|
|  |
Washington University in St. Louis News & Information > News Topics > Science & Technology >
Evolution
| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing Evolution Stories 1 through 10 of 80.
- Show Home
Show page:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | next |
|
'McDonaldization' of frogs
Frog fungus hammering biodiversity of communities
Sept. 22,
2009 --
 |
| Photo by Roberto Brenes |
| Tiny frog killed by invasive fungus. |
Everyone knows that frogs are in trouble. But a recent analysis by Washington University in St. Louis researchers of data on Central American frogs collected by a University of Maryland colleague shows the situation is worse than had been thought. Under pressure from an invasive fungus, the frogs in this biodiversity hot spot are undergoing "a vast homogenization" that is leaving behind simpler communities that increasingly resemble one another. "We're witnessing the McDonaldization of the frog communities," comments Kevin G. Smith, Ph.D., the lead author of the analysis and associate director of Washington University's Tyson Research Center, a site the fungus has also reached.
|
'Big Ideas'
What everyone should know about Earth sciences summarized in free NSF-funded e-booklet
June 5,
2009 --
If you're clueless about petrology, paleobiology and plate tectonics, the National Science Foundation and the Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI) have just released a free pamphlet offering a concise primer on what all Americans should know about the Earth sciences. "The Earth Science Literacy framework document of 'Big Ideas' and supporting concepts was a community effort representing the current state-of-the-art research in Earth sciences," said Michael E. Wysession, Ph.D., chair of ESLI and associate professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
|
'Nurture, sustain a culture of scientific innovation'
Obama names WUSTL biologist to his science advisory council
May 7,
2009 --
President Obama has appointed Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and vice president of the National Academy of Sciences, to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
|
Friendly apes
Primates evolved to be social, not aggressive Sussman tells AAAS
Feb. 16,
2009 --
 |
| Sussman |
Primates are social animals. But why did they become social and what are the causes for the differences in social structure among various primate species? Robert W. Sussman, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, addressed those questions and more in his talk "A Comparative Overview of Primate Social Organization" during the 2009 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Feb. 15 in Chicago.
|
'Ecomorality' and religious naturalism
Biologist discusses sacred nature of sustainability
Feb. 16,
2009 --
The hot topics of global warming and environmental sustainability are concerns that fit neatly within the precepts of religious naturalism, according to Ursula Goodenough, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to being a renowned cell biologist, Goodenough is a religious naturalist and the author of The Sacred Depths of Nature, a bestselling book on religious naturalism that was published in 1998. Religious naturalism neither requires belief in God nor excludes such faith. Rather, the movement is based on what Goodenough describes as "an exploration of the religious potential of nature."
|
Facing extinction
New book portrays day in the life of a bonobo
July 1,
2008 --
 |
| Image courtesy of Marian Brickner |
A biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is the mastermind behind a project that has led to an informative book, aimed at children but appealing to all ages, on an endangered species of ape. Ursula Goodenough, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, is the driving force behind I'm Lucy, A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo, written by Mathea Levine, Goodenough's daughter, and featuring the photographs of St. Louisan Marian Brickner. The book includes a convincing, impassioned Afterward by the famed primatologist Jane Goodall.
|
Burnell reflects on pulsars and being a pioneer
British astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell reflects on the process of scientific discovery and being a pioneer
March 12,
2008 -- British astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell will describe her landmark work in discovering the first pulsars at the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. on Wed., March 19 in Graham Chapel.
|
Saving the lemur
New satellite imaging research could save the lemur in Madagascar
March 3,
2008 --
 |
| Lemur population has declined sharply since the 1950s. Through education and conservation, a WUSTL expert hopes the trend will be reversed. |
Using satellite imagery, GIS and ecological and demographic data from the field, Robert W. Sussman, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has studied the effects of deforestation on the ringtailed lemur population in Madagascar during the last forty years. He has determined that while causes of deforestation vary in different parts of the African island nation, the total lemur population has dropped by more than half since the 1950s.
|
Earth's orbit creates more than a leap year
Leap year adjusts calendar for natural forces driving climate change
Feb. 8,
2008 --
 |
| Image courtesy of NASA |
The Earth's orbital behaviors are responsible for more than just presenting us with a leap year every four years. According to Michael E. Wysession, Ph.D., associate professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, parameters such as planetary gravitational attractions, the Earth's elliptical orbit around the sun and the degree of tilt of our planet's axis with respect to its path around the sun, have implications for climate change and the advent of ice ages.
|
Mammalian moonlighter
Moss protein plays role in Alzheimer's disease
Feb. 8,
2008 -- Preventing Alzheimer's disease is a goal of Raphael Kopan, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the Washington University School of Medicine. The moss plant Physcomitrella patens, studied in the laboratory of Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor and chair of the biology department on WUSTL's Danforth Campus, might inch Kopan toward that goal.
|
Showing Evolution Stories 1 through 10 of 80.
- Show Home
Show page:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | next |
|
|
| |
|
Download
Email this page
Print ready page