Arts & Sciences

Some wild clones of social amoebas farm the bacteria they eat, but this is a losing strategy if nonfarming amoebas can steal the farmers’ crops. To make the strategy work, the farmers also carry bacteria that secrete chemicals that poison free riders. The work suggest farming is complex evolutionary adaptation that requires additional strategies, such as recruiting third parties, to effectively defend and privatize the crops, the Washington University in St. Louis scientists say.

W​hether it’s Edgar Degas sketching ballerinas or Lou Reed singing about “Romeo and Juliette,” the arts don’t exist in a vacuum. Lines get blurred, influences get shared, inspirations get gloriously tangled. This fall, four WUSTL areas have banded together to create Arts First, a multidisciplinary, campus-wide subscription package.

In a few days, a balloon-borne telescope sensitive to the polarization of high-energy “hard” X-rays will ascend to the edge of the atmosphere above Fort Sumner, N.M. Once aloft, the telescope will stare at black holes, neutron stars and other exotic astronomical objects that shine brightly in the X-ray part of the spectrum in order to learn about their nature and structure.  After years of preparation, the X-Calibur team is racing to get the experiment mission-ready in time for the stratospheric wind event they hope to ride.

This fall, Hold That Thought, a weekly podcast series from Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, will continue to delve into current academic research by teaming up with WUSTL’s American Culture Studies program. Together, they are exploring the question of what it means to be an American, today and throughout the country’s history.

No student arrives at Washington University planning to cheat. And yet, 15 to 40 academic integrity cases are adjudicated every semester. A new video produced by the Office of Student Conduct explores the university’s academic integrity policy and why such a policy matters.

Washington University in St. Louis once again has strong representation in the prestigious Fulbright program, with 12 current or recent students receiving Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships to teach English or to conduct research abroad during the 2013-14 academic year. The students share their thoughts and plans, in their own words.

Phillip B. Williams, a student in the Master of Fine Arts creative writing program at Washington University in St. Louis, is one of five young poets awarded a $15,000 scholarship from the Poetry Foundation and Poetry Magazine.

​Bilal Mark McDowell Bomani, senior research scientist at the NASA Glenn Research Center, will deliver the 17th annual Chancellor’s Fellowship Conference Lecture for Washington University’s Assembly Series. His talk, which will focus on the research he leads in developing the next generation of biofuels that are sustainable, renewable and safe, will be 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 20, in Whitaker Hall, Room 100, on the Danforth Campus.​

Helen Power, PhD, who made an indelible mark on the women’s studies program at Washington University in St. Louis, died Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013. Power, who was 77, suffered a heart attack at her home in St. Louis. A memorial service was held on campus Sunday, Sept. 8.

In 1840, finally free to marry the love of his life, composer Robert Schumann was inspired to a creative frenzy, writing 168 songs. On Sept. 29, baritone Ian Greenlaw will perform 16 of them—from the celebrated Dichterliebe cycle—as part of WUSTL’s annual Liederabend concert.