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Washington University in St. Louis News & Information > News Topics >
Science & Technology
Washington University long has been associated with outstanding faculty and achievement in science and technology, from the biological sciences to the emerging science of nanotechnology. Twenty-four members of the faculty, current and emeritus, are members of the National Academy of Sciences, thirty-two are fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, fifteen fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, to name just a few highly regarded organizations. For assistance in finding faculty involved in science and technology, view the topics below.
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Showing Science & Technology Experts 1 through 5 of 36.
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James H. Buckley
Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences
James Buckley specializes in astrophysical research in high-energy phenomena. His research interests include the origin of cosmic rays, gamma-ray and multiwavelength observations of active galaxies and experimental cosmology.
Expertise: Gamma-Ray, Multiwavelength Observations of Active Galaxies, Experimental Cosmology, Dark Matter Search, Origin of Cosmic Rays, Optical Astronomy, Optical Transients from AGNs and GRBs, …
Direct contact: 314-935-7607
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buckley@wustl.edu
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Alexander Meshik
Research professor of physics in Arts & Sciences
Meshik is the lead author of a study in the Oct. 19, 2007, issue of Science on the analysis of solar wind noble gases (neon and argon) from NASA's Genesis Mission. Meshik and colleagues will next study the solar wind samples for xenon and krypton. Meshik also analyzed the isotopic structure of noble ...
Expertise: Geochemistry, Geochronology, Nuclear Chemistry, Xenon, Krypton, solar wind, noble gases, …
Direct contact: 314-935-5049
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am@wustl.edu
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Jonathan Chase
Assistant Professor of Biology
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| Chase |
Jonathan M. Chase, assistant professor of biology, focuses his research on the rules (or lack thereof) underlying the diversity, distribution, and abundance of animal and plant species from the population/community/ecosystem perspective. His research combines observational, theoretical, and experimental ...
Expertise: biology, ecology, ecosystem, natural history, evolution, biodiversity, food webs, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-4105
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jchase@wustl.edu
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James G. Miller
Albert Gordon Hill Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences
Professor Miller's research focuses on the physics of anisotropic, inherently inhomogeneous media. These systematic studies of the anisotropic properties of the heart have led to fundamentally new insights. In 1998 the National Institutes of Health grant supporting this research was awarded MERIT status, ...
Expertise: physics of anisotropic, inherently inhomogeneous media, anisotropic properties of the heart, diagnostic images of hearts, echocardiographic imagers
Direct contact: (314) 935-6229
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james.g.miller@wustl.edu
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Ralph Quatrano
Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., is the Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is internationally known for his plant science work on patterns of embryo formation, and how the patterns lead cells to acquire traits or ...
Expertise: Plants, plant biology, botany, moss, genome, algae, genes, …
Direct contact: (314) 935-6850
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rsq@wustl.edu
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Showing Science & Technology Experts 1 through 5 of 36.
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| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing Science & Technology Stories 1 through 3 of 274.
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New dean announcement
Quatrano named interim dean of Arts & Sciences
May 13,
2008 --
Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor and chair of the Washington University Department of Biology, has been named interim dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences effective July 1, 2008, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. He succeeds Executive Vice Chancellor Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., dean of Arts & Sciences and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences.
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Workaholic
Single-celled bacterium works 24-7, converting light to energy by day, moonlighting at night
April 28,
2008 -- Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have gained the first detailed insight into the way circadian rhythms govern global gene expression in Cyanothece, a type of cyanobacterium (blue-green algae) known to cycle between photosynthesis during the day and nitrogen fixation at night.
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All shook up
Midwest now worries about a different fault
April 24,
2008 -- Two seismologists at Washington University in St. Louis think the New Madrid Fault may have seen its day and the Wabash Fault is the new kid on the block. "I think everyone's interested in the Wabash Valley Fault because a lot of the attention has been on the New Madrid Fault, but the Wabash Valley Fault could be the more dangerous one, at least for St. Louis and Illinois," said Doug Wiens, professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences. "The strongest earthquakes in the last few years have come from the Wabash Valley Fault, which needs more investigation."
