Arts & Sciences

Most of the galactic cosmic rays reaching Earth come from nearby clusters of massive stars, according to new observations from NASA’s ACE spacecraft. The distance between the cosmic rays’ point of origin and Earth is limited by the survival of a radioactive isotope of iron, Fe-60, which has a half life of 2.6 million years. These tiny clocks indicate there was a source within spitting distance of Earth within the past few million years.

At 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis and the Assembly Series welcomes to campus John Paul Stevens, who served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court for 35 years until his retirement in 2010.

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum can farm symbiotic bacteria for food by carrying them from generation to generation. New research shows that these bacteria can also protect the amoeba from environmental toxins.

John Bowen, a sociocultural anthropologist and the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named a 2016 Carnegie Scholar by the Carnegie Corp. of New York.

The earth and planetary sciences and physics communities at Washington University gathered April 15 for the second annual Research as Art competition, a chance to consider their research from an aesthetic as well as a scientific point of view.

Two juniors at Washington University in St. Louis have been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the 2016-17 academic year. They are Trevor J. Krolak, a biology and neuroscience major, and Krishna S. Paranandi, who is majoring in molecular biology and biochemistry, all in Arts & Sciences.

Long before Alzheimer’s disease can be diagnosed clinically, increasing difficulties building cognitive maps of new surroundings may herald the eventual clinical onset of the disorder, finds new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

The six Washington University students who went to the Conference of the Parties (COP21) climate negotiations in Paris are well prepared, resilient, tough-minded and in this fight for the duration.

John Paul Stevens, who served as a Supreme Court associate justice from 1975 to 2010, will speak at 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, in Graham Chapel. Afterward, he will take part in a panel discussion on the Second Amendment.

Susan Stiritz, senior lecturer and coordinator of sexuality studies at the Brown School, has been named president-elect of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists.