Arts & Sciences

In March 2010, the ice sheets in Antarctica vibrated a bit more than usual as a surface wave from an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile 3,000 kilometers away passed through the ice. Powerful earthquakes were known to trigger secondary quakes along faults in land; this was the first observation of triggered quakes in the ice. Washington University in St. Louis seismologist Doug Wiens says the finding is one of several discoveries made possible by POLENET, an array of seismic stations that reaches for the first time into the interior of Antarctica.

William E. Cornelius, emeritus trustee and alumnus of Washington University in St. Louis, died Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014, at his home in Huntleigh, Mo. He was 82.

Young people express strong support for marriage equality, but believe the push for same-sex marriage has diverted too much attention from other important issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, suggests a new national survey by researchers at the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis.

Participants in the free summer workshop Theatre for Social Change used their own experiences as well as the ideas of Brazilian director Augusto Boal to explore ways of effecting positive social change. Here, spectator Frances Hubbard-Smith (left) works with Annamaria Pileggi, who directed the workshop.

Jeffrey McCune, PhD, has been named director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in New York, the program aims to increase diversity in higher education by encouraging talented but underrepresented students to pursue doctorates in the humanities and social sciences.

Ila Sheren, PhD, assistant professor of art history and archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, made a presentation at the International Conference on Street Art and Urban Creativity in July in Lisbon, Portugal.

Washington University researchers have found that courses intended to better prepare high school graduates for college also drive some students to drop out. They report that policies increasing the number of required math and science courses are linked to a higher dropout rate.

What paths do quantum particles, such as atoms or photons, follow through quantum state space? Kater Murch of Washington University in St. Louis has used a superconducting quantum device to continuously and repeatedly record the paths the device took through quantum state space. From the cobweb of a million paths, a most likely path between two quantum states emerged, much as social trails emerge as people round off corners or cut across lawns between buildings. The research is featured on the cover of the July 31 issue of Nature.

The recent birth of a female Grevy’s zebra foal at the Saint Louis Zoo marks another milestone in a long-running Washington University in St. Louis research partnership that is making significant contributions to the preservation of Grevy’s zebra and the equally endangered African wild ass.

Barbara Schaal, PhD, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor, is one of 15 scientists from academia and industry named to the new Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the foundation July 23.