News releases

March 5, 2019

FASER detector at the Large Hadron Collider to seek clues about hidden matter in the universe

A computer image of a device that will detect particles in the Large Hadron Collider.

On March 5, the CERN research board approved a new experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva to search for evidence of fundamental dark matter particles. UW scientists are part of this endeavor, the Forward Search Experiment — or FASER — which seeks to answer one of the outstanding questions in particle physics: What is dark matter made of?

March 4, 2019

University of Washington and Aga Khan University sign agreement to further population health, research, service and education

The University of Washington today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aga Khan University to codify partnership activities already underway and to leverage complementary strengths to further expand research, service and education in low- and middle-income countries.

Which of these two very realistic renderings of faces is real, and which is a computer-generated fake? Biology professor Carl Bergstrom and Information School professor Jevin West -- creators of the "Calling BS" class and site -- now have a website to help you better discern between fake and real images online. Here, the image on the right is real. Check your own skills at their site, WhichFaceisReal.com

A new website from the UW’s Jevin West and Carl Bergstrom, the duo behind the popular “Calling BS” class, asks viewers to choose which of two realistic face photos is real and which is a complete fake.

This week in the arts, attend a performance with Emerson String Quartet, partake in the Strange Coupling silent and live auction, see the film screening of “The Gold Fish Casino,” and more! In the Heart of America March 6 – 17 (previews March 2 & 5) | Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse In the shadow…

February 28, 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates Center opens a new era of computer science education and innovation at the University of Washington

The University of Washington today marked the official opening of the new Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering on its Seattle campus. The building doubles the space available to UW’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering to enable a new wave of computing innovation and to educate more of Washington’s students for 21st century careers that will help shape the future of technology.

February 27, 2019

Return of the wolves: How deer escape tactics help save their lives

As gray wolves return to eastern Washington, a new study finds that one species of deer is changing its behavior to spend more time away from roads, at higher elevations and in rockier landscapes.

February 25, 2019

ARTSUW Roundup: (Im)migration: Music of Displaced People, Critical Issues Lecture with Lizzi Bougatsos, and more!

This week in the arts, attend a talk with an artist whose work stands at the crossroad of art and science, listen to music of today, see the preview of “In the Heart of American,” and more! SOLD OUT: A Conversation with Zadie Smith, Moderated by Valerie Curtis-Newton February 27, 7:30 pm | Benaroya Hall…

A depiction of single-layer semiconductors.

In a paper published Feb. 25 in the journal Nature, a University of Washington-led team of physicists report that it has developed a new system to trap individual excitons — bound pairs of electrons and their associated positive charges. Their system could form the basis of a novel experimental platform for monitoring excitons with precision and potentially developing new quantum technologies.

February 20, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Programs with Los Angeles-based artist Carolina Caycedo, Mark Morris Dance Group — and more

This week in the arts, see one of “[The] most successful and influential choreographer alive and indisputably the most musical (The New York Times)” on stage, have an inside look of the Ceramic and Metal Arts Building at the 3D4M Open House, and more! Gurvich Visiting Artist: Carolina Caycedo Los Angeles-based artist Carolina Caycedo will…

A new study outlines more than a decade of success in reducing seabird bycatch in Alaska’s longline fisheries, and where there’s still room for improvement

February 19, 2019

Climate change and national security: Jackson School to hold public discussion March 6 featuring Gov. Jay Inslee

What geopolitical challenges is global climate change creating for the national security of the United States and throughout the world? The UW’s Jackson School of International Studies will host a public panel discussion of these issues on March 6, featuring Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

A member of the British House of Lords is scheduled to deliver the Elizabeth Sterling Soule Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 21st, as part of the University of Washington School of Nursing’s Centennial celebrations and the Nursing Now initiative in the State of Washington. Baroness Mary Watkins of Tavistock, a professor of nursing and alternate chair…

February 13, 2019

UW study: Exposure to chemical in Roundup increases risk for cancer

Exposure to glyphosate — the world’s most widely used, broad-spectrum herbicide and the primary ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup — increases the risk of some cancers by more than 40 percent, according to new research from the University of Washington.

