Arts & Sciences

Calm seas can turn deadly when tsunamis strike.Tens of thousands of people who perished in the Indonesia tsunami would be alive today had there been a warning system in place in the Indian Ocean basin similar to one in place for 40 years in the Pacific Ocean, says a seismologist at Washington University in St. Louis. Douglas A. Wiens, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Art & Sciences, says it’s unfortunate, but the catastrophic tragedy will be the catalyst for developing such a system, just as the 1964 Alaska tsunami event triggered the installment of the current Pacific Ocean system.”

Chimpanzees don’t need haircuts.Mammals have fur over most of their bodies, but at some point during evolution, we humans lost that fur covering. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis argue that hair on the head is somehow different from fur because fur stops growing when it reaches a certain length, but our head hair continues to grow.

Jupiter: a core of tar.After eleven months of politics, now it’s time for some real “core values” – not those of the candidates but those of the great gas giant planet, Jupiter. Katharina Lodders, Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis research associate professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences, studying data from the Galileo probe of Jupiter, proposes a new mechanism by which the planet formed 4.5 billion years ago.

Rendering of the new CORTEX buildingEfforts to develop a significant biotechnology industry in St. Louis got a major boost with the groundbreaking for a new laboratory and office building that will provide space for growing companies. The new building at 4300 Forest Park Avenue in midtown St. Louis is being developed by CORTEX, the Center of Research, Technology & Entrepreneurial Exchange.

Researchers have calculated that the precise isotopic structure of xenon in the sample reveals an operation that worked like a geyser.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner and the nation’s first female poet laureate, she died Dec. 1 of bone cancer at her home in University City.

The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will conclude its fall season with a host of December concerts. The Concert Choir of Washington University — under the direction of John Stewart, director of vocal activities — will perform works composed across six centuries at 8 p.m. today in Graham Chapel. The performance will be […]

Photo by Mary ButkusEdward S. Macias was installed Dec. 1 as the inaugural Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences.

He was named an assistant professor in 1951 and promoted to associate professor in 1957; he retired as emeritus in 1987.

Photo by Bill StoverThe Concert Choir of Washington University performs the national anthem before the Dec. 5 St. Louis Rams game.