New and exciting activities in the
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
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Recent News From McDonnell Center Fellows
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Are the ‘oldest’ features of Venus actually young?
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Ever since Soviet spacecraft first captured images of the Venusian surface in the mid-1970s, certain features stood out. Photographs and subsequent radar images revealed a planet teeming with volcanoes, frozen lava plains, and vast, deformed highlands twisted and strained by strong planetary forces.
Those highlands, called tesserae, have inspired intense debate and speculation. For decades, the prevailing thought has been that the tesserae represent the oldest regions of Venus’s surface, remnants of the ancient stressors that shaped the planet millions and billions of years ago.
Now, a team of international scientists led by Paul Byrne has offered a bold new theory on the origins of at least some parts of these enigmatic tesserae. The theory, published in JGR Planets, holds that perhaps not all parts of these ancient highlands are so ancient after all.
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Cyclic deformation resets a rock’s microstructural clock
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Break open two seemingly identical rocks, and their interiors can look very different. Deformation over millions of years leaves bands of colors and textures, like the veins running through decorative marble. Under a microscope, the results are even more striking: Individual grains are distorted and reoriented into complex mosaics that record the forces applied to them.
A recent study by Phil Skemer and Jack Qidiao in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth challenges that assumption.
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Integrating Seismic Anisotropy, Geodynamics, and Rock Deformation Workshop
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Scientists from around the world gathered at WashU May 31-June 2 for Integrating Seismic Anisotropy, Geodynamics, and Rock Deformation. The workshop, supported in part by MCSS and organized by Phil Skemer and colleagues, brought together researchers to explore how seismic observations, geodynamic models, and laboratory experiments can be combined to better understand the processes shaping Earth's interior.
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Undergraduate Researchers Gather at MCSS BBQ
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MCSS hosted undergraduate students from summer research programs in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and Physics for a BBQ and networking event on June 11. The gathering provided an opportunity for students to connect with fellow researchers and faculty.
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Research Experience for Undergraduates
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Students participating in WashU Physics' 2026 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program pose with program leaders Alex Chen (left) and Li Yang (right). Chen, an MCSS fellow, serves as principal investigator for the summer research program.
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Recent Publications by McDonnell Center Fellows
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Lisalda, L., Gau, E., Krawczynski, H., Gokus, A., Cavero, N. R., Nowak, M., et al. (2025). IXPE observations of the blazar Mrk 501 in 2022: a multiwavelength view. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 549(1).
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| Halley's Spectacular 2061 Prospects
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St. Louis Astronomical Society June Meeting
Joseph Marcus
Comet News Service - former editor
Friday, June 19
7:30pm, McDonnell 162
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Compiled and edited by Alison Verbeck. Please send any contributions to alison@wustl.edu.
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