Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have shed light on a basic process that could improve future solar cells.

References:

1. Nov. 18, 2008 — Precise Measurement of Phenomenon Advances Solar Cell Understanding in the ScienceDaily.com

and 3 others.

WUSTL's Karen Wooley, professor of chemistry, comments on the difficulties and approaches academic researchers use to garner industry funding.

References:

1. March 14, 2008 — Finding Industry Funding in the Science Magazine

WUSTL medical school scientists examined a group of healthy, overweight but not obese, middle-aged men and women and found that a yearlong regimen of either calorie restriction or exercise increase had positive effects on their heart function. WUSTL professor and study senior author Sandor Kovacs comments.

References:

1. Jan. 11, 2008 — Eat less for a youthful heart in the Hindustan Times (India)

and 5 others.

By mimicking plant evolution, a team of Illinois researchers has improved upon nature's design to build a leafy energy-producing powerhouse — or at least a virtual one on a supercomputer. In a study published within the journal Plant Physiology, WUSTL biology and chemistry professor Robert Blankenship comments on the Illinois study.

References:

1. Jan. 10, 2008 — Mimicking plant evolution proves fruitful in the MSNBC.com

Ever since their discovery 11 years ago, brown dwarfs have baffled scientists.
Sometimes called "failed stars," brown dwarfs are too small to trigger the fusion of hydrogen that keeps stars like our sun shining for billions of years. Instead, over tens of millions of years brown dwarfs slowly cool and fade.
Meanwhile, the weather on these strange objects is some of the wildest in the galaxy.
WUSTL planetary chemistry professor Katharina Lodders comments.

References:

1. July 5, 2006 — Wild weather: Iron rain on failed stars in the USA Today

and 1 others.

Article about the discovery of a particular kind of hydrothermal vent called black smokers at the Galapagos Islands.
Minerals and heated water spewed out of hydrothermal vents may support marine life that wouldn't otherwise survive.
But some vents spew out a toxic mixture that can contaminate local ground water. WUSTL microbial geochemist Jan Amend comments about research his team is doing on vents near Papua New Guinea.

References:

1. Feb. 22, 2006 — Marine science: Boiling points in the Nature.com

Article on new observing tools scientists can use to study interstellar dust. Astronomers know that interstellar dust illuminates the erratic deaths of stars, and it traces a direct link from stars to the birth of our solar system — and ultimately, to Earth. WUSTL physicist and cosmochemist Ernst Zinner comments.

References:

1. Oct. 28, 2005 — Astronomers Sweep Space for the Sources of Cosmic Dust in the Science Magazine online

Scientists have long thought that simple heat could increase the effectiveness of some cancer therapies. But just how much to cook the tumor and which cancers are susceptible, have stymied the field. Now, backed by tantalizing new evidence, a growing number of studies are enrolling patients in hopes of finally settling whether it's time to turn up the heat. WUSTL physicist William Straube comments. Like Duke, WUSTL has a major research program on cancer hyperthermia.

References:

1. Sept. 26, 2005 — More Heat Aids Cancer Therapies in the Associated Press

and 44 others.

Scientists released the first full-color panoramic picture of the landscape taken by the rover from its lookout point, showing the rover's tracks in the dust, flat plains of the surrounding Gusev Crater region, rugged terrain dubbed "the geologic promised land" by one scientist, distant plateaus on the crater rim and more hills.
WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson comments. He is deputy principal investigator of the rover mission.

References:

1. Sept. 1, 2005 — Scientists Release Rover Panoramic Photo in the Associated Press Online
2. Sept. 2, 2005 — Top of the Other World in the Astrobiology Magazine

and 58 others.

Article on the reports published in Nature and Science magazines that an international team of scientists, including WUSTL's Genome Sequencing Center director Richard Wilson and colleague LaDeana Hillier, have finished sequencing the genome of the chimp. The comparison of genetic blueprints shows that just a handful of mutations account for the vast differences between the species. Scientists say the results provide a roadmap for studying diseases and the mechanisms by which humans evolved into the dominant species of Earth.

References:

1. Sept. 1, 2005 — In Chimpanzee DNA, Signs of Y Chromosome's Evolution in the New York Times
2. Sept. 1, 2005 — Man, Chimp Separated by Dab of DNA in the Los Angeles Times
3. Sept. 1, 2005 — Washington U. had major role in chimp genome sequencing in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

and 55 others.

One of the three scientists to win the Nobel Prize in chemistry is Israeli Aaron Ciechanover, who is a visiting professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine, where he has spent a portion of each year since 1987. He is the 23rd Nobel Laureate associated with WUSTL.

References:

1. Oct. 6, 2004 — Nobel Prize in chemistry goes to two Israeli researchers, American for discoveries of how cells give "kiss of death" in the Associated Press State & Local Wire
2. Oct. 7, 2004 — 3 win chemistry Nobel for cell work in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
3. Oct. 6, 2004 — 2 Israelis and an American Share Nobel in Chemistry in the New York Times

and 3 others.

You may have one of the biggest risk factors for heart attack, and your doctor doesn't even know it. While doctors screening for heart problems know to monitor smoking, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, few pay attention to a potentially more serious foe: depression. "In cardiology there have been dozens of studies done on hypertension," said Kenneth Freedland, professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine, who has been studying the link between depression and heart disease since the 1980s. "We need to make sure the public and medical community understand that this is an important problem, too."

References:

1. Feb. 23, 2004 — Depression: hidden cause of heart attack? in the The Wall Street Journal

and 2 others.