Photo by Don DavisRotating black hole: one of nature’s most perfect objectsA physicist at Washington University in St. Louis has found a new twist on a 40-year-old discovery — “the Carter constant” — about the motion of particles in the external field of a rotating black hole. Clifford M. Will, Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences, has shown that even in Newton’s gravity, arrangements of masses exist whose gravitational field also admits a Carter-like constant of motion. The finding has implications for gravitational-wave astronomy, he says.
Computer science faculty at Washington University in St. Louis are exposing their undergraduate students to learning in ways that prepare them for interaction in the real work place. It’s not about “staying between the lines,” but more about getting out of your seat, moving around and interacting with your classmates. It’s called active learning, a learning-laboratory- based tutorial teaching concept.
Bon Appétit Management Company, the University’s dining services vendor, will be offering free food samples from local farmers from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 25 in Room 276 of the Danforth University Center.
WUSTL has fielded questions from groups from other universities about how WUSTL implemented the bottled water ban.Faculty, students and staff on Washington University in St. Louis’ Danforth, North and West campuses no longer can find bottled water in vending machines or at most campus eateries. Because of concerns about the environmental impact of bottled water, WUSTL ended sales of the product in January, and administrative offices no longer offer bottled water at events and meetings.
Students, staff and faculty are invited to volunteer by Feb. 27 for a new component of the Each One Teach One program: Helping high school students prepare for Advanced Placement exams.
The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability will hold an open house at 4 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Wilson Hall Third Floor Atrium.
ShaughnessyPoet Brenda Shaughnessy will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 5, in Hurst Lounge, Room 201, Duncker Hall, on Washington University’s Danforth Campus. Her collection titled “Human Dark with Sugar” is one of five finalists for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry.
Differences in the way they use their genes cause different strains of the E. coli bacterium to take on different hues.Bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs) make more tools for stealing from their host than friendly versions of the same bacteria found in the gut, researchers at the School of Medicine and the University of Washington have found. The tools, compounds called siderophores, allow the bad bacteria to steal iron from their hosts, making it easier for the bacteria to survive and reproduce.
Photo by Herb WeitmanHaving undergone a renovation, Steinberg Hall will take the spotlight at a rededication celebration Monday, Feb. 23, that includes renaming Steinberg Auditorium after Etta Eiseman Steinberg (left).
Brain cells long lumped into the same category have hidden differences that may contribute to the formation of tumors, according to a new study from researchers at the School of Medicine. Scientists showed that brain cells known as astrocytes make use of different genes depending on what region of the mouse brain they came from. These differences are too subtle to overtly mark them as distinct cell types, but substantial enough to make it easier for the cells to multiply more in response to genetic changes that increase cancer risk.