About The Source
The Source is a place for information, inspiration and for sharing stories about exciting discoveries and accomplishments at Washington University. Here, you’ll experience the research, scholarship and creativity that drive us every day. You’ll also get a glimpse of campus life and meet the people who inspire us: scientists, leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, artists and authors. If you’re looking to explore a remarkable place where people matter and serious work is done, this is The Source.
Climate scientist Konecky named Packard Fellow
Bronwen Konecky, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, is among 22 early-career scientists and engineers across the United States honored Oct. 15 as a 2019 Packard Fellow.
Drug reduces risk of pneumonia in newborn mice
Premature infants are at high risk of developing life-threatening lung infections, partly because their lungs are underdeveloped at birth. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found, in mice, that an inhaled drug promotes the development of lung immunity and reduces the risk of pneumonia.
Words matter: Earnings call language can foreshadow credit risk
Words company officials use in quarterly earnings calls with investors and analysts can be telling. An Olin Business School researcher and co-authors conducted a detailed, machine-learning study of such earnings calls.
Human gut microbes could make processed foods healthier
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests the gut microbiome has an impact on how the body breaks down processed foods, such as cereals, pastas, chocolate and soda. The new knowledge could help in the development of healthier, more nutritious processed foods.
Brain tunes itself to criticality, maximizing information processing
New research from Washington University in St. Louis confirms that the brain tunes itself to a point where it is as excitable as it can be without tipping into disorder, similar to a phase transition. The new research from Keith Hengen, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, is published Oct. 7 in the journal Neuron.
Complex energies, quantum symmetries
New research from Washington University in St. Louis realizes one of the first parity time-symmetric quantum systems, allowing scientists to observe how that symmetry — and the breaking of it — leads to previously unexplored phenomena. These and future PT symmetry experiments have potential applications to quantum computing. The work from the laboratory of Kater Murch, associate professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, is published Oct. 7 in the journal Nature Physics.
Newly inaugurated Chancellor Andrew D. Martin makes ‘WashU Pledge’
Today, as he was inaugurated as Washington University in St. Louis’ 15th chancellor, Andrew D. Martin announced the WashU Pledge, a bold new financial aid program that will provide a free undergraduate education to incoming, full-time Missouri and southern Illinois students who are Pell Grant-eligible or from families with annual incomes of $75,000 or less.
East End Transformation dedicated
A sweeping campus planning, design and construction project has transformed the Danforth Campus two years after the start of construction. The largest capital project in the university’s recent history, the East End Transformation was officially dedicated Oct. 2.