WUSTL physics professor Clifford Will explains his research on an old mystery that will have implications for gravitational-wave astronomy. His article appeared in the Feb. 12 issue of Physical Review Letters.

References:

1. Feb. 23, 2009 — 40-year Mystery Revisited: Newtonian System Mimics 'Baldness' of Rotating Black Holes in the ScienceDaily.com

and 4 others.

A discovery of microscopic diamonds a few feet beneath the surface of North America reveals that a comet caused a cataclysm of fire, flood and devastation nearly 13,000 years ago, scientists said. Includes comments by WUSTL physicist Tyrone Daulton.

References:

1. Jan. 2, 2009 — Diamonds show comet struck North America, scientists say in the Los Angeles Times

and 1 others.

WUSTL physics professor Clifford Will comments on Albert Einstein's methods of thinking, his development and his contributions to science and daily life.

References:

1. Sept. 17, 2008 — Albert Einstein Saw The Light in the Investor's Business Daily

WUSTL School of Medicine scientists have used yeast cells to better understand a collection of proteins associated with the formation of actin networks, which are essential to cell movement. WUSTL cell biology and physiology Professor and senior study author John Cooper, WUSTL physics professor Anders Carlsson, and Brian Galletta, a postdoctoral scholar in Cooper's lab, comment.

References:

1. Jan. 8, 2008 — Insights Into Cell Movement Likely to Aid Immune Study, Cancer Research in the ScienceDaily.com

and 5 others.

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

WUSTL physicist John Rigden comments on the 100th anniversary of Einstein's famous equation. He is the author of Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness.

References:

1. Sept. 27, 2005 — E=MC squared at 100 in the NPR: All Things Considered

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.

Astronomers looking for earth-like planets in other solar systems — exoplanets — now have a new field guide thanks to WUSTL earth and planetary scientists Bruce Fegley and Laura Schaefer.
The research was presented during this week's annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Cambridge, England.

References:

1. Sept. 7, 2005 — New method developed to find exoplanets in the United Press International
2. Sept. 8, 2005 — Field Guide Created for Confirming New Earth-like Planets in the RedNova.com (TX)

and 3 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.

In 1972, French scientists looking for new uranium sources stumbled on a two-billion-year-old underground deposit in the Oklo region of West Africa. But what really amazed them was that this uranium, without manmade intervention, had already undergone fission, the way a nuclear reaction would process uranium today. Physics professor Charles Hohenberg and his colleagues at WUSTL wondered how this nuclear fission could have occurred and not destroyed everything in its path

References:

1. June 1, 2005 — Nuclear fission occurring naturally in Oklo region of West Africa in the CBS News - The Osgood File

It took humans until the 20th century to build a nuclear reactor. Mother Nature, on the other hand, built one that turned itself off and on, stored its waste, never threatened a meltdown—and did it 2 billion years ago. WUSTL scientist Alexander Meshik and his colleagues conclude that river water trickling into uranium-rich bedrock acted like the control rods in a modern reactor, increasing the efficiency of fission and causing the uranium to produce a chain reaction. The reaction released heat that boiled the water. Once all the water was gone, the fission fizzled out, preventing a meltdown. Gradually, more water trickled in and the process started anew.

References:

1. Feb. 4, 2005 — Nature's Nuclear Reactor in the Discover Magazine

NASA scientists have sent to academic researchers an unprecedented piece of the sun gathered by the Genesis spacecraft, enabling the start of studies to achieve the mission's initial science objectives.
A piece of polished aluminum collector was sent to WUSTL researchers Charles Hohenberg and Alex Meshik. They will study the sample to try to determine detailed information about the gases that make up the sun.
The WUSTL study is the first of two scientific objectives that make up the initial research program planned for Genesis. The other early science objective involves studies of nitrogen from samples.

References:

1. Jan. 28, 2005 — NASA sends first Genesis early-science sample to researchers in the PhysOrg.com (Virginia)
2. Jan. 28, 2005 — First Genesis early-science sample sent to researchers in the Spaceflight Now (Florida)

and 7 others.

John Rigden, an adjunct professor of physics at WUSTL, examines Albert Einstein's status as a cultural and scientific hero.

References:

1. Jan. 7, 2005 — Lone Horse Whose Name Became A Byword For Genius in the The Times Higher Education Supplement

Among all the divisions of time, only the year and the day are determined by nature -- specifically, by the movement of heavenly bodies.
All of the other measurements, from the minute to the millennium, are manmade and arbitrary. Given our 10 fingers, 60 may seem like an odd system. But it has some advantages. "My guess is that they used 60 because it's so easy to divide," says Michael Friedlander, who teachers physics and astronomy at Washington University.
Turns out that 60 is the smallest number that can be evenly divided by two, three, four, five and six. "Dividing by 10 involves knowledge about decimal notation," says Friedlander, the author of a college text on astronomy. "So in some ways, 60 is easier to manipulate."

References:

1. Dec. 31, 2004 — It's a new year — naturally in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

and 21 others.

For the first time, researchers have identified organic material in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), gathered from the Earth's stratosphere, that was made before the birth of our solar system. The material was identified on the basis of its carbon isotopic composition, which is different from the carbon found on Earth and in other parts of the solar system. Isotopes are variations of elements that differ from each other in the number of neutrons they have, making them similar chemically but different physically. Christine Floss, Ph.D., senior research scientist in earth and planetary sciences and in physics, both in Arts & Sciences, said the organic material in the IDP that she and her colleagues analyzed probably was formed in molecular clouds in the interstellar medium before the formation of the solar system. The isotopic anomalies are produced by chemical fractionation at the very low temperatures found in these molecular clouds.

References:

1. Feb. 27, 2004 — Presolar carbon found in interplanetary dust in the New Scientist

and 10 others.