Tip sheets highlight timely news and events at Washington University in St. Louis. For more information on any of the stories below or for assistance in arranging interviews, please see the contact information listed with each story.
Cheapskate
Psychologists find the higher the bill, the lower the tip percentage
Psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis say you may be cheaper than you think. They have shown that the larger the bill, the smaller the tip percentage that food servers, hair stylists and cab drivers receive. Compiling data from nearly 1,000 tips left in restaurants, hair salons and with cab drivers, the researchers found that the percent of the tip actually decreases with the amount of the bill across all three tipping situations. Their findings also indicate that with bills more than $100, the percent of the tip levels off — if the bill is $200, the server is likely to receive the same percentage as if it were $100.
Faster, more efficient analysis
Math tool promising for radiation oncology
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a technique that drastically decreases the time a radiation oncologist spends calculating radiation dosages and also provides a more carefully controlled dosage with less damage to nearby healthy tissues. They have applied a mathematical tool called wavelet analysis to radiation dose distributions simulations and have sped up the dose calculations by a factor of two or more over the standby dose calculation.
Remembering what never happened
False memories, failing recall are not an inevitable consequence of aging
Age-related false memories and failing recall are not inevitable, a new study from Washington University in St. Louis indicates. The researchers tested a group of senior adults averaging 75 years of age and found that one in four did not suffer memory loss and were as sharp as college students.
Out of the atmosphere, into the Earth
Researcher seeks ways to sequester carbon dioxide
As global temperatures continue to rise, many methods have been proposed to deal with the excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. An environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis just wants the problem to go away – out of the atmosphere, into the earth.