This week in the arts, take a trip to the Nordic Museum on Valentine’s Day for a lecture on Swedish cinema history, attend artist talks about “Creating Survivance: Art and Indigenous Wellness”, celebrate 25 years of the Jacob Lawrence Gallery with DJ sets by SassyBlack, Felisha Ledesma, and dos leches + Eve Defy, and more!…

Researchers at the University of Washington wanted to know how Magellanic penguin parents in South America balance the dietary demands of multiple chicks. As they report in a paper published Jan. 23 in the journal Animal Behaviour, when a Magellanic penguin parent returns to its nest with fish, the parent tries to feed each of its two chicks equal portions of food, regardless of the youngsters’ differences in age or size.

February 12, 2019

Assessing riverside corridors — the ‘escape routes’ for animals under climate change — in the Northwest

A study led by the University of Washington pinpoints which riverside routes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana will be the most important for animals trying to navigate a changing climate.

February 11, 2019

Many Arctic lakes give off less carbon than expected

New research by the University of Washington and U.S. Geological Survey suggests many lakes pose little threat to global carbon levels, at least for now.

February 7, 2019

All the data in the sky, alerted via UW eyes

The Zwicky Transient Facility, based at the Palomar Observatory, has identified over a thousand new objects and phenomena in the night sky, including more than 1,100 new supernovae and 50 near-Earth asteroids. University of Washington scientists are part of the ZTF team and led the development of the collaboration’s alert system, which informs science teams of possible new objects or changes to known objects in the sky.

February 6, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Inuit throat singer performance, artist lecture, exhibition opening, and more

This week in the arts, attend Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq’s performance that will feature a crowdsourced choir of UW students and regional indigenous people, partake in the Painting + Drawing Open House, visit the Henry to see “Martha Friedman: Castoffs” before it closes, and more. Critical Issues Lecture: Andrea Fraser February 7, 7:00 PM…

The legalization of marijuana in Washington state in 2012 gave parents the opportunity for a new teachable moment. Many say that as society has become more permissive, they want information and advice.

February 4, 2019

Early spring rain boosts methane from thawing permafrost by 30 percent

The landscape surrounding a thaw bog in Alaska

A UW-led team has found that early spring rainfall warms up a thawing permafrost bog in Alaska and promotes the growth of plants and methane-producing microbes.

January 31, 2019

Iguana-sized dinosaur cousin discovered in Antarctica, shows how life at the South Pole bounced back after mass extinction

An illustration of a forest in Antarctica 250 million years ago, showing reptiles that lived there.

Scientists have just discovered a dinosaur relative that lived in Antarctica 250 million years ago. The iguana-sized reptile’s genus name, Antarctanax, means “Antarctic king.”

January 30, 2019

UW-based group launches national challenge to recreate first moon landing — with drones and Lego robots

A UW-based group is launching a national student challenge to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo moon landing.

January 29, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Call for singers to perform with Tanya Tagaq, recital with Craig Sheppard and Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, and more

This week in the arts, perform on stage with Tanya Tagaq at the Meany Center for the Performing Arts, experience Beethoven for cello and piano at a faculty recital, attend a lecture with New York-based Artist Amy O’Neill, catch one of the last performances of Rutherford and Son, and more! Faculty Recital: Craig Sheppard,…

Mock headstones outside the State Capitol mark the number of people who died by suicide in Washington in one year. Forefront Suicide Prevention, based at the University of Washington, places the headstones as part of its annual Education Day event in Olympia. Photo of hundreds of headstones on the lawn in front of the State Capitol building.

Community impact and public health solutions are the focus of the Forefront Suicide Prevention Education Day, to be held Feb. 11 at the Washington Capitol in Olympia. Forefront, based at the UW School of Social Work, is leading the event, a series of speakers and events aimed at raising awareness, providing training and pushing for change.

January 22, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Opening of Rutherford and Son, Faculty Dance Concert, and more.

This week in the arts, attend a lecture about Asian porcelain near the Red Sea in the early eighteenth century, catch the first night of Rutherford and Son, listen to the UW Symphony and Seattle Symphony together at Benaroya Hall, and experience the Faculty Dance Concert, featuring choreographers Brian Brooks and Etienne Cakpo, plus four new…

January 16, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Guest Artist Recital, Preview and Opening of Rutherford and Son, and more

This week in the arts, partake in an exhibition opening with Danny Giles, the 2019 Jacob Lawrence Legacy Resident, attend the preview of a School of Drama production, and more! Guest Artist Recital Tony Cho, Piano and David Bowlin, Violin January 17, 7:30 PM| Brechmin Auditorium Oberlin Conservatory colleagues Tony Cho, piano, and David Bowlin, violin,…

The University of Washington today opened the doors to Othello-UW Commons, a new multifunctional partnership space in the heart of Southeast Seattle’s Othello neighborhood.

