New research led by the University of Washington suggests that two different climate transitions millions of years ago fueled the diversification of carnivoran body plans.
News releases
New research from the UW and the Toyota Research Institute explores how drivers trade off between cognitive tasks, driving and using the vehicle’s touch screen. Researchers placed participants in a driving simulator and had them complete memory tests while interacting with the simulator’s touch screen.
The WIC program provides families food in specific categories. New research finds that households who redeem more of their benefits in the most popular food categories are more likely to remain in the program long-term.
A new University of Washington study suggests that AI could learn cultural values by observing human behavior, similar to how children learn by watching and interacting with adults. Researchers had AI systems observe two cultural groups playing a video game. The AI systems were able to learn each group’s degree of altruism and apply this to a new situation.
Researchers at the UW have developed AI-powered headphones that automatically isolate conversation partners in a noisy soundscape. The system employs AI models that listen for the back-and-forth pattern of conversation and mute voices that aren’t following the established rhythm.
A web-based method was shown to mitigate political polarization on X by nudging antidemocratic and extremely negative partisan posts lower in a user’s feed. The tool, which is independent of the platform, has the potential to give users more say over what they see on social media.
Research led by the University of Washington and Kaiser Permanente Southern California sheds new light on how the 2025 Los Angeles fires affected people’s health, and how people navigated the health care system during an emergency.
In a new study, University of Washington researchers collected salmon DNA in air filters near a stream, showing that eDNA can move between air and water, a possibility scientists hadn’t accounted for that opens new avenues for monitoring aquatic species.
The green hermit hummingbird, which lives primarily in mountain forests of Central and South America, fights to win a mate. New research found that these fights have shaped the species’ evolution, yielding significant differences in bill shape for male and female green hermits.
The University of Washington today announced a foundational $10 million gift from philanthropists Charles and Lisa Simonyi to support groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
University of Washington President Robert J. Jones today appointed Hasoni Pratts to the position of Chief of Staff to the President. In this pivotal leadership role, Pratts will serve as a senior advisor to the President and play a critical role in advancing the university’s strategic priorities and institutional goals.
Come curious. Leave inspired. For those near and far, we invite you to end the year with us through a range of events, performances, exhibitions, podcasts, and more. As you begin to shape your December plans, don’t miss the inspiring events still to come this November. In addition, sign up to receive a monthly notice when the ArtSci Roundup has been published. ArtSci On Your Own Time Henry Art Gallery Exhibitions Closing in January: Christine Sun Kim: Ghost(ed) Notes Influenced by…
The University of Washington will engage an outside firm to review its student conduct policies and procedures and make recommendations for improvements, President Robert J. Jones announced today.
The Northeastern Pacific Ocean is becoming more acidic faster than other oceans as the water absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and natural processes feed carbon dioxide up from the deep. The rate of CO2 accumulation is outpacing atmospheric rises and driving acidity to new extremes.
In a new UW study, 528 participants worked with simulated AI systems to select job candidates. The researchers simulated different levels of racial biases for resumes from white, Black, Hispanic and Asian men. Without suggestions, participants’ choices exhibited little bias. But when provided with recommendations, participants mirrored the AI’s biases.
A new University of Washington-led study shows that space dust sandwiched between layers of sediment tells scientists where and when ice covered the Arctic, and what happened to marine life when it disappeared.
New University of Washington-led research attributes accelerated warming to reduced cloud reflectivity. As efforts to improve air quality have reduced pollution, clouds became less mirror-like, letting more solar radiation reach Earth and revealing the true impact of greenhouse gases.
In mid-pregnancy, exposure to any smoke was associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth, with that risk peaking around the 21st week of gestation. In late pregnancy, elevated risk was most closely associated with exposure to high concentrations of wildfire PM2.5, above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
Total enrollment is up across all three University of Washington campuses for the 2025-26 academic year, according to the annual census count released this month. Each year, the UW conducts an official enrollment count after the start of the fall quarter. The total number of students across all three campuses is 63,727. Enrollment increased 1.1% to 52,316 at the UW’s Seattle campus, up from 51,719 in 2024. Total enrollment at UW Bothell jumped to 6,361 students, up 4.7% from 2024….
Researchers at the UW have created a recyclable, flexible and self-healing composite material that could replace traditional circuit boards in future generations of wearable electronics.
The University of Washington is one of nine universities to receive two years of funding from Amazon’s new AI PhD Fellowship program, which was announced on Tuesday. The UW will receive $2.2 million over two years, with total funding across all universities reaching nearly $10 million annually.
University of Washington researchers analyzed data collected in the decade following the Paris Agreement, an international treaty signed in 2015 to limit warming by cutting emissions. The treaty has helped nations reduce the amount of carbon released per dollar, but emissions are still too high due to global economic growth.