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Showing Science & Technology Stories 1 through 3 of 274.
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Which Genetic Tests are Really Worth Getting?
The Wall Street Journal
May 1,
2008 -- With Congress poised to eliminate a big barrier to genetic testing for risk of certain diseases, consumers still face challenges in figuring out which ones offer useful information.
Despite heavy marketing by some genetic-test makers, the wide use of genetic tests has been held back by a variety of factors, including questions about the tests' usefulness and concerns that results could be used by employers and insurers to discriminate against people. Critics argue that many tests can't accurately identify which people are at risk for various illnesses.
WUSTL medical researcher Brian Gage comments.
Includes Web links to learn more about genetic testing.
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Medical Advances -- Through Your iPhone?
BusinessWeek.com
and 30 others
April 30,
2008 -- Researchers are beginning to understand how mobile phones can cut costs, help solve rural health-care problems, and even reduce medical errors.
Of some 30 health-care-related projects at various universities recently funded by Microsoft Research, 17 involve cell phones. One team, at WUSTL, is attempting to take ultrasound readings using a cell phone and a TV.
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The roots of alcoholism . . . in the genes?
Los Angeles Times
April 30,
2008 -- WUSTL psychiatry professor and lead author Carolyn Sartor comments on a new WUSTL study that says: Young people often begin drinking alcohol because of environmental factors, such as peer pressure. But genes appear to be a significant factor in determining whether drinking progresses to problem drinking and alcoholism.
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Genes Explain Race Disparity in Response to a Heart Drug
The New York Times
and 5 others
April 29,
2008 -- Doctors who treat patients with heart failure have long been puzzled that many black patients seem to not respond to a class of drugs called beta blockers.
Now researchers at WUSTL and U. Maryland have found that these nonresponsive patients have a slightly altered version of a gene that muscles use to control responses to nerve signals.
The discovery raises questions about whom to treat with beta blockers and how to decide, researchers say. But, they add, its implications go beyond heart failure.
WUSTL cardiologist and principal investigator Gerald Dorn comments.
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Wabash Fault holds high earthquake risk
United Press International
April 28,
2008 -- Scientists said the Wabash Valley Fault in Illinois may pose a higher risk to St. Louis than the better-known New Madrid Fault.
The magnitude 5.2 earthquake that originated last week on the Wabash Valley Fault was about 120 miles east of St. Louis.
WUSTL seismologists Douglas Wiens and Michael Wysession comment.
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Genetic link to alcoholism in women discovered
XETC-TV FOX 6 News at 6 a.m. (San Diego CA)
and 7 others
April 25,
2008 -- Story on the WUSTL medical school research on the genetic link to alcoholism in women.
Includes video link to the news story.
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Dental work claim challenges antiquity of hobbit skeleton
Scientific American online
April 23,
2008 -- Most paleoanthropologists believe that the 18,000 year old Flores, Indonesia hobbit belongs to a new species of human, But now comes word that the specimen used to define the species appears to have had some dental work. If so, it would mean that the hobbit was just a modern human with a growth disorder, which is what critics have argued all along.
Paleoanthropologist and WUSTL radiology professor Charles Hildebolt examined the CT scans and said that it is unlikely that any type of filling material is in the tooth.
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May We Scan Your Genome?
Newsweek
April 22,
2008 -- As personal genetic testing takes off, some worry that marketing is getting ahead of science.
With each new marketing push comes new criticism. Some say DNA testing doesn't belong in virtual clinics: One key issue is regulation.
WUSTL pediatrics and genetics specialist Thomas Morgan worries that the business is getting ahead of the science. "I might scare myself or reassure myself falsely based on the very limited knowledge that we have."
