Arts & Sciences

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoBruce Fegley, Jr. and Laura Schaefer, with a chunk of galena, or lead sulfide.Lead sulfide — also known by its mineral name, galena — is a naturally occurring mineral found in Missouri, other parts of the world, and now. . .other parts of the solar system. Because recent thermodynamic calculations by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis provide plausible evidence that “heavy metal snow,” which blankets the surface of upper altitude Venusian rocks, is composed of both lead and bismuth sulfides.

A graduate student in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis has combed the dinosaur fossil record from T. Rex to songbirds and has compiled the first quantitative analysis of the quality and congruence of that record.

A biography of St. Patrick is due out just in time for March 17.St. Patrick’s Day has become an excuse for Americans of all ethnic backgrounds to break out the green and head to their local parade or pub and imbibe in Irish beer and corned beef and cabbage. And just in time for this year’s celebration of St. Patrick’s feast day comes a book that will have many — even the true Irish — saying, “I didn’t know that” about Ireland’s beloved patron saint. Many of the stories about St. Patrick that have been passed down for generations, including the one about him ridding Ireland of its snakes, are false, says an expert in Celtic and classical studies at Washington University in St. Louis in a book being released in early March.

Photo by Joe Angeles / WUSTL PhotoThe Truster hand-held “Emotion Reader.”Voice-stress analysis, an alternative to the polygraph as a method for lie detection, is already widely used in police and insurance fraud investigations. Now, however, it is being touted as a powerful and effective tool for an array of new applications — everything from screening potential terrorists in the nation’s airports to catching wayward spouses in messy marital disputes. Despite its booming popularity, recent federally sponsored studies have found little evidence that existing voice-stress technologies are capable of consistently detecting lies and deceptions. “You could have gotten better results by flipping a coin,” says Washington University in St. Louis psychologist Mitchell S. Sommers, lead investigator on a recent voice-stress study.

Scholars from around the world will come to the Hilltop Campus Feb. 12-14 for the symposium “Tennessee Williams: The Secret Year.”

His book is titled Islam, Law and Equality in Indonesia: An Anthropology of Public Reasoning.

Randy Holmes Hard Bop Heritage will perform for Washington University’s Jazz at Holmes Series from 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26. CALENDAR SUMMARY WHO: Randy Holmes Hard Bop Heritage WHAT: Washington University’s Jazz at Holmes Series WHEN: 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 WHERE: Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, located on the west side […]

The Lawrence Fields Group will perform for Washington University’s Jazz at Holmes Series from 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12. CALENDAR SUMMARY WHO: Lawrence Fields Group WHAT: Washington University’s Jazz at Holmes Series WHEN: 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12 WHERE: Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, located on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle, […]

Dead Cat Bounce will perform for Washington University’s Jazz at Holmes Series from 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19. CALENDAR SUMMARY WHO: Dead Cat Bounce WHAT: Washington University’s Jazz at Holmes Series WHEN: 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 WHERE: Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, located on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle, near […]

Public intellectuals — a class of specialists, all-purpose thinkers — will gather from 10-11:30 a.m. Feb. 12 in Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis to have a “Conversation” about, well, public intellectuals. As part of the university’s yearlong 150th anniversary celebration, Arts & Sciences is sponsoring “Conversations,” a four-part series bringing some of the nation’s top scholars together to discuss key issues that will affect the future of the university, the community and the world.