are gearing up for the annual Thurtene Carnival, and organizers plan some events this weekend to help bring neighbors together. The Thurtene Junior Honorary will host a neighborhood block party along with basketball clinics (shown, at right, in 2012) and a 3-on-3 tournament.
Zombies at the convenience store. An apocalyptic beauty pageant. Tap-dancing bank robbers and self-aware television characters who turn out to be real. The worlds of Kelly Link are quirky, smart and frequently haunted. On Thursday, March 21, Link, the Visiting Hurst Professor of Creative Writing, will read from her work for The Writing Program Reading Series in Arts & Sciences.
Michael Sherraden, PhD, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, will be among a distinguished list of speakers for the sixth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) to be held at Washington University in St. Louis April 5-7. The announcement was made by President Bill Clinton and by Chelsea Clinton.
Spring Preview, the campus visit program especially designed for recently admitted high school seniors and their families, kicked off this week and runs through April. Student guides begin tours in Danforth Plaza in front of Brookings Hall. In addition to taking tours, prospective students can sit in on classes, talk with faculty, attend meetings and social activities with student groups, and sample the area’s entertainment and cultural attractions.
Noted behavioral economist Dan Ariely, visiting campus in March, took some time to sit down for a chat with friend and fellow researcher Michal Grinstein-Weiss of the Brown School’s Center for Social Development. What do great economic minds talk about when they get together? First, their groundbreaking Refund to Savings program — a joint project that encourages savings through Intuit Inc.’s TurboTax program.
Students from Washington University in St. Louis are gearing up for the annual Thurtene Carnival, and they’ll host community events this weekend — including a block party and youth basketball clinic — to bring the university’s neighbors together to join the fun.
Participants in the 23rd annual Pow Wow at Washington University in St. Louis line up for the grand entrance in the WU Field House March 16. The annual event, hosted by the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School, offered visitors and participants a full day of dancing, singing, drumming, arts, crafts and food. This year’s theme was “Honoring Our Cultures While Strengthening Our Communities.”