January 15, 2019

Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge to open at University of Washington

Esports — the phenomenally popular world of competitive video games — soon will have a home at the University of Washington.

This spring, the UW’s Husky Union Building (HUB) will officially open the doors to the HUB Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge – a full-service, state-of-the-art gaming center that supports both casual and competitive gaming and virtual reality. The 1,000 square-foot space will serve as the epicenter between student communities, business communities and gaming culture in the Northwest.

A University of Washington-led study finds that children who socially transition to the gender "opposite" their sex at birth also demonstrate strong "cross-gender" identities before the transition. Photo of two children in silhouette.

A new University of Washington study suggests that the children most apt to socially transition to the gender “opposite” their sex at birth are those who already demonstrate the strongest “cross-gender” identities, and that the transitions don’t appear to alter a child’s gender identity or preferences.

January 14, 2019

Seattle bike share programs show infrequent helmet use, little disparity in access to bikes among neighborhoods

People riding free-floating bike share rentals in Seattle are wearing helmets infrequently, according to a new analysis conducted by University of Washington researchers. Only 20 percent of bike share riders wore helmets in the study, while more than 90 percent of cyclists wore helmets while riding their own bikes.

Different research on the free-floating bike share systems showed that bikes were usually available in all Seattle neighborhoods across economic, racial and ethnic lines. However, more bikes were located in more-advantaged neighborhoods.

January 10, 2019

Astronomers find signatures of a ‘messy’ star that made its companion go supernova

An image of a galaxy in outer space, with a bright supernova visible at its outer edge.

On Jan. 10 at the 2019 American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, an international team of astronomers announced that they have identified the type of companion star that made its partner in a binary system, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf star, explode. Through repeated observations of SN 2015cp, a supernova 545 million light years away, the team detected hydrogen-rich debris that the companion star had shed prior to the explosion.

Justin Marlowe, professor in the UW Evans School and co-author of new state-commissioned study about possibility of a cooperative state bank in Washington.

If Washington state were to establish a public bank, what type of bank might work best? One that can provide targeted products and services to local governments across the state, says a new report by UW researchers from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.

January 9, 2019

ARTSUW Roundup: Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Indigo Mist with Special Guest Bill Frisell, and more

This week in the arts, attend the first Critical Issues Lecture with Maria Nordman, go to a performance by UW Music faculty band, Indigo Mist, with renowned guitarist Bill Frisell, and more! Critical Issues Lecture Series: Maria Nordman January 10, 7:00 PM| Henry Art Gallery Maria Nordman, a German-American sculptor and conceptual artist, will deliver…

Women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields are more likely to advance professionally, publish more research and secure postdoctoral and faculty positions if their institutional culture is welcoming and sets clear expectations, according to a study of hundreds of Ph.D. students at four top-tier California research universities.

Second Chance uses sonar to monitor someone's breathing rate

UW researchers have developed a smartphone app that uses sonar to monitor someone’s breathing rate and sense when an opioid overdose has occurred.

January 2, 2019

UW mourns the death of Blake Nordstrom

Statements from University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce, director of athletics Jennifer Cohen and men’s rowing head coach Michael Callahan

A curious Magellanic penguin looking into the camera lens

Female Magellanic penguins are more likely to die at sea as juveniles, which has caused a skewed sex ratio of nearly three adult males to every female, as well as population decline of more than 40 percent since 1987 at one of their largest breeding colonies — Punta Tombo in Argentina.

In a paper published Jan. 2 in PLOS Biology, two scientists at the University of Washington and North Carolina State University use the economic theory of contests to illustrate how the competitive grant-application system has made the pursuit of research funding inefficient and unsustainable — and that alternative methods, such as a partial lottery to award grants, could relieve pressure on professors and free up time for research.

December 24, 2018

New global migration estimates show rates proportionally steady since 1990, high rate of return migration

Two University of Washington scientists have unveiled a new statistical method for estimating migration flows between countries. They show that rates of migration are higher than previously thought, but also relatively stable, fluctuating between 1.1 and 1.3 percent of global population from 1990 to 2015. In addition, since 1990 approximately 45 percent of migrants have returned to their home countries, a much higher estimate than other methods.

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