Skip to main content Skip to navigation
CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

‘Superplant’ seminar marks growing WSU‑Germany research collaboration

Plant scientists at Washington State University and in Germany will launch a new research collaboration through a series of virtual talks about advances that help feed and sustain our world, starting Tuesday, May 4.

Mechthild Tegeder.
Tegeder

WSU scientists Mechthild Tegeder, Herbert L. Eastlick Distinguished Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, and Helmut Kirchhoff, professor in the Institute of Biological Chemistry, are leading efforts to exchange graduate students with CEPLAS members, including the University of Cologne, the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, and Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program, the European Union student exchange Erasmus Program, and the German Research Foundation.

“Direct cooperation between German and U.S. scientists and collaborative education of our scholars helps expand society’s knowledge about beneficial crops,” Tegeder said. “Interdisciplinary research experiences in Germany can also train WSU students on how to start, establish, and cultivate scientific collaboration, which will benefit them in their professional careers, make them more marketable for research occupations, and sustain our regional and national agricultural industries and economies.”

Find out more

WSU Insider

Ask Dr. Universe: How did people figure out how much a whole planet weighs? They could not have just put it on a scale! How did they do it?

About 300 years ago during another pandemic, there was a person named Sir Isaac Newton who spent a lot of time at home thinking about the universe.

Guy Worthey
Worthey

That’s what I found out from my friend Guy Worthey, an astronomer at Washington State University. Gravity plays a big part in the answer to your question, and we’ll explore that in just a moment.

“I remember when I was a kid, the textbooks said that Pluto was twice the mass of Earth,” Worthey said.

It turns out some planets, such as Venus and Mercury, do not have an orbiting object like a moon. It wasn’t until humans were able to send satellites to these planets that we were finally able to gather precise information about gravity and learn about mass.

You know, gravity is an important force. It’s what makes things fall. It’s what keeps planets in orbit. It’s what keeps us on the ground. While we may not have a scale to weigh planets, we can use what we know about gravity and mass to make all sorts of calculations and investigate questions about our universe.

Find out more

Ask Dr. Universe

Social tensions preceded disruptions in ancient Pueblo societies

Climate problems alone were not enough to end periods of ancient Pueblo development in the southwestern United States.

The findings, detailed in an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that Pueblo farmers often persevered through droughts, but when social tensions were increasing, even modest droughts could spell the end of an era of development.

Tim Kohler
Kohler

“Societies that are cohesive can often find ways to overcome climate challenges,” said Tim Kohler, a Washington State University archeologist and corresponding author on the study. “But societies that are riven by internal social dynamics of any sort—which could be wealth differences, racial disparities or other divisions—are fragile because of those factors. Then climate challenges can easily become very serious.”

Social fragility was not at play, however, at the end of the Pueblo III period in the late 1200s when Pueblo farmers left the Four Corners with most moving far south. This study supports the theory that it was a combination of drought and conflict with outside groups that spurred the Pueblo peoples to leave.

Find out more

Phys.org
WSU Insider

Climate scientists debunk 13 myths about global warming

Deepti Singh.
Singh

I’m Deepti Singh. I’m an assistant professor in the School of the Environment at Washington State University. I’ve been studying climate change for about 11 years, and I study extreme weather events and how human activities are influencing them.

And today we’ll be debunking myths about global warming.

 “Carbon dioxide is the problem.”

So, CO2 isn’t the problem. It’s the increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere that is resulting in the rapid warming we’re seeing over the last century, which is the problem.

It’s easy for us to say, “Well, it’s too late to do anything about it. Let’s throw our hands up and not do anything about it.” But there is a lot we can do about it, both individually as well as at the international level. It doesn’t have to be a major change, but reducing our consumption of certain meat products that are extremely energy-intensive is one way in which we can affect greenhouse emissions.

Find out more

Insider
Business Insider

 

 

WSU offering new wildland firefighter course

How to dig fire lines, understand fire behavior, and safely work around fire engines in the forest environment are some of the skills Washington State University undergraduate students will learn in Wildland Fire Ecology and Management, a new course beginning this fall.

The course is designed to prepare young forestry professionals to meet the certification requirements to become entry-level wildland firefighters. This will, in turn, enable them to work on projects that involve the use of prescribed fire to accomplish ecological restoration objectives.

Mark Swanson.
Swanson

“We are doing a good job educating our students about the science of fire, but there is definitely a need for more hands-on training,” said course-designer Mark Swanson, an associate professor of forestry at WSU. “If we can send our students out of here with a basic knowledge of how fire is suppressed under emergency circumstances and how it’s used as a management tool, then they’re going to be a lot more competitive on the job market.

Swanson hopes to round out the class by having students participate in an actual prescribed fire management event after they have become certified as wildland firefighters.

Find out more

WSU Insider
Western Farmer-Stockman