Studying the brain’s suspension system in TBIs

Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, can be devastating and debilitating. Researchers know that the membranes separating the skull from the brain play a key role in absorbing shock and preventing damage caused during a head impact, but the details remain largely mysterious. New research from a team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis takes a closer at this “suspension system” and the insight it could provide to prevent TBI.

Relay for Life event this weekend

This year’s Relay for Life event will take place starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 8, at Francis Field. The 12-hour event raises funds for the American Cancer Society and its work toward cancer prevention and treatment.

Rice goes rogue

We tend to assume that domestication is a one-way street and that, once domesticated, crop plants stay domesticated. A new study of rice shows, however, that different methods of farming change the evolutionary pressures on crop plants, and the plants easily “de-domesticate,” evolving to take advantage of these opportunities.

Fabricating fashion

Laser-cut skirts. 3D-printed shoes. A glittering top of sewn confetti. On Sunday, April 23, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will present its 88th Annual Fashion Design Show at Third Degree Glass Factory. The event will feature dozens of models wearing scores of outfits by six junior and eight senior fashion design students.

Mars in the hallway

Geologist Phil Skemer, of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, is assembling a database of three-dimensional models of crystal structures, rock outcrops and landforms that will allow students to study geology in three dimensions.