Arts & Sciences

A memorial service for Frank J. Stadermann, PhD, a senior research scientist in physics in Arts & Sciences and member of the Laboratory for Space Sciences, will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8, at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road, St. Louis.

Jon Meacham, former editor of Newsweek, will present “God and Politics: From George Washington to Barack Obama” at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in Graham Chapel on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis with a book signing and reception to follow.

Walking, jogging and other forms of regular aerobic exercise may actually ward off the onset of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the brain, suggests newly published research from Washington University in St. Louis.  

The Washington University Symphony Orchestra will feature works by two composers affiliated with the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences as part of a program of 19th, 20th and 21st century American music. The performance, which begins at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8, in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall, is co-sponsored by the American Arts Experience-St. Louis, which will host dozens of events throughout the city Oct. 1-17.  

Tara Nummedal, PhD, associate professor of history at Brown University, will present “The Lion’s Blood: Anna Zieglerin and the Alchemical Redemption of the World” for the 2010-11 Witherspoon Memorial Lecture in Religion and Science at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4, in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge.

Academic leaders from some of the world’s premier universities will gather at Washington University in St. Louis Oct. 1-5 to discuss the world’s energy future at the “McDonnell International Scholars Academy Symposium: Global Energy Future.”

Nicholas Kristof, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times and best-selling author, will present “Half the Sky: From Oppression to Opportunity for Women Worldwide” at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4, in Graham Chapel. Kristof’s talk, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Lecture in Social Policy, is free and open to the public.

Three aspiring playwrights will present staged readings of their works Oct. 1 and 2 as part of the 2010 A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival, sponsored by the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences. Named in honor of alumnus A.E. Hotchner, the festival consists of an intensive two-week workshop that culminates in the staged readings. This year’s workshop is led by dramaturg Allison Horsley, assistant professor of dramatic literature at the University of Denver

A novel design for a catalytic converter disperses nanoparticles of the catalytic noble metal platinum on nanowires and then sheaths the wires is a layer of silica pierced with holes. The silica prevents the platinum catalyst from aggregating, while the pores allow gases to reach the platinum catalyst. The design might one day reduce the amount of platinum needed to  detoxify exhaust gases.

Dear Mr. President: With your economic team in transition, Murray Weidenbaum thought you could use some advice. Weidenbaum is an economist who has wrestled with federal budgets for six decades during a long career in public service and as an advisor to two presidents. Weidenbaum has prepared a list of budget cuts that calls for a new approach to fiscal restraint.