Local cooking preferences drove acceptance of new crop staples in prehistoric China

Local cooking preferences drove acceptance of new crop staples in prehistoric China

Cereal grains — including wheat, rice, barley and millet — are the most important food sources in the world today. Focusing on the ancient history of staple cereals in China, archaeologist Xinyi Liu in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis shows how the timing of the translocation of novel food crops reflects a range of choices that communities made — sometimes driven by ecological pressure and sometimes by social conditions or ‘culinary conservatism.’
Majority of all voters say climate change is real; more Democrats consider it a problem

Majority of all voters say climate change is real; more Democrats consider it a problem

A recent survey conducted by the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis found that a majority of voters — 95% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans — recognize evidence for climate change. But partisans differ in how serious they view the issue, what they believe is causing global warming and their support for policies to address the problem.
Fail Better with Celia McKee

Fail Better with Celia McKee

When Celia McKee, a doctoral student studying neuroscience, revealed on Twitter that her grant had been rejected, she wasn’t looking for pity, but asking for honesty. Her message struck a chord: more than 225,500 users liked the viral post and 15,000 shared the message.
Yang’s work with quantum materials honored by APS

Yang’s work with quantum materials honored by APS

Li Yang, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, conducted research with black phosphorus — a material with a thickness of just a few atomic layers — in a study that is hailed as a milestone of the past 50 years by the Physical Review B, an academic journal of the American Physical Society.
What cold lizards in Miami can tell us about climate change resilience

What cold lizards in Miami can tell us about climate change resilience

Scaled survivors of the coldest night in south Florida’s recent history all converged on the same new, lower limit of thermal tolerance, regardless of their species’ previous ability to withstand cold. Biologist James Stroud in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis led the team that reported the findings in the journal Biology Letters.

‘At the edge of political crisis’

Poet, dramatist, translator and literary theorist John Dryden was a central figure in the politics and culture of Restoration England. In a new survey for Oxford University Press, WashU’s Steven Zwicker provides an authoritative overview of Dryden’s influential 40-year career.
Barch, Bateman elected to National Academy of Medicine

Barch, Bateman elected to National Academy of Medicine

Deanna M. Barch, chair of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences and the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, and Randall J. Bateman, MD, professor of neurology at the School of Medicine and director of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network and Trials Unit, have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
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