A new collaborative study led by scientists at the University of Washington and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science proposes that a tsunami struck the Caribbean island of Anegada between 1381 and 1391, carrying huge coral boulders inland and leaving behind a valuable record of geologic and climatic history.
Come curious. Leave inspired. We invite you to connect with us this November through a rich and varied schedule of more than 30 events, exhibitions, podcasts, and more. From chamber opera premieres and public lectures to Indigenous storytelling and poetry celebrations, there’s something to spark every curiosity. Expect boundary-pushing performances, thought-provoking dialogues on memory and identity, and cross-disciplinary collaborations—November is a celebration of bold ideas and creative energy. As you plan for the end of the year, take a look…
Targeted drug delivery is a powerful and promising area of medicine. Therapies that pinpoint precise areas of the body can reduce the medicine dosage and avoid potentially harmful “off target” effects. Researchers at the UW took a significant step toward that goal by designing proteins with autonomous decision-making capabilities. By adding smart tail structures to therapeutic proteins, the team demonstrated that the proteins could be “programmed” to act based on the presence of specific environmental cues.
A new analysis of data from the Cassini space probe has identified organic compounds within jets of water ice erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Some of the compounds, which likely originated in Enceladus’ subsurface ocean, have never before been identified on another world beyond Earth. The study, conducted in part by a UW researcher, contributes to mounting evidence that Enceladus could support life.
UW researchers discuss their study which surveyed 166 gamers about how video games sparked meaningful changes in their lives.
Research by the University of Washington and the USPTO found that some simple interventions increased the probability that female inventors would get patents by 12%. For first-time applicants, that probability increased to 17%.
In a new study, a team of scientists determined the minimum natural habitat on agricultural land that will allow insect pollinators — including bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies and butterflies — to thrive. UW News reached out to co-author Berry Brosi, UW professor of biology, to learn more about these results and how habitat is important to two types of bees native to Washington.
Students schools that offered free meals to all students were less likely to have high blood pressure, suggesting that universal free meals might be a powerful tool for improving public health.
University of Washington researchers found, in historical whaling data, that longer baleen whale mothers were more likely to birth female calves than males. These results run contrary to a leading evolutionary theory that suggests that fit mothers will benefit more from male offspring.
New research from the UW tested how much a car owner’s perception of public charger reliability influences their willingness to buy their first EV. The results were dramatic: Participants with a negative view of public charging were far less likely to choose an EV than those with a moderate view.
The University of Washington’s incoming classes were welcomed Sunday at the University’s 42nd annual New Student Convocation inside Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The ceremony was attended by thousands of students, family and friends. Welcome, Huskies! Thousands of incoming @uofwa.bsky.social students gathered for an annual 'W' formation today after kicking off the school year with a convocation ceremony. #newhuskies2025 #uwdawgdazeMedia assets: drive.google.com/drive/folder… — UW News (@uwnews.uw.edu) 2025-09-21T23:11:03.035Z For journalists Download ‘W’ timelapse, soundbites and B-roll from 2025 Convocation…
The University of Washington’s incoming classes will be welcomed on Sunday by President Robert J. Jones at the University’s 42nd annual New Student Convocation inside Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The ceremony is expected to be attended by thousands of students, family and friends. Preliminary figures show the incoming freshman class will be about 7,175 students, with around 4,550 from Washington. An additional 1,650 transfer students are expected to arrive this fall, including 1,375 of whom will be…
A University of Washington-led study of X found that posts with Community Notes attached were less prone to going viral and got less engagement. After getting a Community Note, on average, reposts dropped 46% and likes dropped 44%.
This week the University of Washington campus is once again buzzing with energy as students begin to move into the residence halls and participate in annual fall activities for incoming undergraduates. A majority of the UW freshman class has signed up to live on campus for Autumn 2025, and thousands of students are expected to move into campus housing this week, beginning on Tuesday, September 16. Move-in occurs at various locations on the University of Washington campus during the following…
University of Washington President Robert J. Jones, author Daniel James Brown, and other members of the ASUW Shell House community gathered Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony at the historic building, which is undergoing final stages of adaptive reuse.
The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed new details in the core of the Butterfly Nebula, known to astronomers as NGC 6302. From the dense ring of dust that surrounds the nebula’s core to the tiny but bright star hidden within, the Webb observations paint a never-before-seen portrait of the nebula’s inner workings. Researchers at the UW and around the world are studying the imagery to learn more about the origins of cosmic dust and its role in the formation of planets like ours.
Dengue fever incidence could rise as much as 76% by 2050 due to climate warming across a large swath of Asia and the Americas, according to a new study.
In a recent paper, University of Washington researchers argue that a key standard for deploying medical AI is transparency — that is, using various methods to clarify how a medical AI system arrives at its diagnoses and outputs.