Arts & Sciences

Mars Exploration Rover mission scientists remind us that the amazing success of the rovers *Spirit* and *Opportunity* is a harbinger for the day when humans inhabit the Red Planet.The major drawback to a human mission to Mars is preparing for the one to two years of radiation and microgravity exposure that astronauts must endure. While that is a large hurdle, enabling technologies are emerging that should be able to make this goal a reality over the next couple of decades, and America should go for it. That’s the theme of a report from NASA’s 2002 Astrobiology Academy appearing soon as a paper in Acta Astronautica.

Carinne Blank has a method she uses to date ancient life forms that could be helpful for specimens from Mars.A geologist from Washington University in St. Louis is developing new techniques to render a more coherent story of how primitive life arose and diverged on Earth – with implications for Mars.

Male Bahamas mosquitofish (left) chasing a female (right).A biologist at Washington University in St. Louis has shown that for some fish species, females prefer males with larger sexual organs, and actually choose them for mating. That does not exclude males with an average-sized sex organ, called a gonopodium. These fish out-compete the larger-endowed males in a predator-laden environment because they have a faster burst speed than the males with larger genitalia, thus avoiding predators and staying in the mating game.

Washington University’s Kingsbury Ensemble will conclude its 2004-05 season with works of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) — today’s most popular composers of the Baroque era. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 15, in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall. Tickets are $5 to $15.

The award was given for their outstanding academic performances and diversity of courses taken at the University.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are John Dubinsky, Flint Fowler, Henrietta Freedman, Diane Jacobsen & William Pollard; the Dean’s Medal goes to John Biggs.

Chemistry Professor Karen L. Wooley is principal investigator of a program that has received funding of $12.5 million for five years.

John Heuser, “Roddy” Roediger & Norman Schofield have been honored; the AAAS recognizes leadership in scholarship, business, the arts & public affairs.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has chosen the School of Medicine as one of four national research centers dedicated to the advancement of nanotechnology. The center, funded by a five-year, $12.5 grant, will be headed by WUSM chemist Karen Wooley. Read more in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

Washington University in St. Louis has been chosen as a Program of Excellence in Nanotechnology (PEN) by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Karen Wooley, Ph.D., Washington University professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, is principal investigator of the Program, which NHLBI is funding at $12.5 million for five years.