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Computer 'Recreates' Neanderthal Speech
FoxNews.com
April 17,
2008 -- No one is really sure what Neanderthals sounded like, or even if they could speak. But one Florida researcher thinks he can guess, by using ancient skeletons to reconstruct an approximation of the Neanderthal vocal tract -- and then having a computer recreate the sounds it would make.
Neanderthals' inability to produce these vowels would have severely limited their ability to form and understand a complex language, McCarthy argues, though WUSTL anthropologist Erik Trinkaus, one of the world's leading experts on Neanderthals, disagrees.
"Ultimately what is important is not the anatomy of the mouth, but the neuronal control of it," Trinkaus.
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New study advances method to make energy from farm waste
Associated Press
and 81 others
April 17,
2008 -- WUSTL engineers, including WUSTL chemical engineering professor Muthanna Al-Dahhan, using imaging technology have found that vigorous mixing helps microorganisms turn farm waste into alternative energy.
The goal is to produce a simple method that farmers can use to treat their waste and generate energy.
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Neanderthals speak out after 30,000 years
New Scientist (UK) and FoxNews.com
April 16,
2008 -- An anthropologist has used new reconstructions of Neanderthal vocal tracts to simulate the voice. He says the ancient human's speech lacked the "quantal vowel" sounds that underlie modern speech.
WUSTL anthropologist Erik Trinkaus comments.
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Backed patent bill in trouble in U.S. Senate
The Guardian (UK)
and 10 others
April 15,
2008 -- A long-negotiated patent overhaul bill sought by technology companies and opposed by big pharmaceutical makers ran into trouble in the U.S. Senate. Scott Kieff, WUSTL law professor and patent law expert, comments.
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A Climate 'Policy Wonk' in the Making
NPR Morning Edition
April 14,
2008 -- WUSTL junior Kelley Greenman is featured is today's Morning Edition program on climate change with Richard Harris. Greenman is interested in cliimate change policy issues.
The story included a segment about an advising appointment with career counselor Karen Morton and Kelley.
Includes an audio link to the story.
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NASA Spacecraft Fine Tunes Course For Mars Landing
ScienceDaily.com
and 21 others
April 11,
2008 -- NASA engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25 landing on the Red Planet. ...
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Genetic Link Tied to Smoking Addiction
Associated Press
and 256 others
April 3,
2008 -- The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine addiction and sheds more light on how genetics and lifestyle habits join forces to cause cancer.
This finding could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit.
"This is really telling us that the vulnerability to smoking and how much you smoke is clearly biologically based," said WUSTL psychiatry professor Laura Bierut, a genetics and smoking expert who did not take part in the studies. She praised the research as "very intriguing."
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Commentary: Can insomnia kill?
Los Angeles Times
March 31,
2008 -- Commentary on insomnia mentions sleep studies of twins by WUSTL psychiatry professor Andrew Heath.
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NASA Cut Means No Roving for Mars Rover
Associated Press
and 92 others
March 25,
2008 -- Scientists plan to put one of the twin Mars rovers to sleep and limit the activities of the other robot to fulfill a NASA order to cut $4 million from the program's budget, mission team members said Monday.
The cut comes at a time when the robots are in the midst of an extensive exploration campaign, said deputy principal investigator and WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ray Arvidson.
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Study: Neanderthals Not Doomed by Skull Shape
FoxNews.com
and 1 others
March 25,
2008 -- WUSTL's Erik Trinkaus comments on a study that tries to refute the idea that natural selection caused skull differences between Neanderthals and modern humans.
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Antarctica's unique space rocks
BBC News (UK)
March 14,
2008 -- A pair of meteorites discovered in Antarctica are in a class all of their own, a major space conference has been told.
WUSTL earth and planetary sciences professor Ryan Zeigler comments.
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Finding Industry Funding
Science Magazine
March 14,
2008 -- WUSTL's Karen Wooley, professor of chemistry, comments on the difficulties and approaches academic researchers use to garner industry funding.
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