News releases
March 6, 2018
Glaciers in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert actually shrank during the last ice age
High in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, the climate is so dry and cold that glaciers shrank during the last ice age. Dating of rock deposits shows how glaciers in this less-studied region can behave very differently as the climate shifts.
March 5, 2018
Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies to hold ‘Re-imagining Solidarity’ conference March 10
Immigrant rights, environmental concerns and racial, class, gender and sexual justice will be the focus of a daylong conference hosted by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies March 10 at the UW.
March 2, 2018
Celebrated poet Charles Simic to give UW’s 54th Theodore Roethke Poetry Reading April 12
Charles Simic, one of America’s most celebrated poets, will give the 2018 Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Reading on April 12. Simic will be the 54th poet to appear in the series since its inception in 1964.
February 27, 2018
Largest Chinook salmon disappearing from West Coast
The largest and oldest Chinook salmon — fish also known as “kings” and prized for their exceptional size — have mostly disappeared along the West Coast, according to a new study led by the University of Washington.
February 22, 2018
Reducing failed deliveries, truck parking time could improve downtown Seattle congestion, new report finds
If online shopping continues to grow at its current rate, there may be twice as many trucks delivering packages in Seattle’s city center within five years, a new report projects — and double the number of trucks looking for a parking space.
February 21, 2018
UW among Peace Corps’ 2018 top volunteer-producing colleges & universities
The Peace Corps today announced that University of Washington ranked No. 2 among large schools on the agency’s 2018 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list. There are 74 UW alumni currently volunteering worldwide.
February 20, 2018
University of Washington is a top producer of Fulbright scholars
The University of Washington ranked second in the country in producing Fulbright Scholars. Fulbrights were awarded to 11 researchers at UW’s Seattle campus, and to three faculty members at UW Bothell.
Beluga whales dive deeper, longer to find food in Arctic
Reductions in sea ice in the Arctic have a clear impact on animals such as polar bears that rely on frozen surfaces for feeding, mating and migrating. But sea ice loss is changing Arctic habitat and affecting other species in more indirect ways, new research finds. Beluga whales that spend summers feeding in the Arctic…
Using a laser to wirelessly charge a smartphone safely across a room
Engineers at the University of Washington have for the first time developed a method to safely charge a smartphone wirelessly using a laser.
February 15, 2018
Five UW scientists awarded Sloan Fellowships for early-career research
Five faculty members at the University of Washington have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 15, include Maya Cakmak, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; Jiun-Haw Chu, assistant professor of clean energy and physics; Arka Majumdar, assistant professor of electrical engineering and physics; Jessica Werk, assistant professor of astronomy; and Chelsea Wood, assistant professor of aquatic and fishery sciences.
February 12, 2018
Hybrid optics bring color imaging using ultrathin metalenses into focus
In a paper published Feb. 9 in Science Advances, scientists at the University of Washington announced that they have successfully combined two different imaging methods — a type of lens designed for nanoscale interaction with lightwaves, along with robust computational processing — to create full-color images.
February 9, 2018
Research uncovers the mysterious lives of narwhals
New findings could help scientists understand a little more about the elusive narwhal and how these marine mammals might fare in a changing climate.
February 8, 2018
Simple rules can help fishery managers cope with ecological complexity
A team of ecologists and economists is the first to test whether real-life ecological interactions produce economic benefits for the fishing industry. The results were published online Jan. 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
February 7, 2018
Fruit bat’s echolocation may work like sophisticated surveillance sonar
High-speed recordings of Egyptian fruit bats in flight show that instead of using a primitive form of echolocation, these animals actually use a technique recently developed by humans for surveillance and navigation.
February 6, 2018
UW astronomer Woody Sullivan assists in renovation of Olympia’s Territorial Sundial
After six months of repair and restoration — assisted by UW astronomer and sundial expert Woody Sullivan — Olympia’s iconic Territorial Sundial is back in place.
February 5, 2018
Watery worlds: UW astronomer Eric Agol assists in new findings of TRAPPIST-1 planetary system
A team of astronomers including Eric Agol of the University of Washington has found that the seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1 are all made mostly of rock, and some could even have more water — which can give life a chance — than Earth itself. The research was led by Simon Grimm of…
January 31, 2018
University of Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory team up to make the materials of tomorrow
The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Washington announced the creation of the Northwest Institute for Materials Physics, Chemistry and Technology — or NW IMPACT — a joint research endeavor to power discoveries and advancements in materials that transform energy, telecommunications, medicine, information technology and other fields.
Reconstructing an ancient lethal weapon
Archaeologists are a little like forensic investigators: They scour the remains of past societies, looking for clues in pottery, tools and bones about how people lived, and how they died. And just as detectives might re-create the scene of a crime, University of Washington archaeologists have re-created the weapons used by hunter-gatherers in…
January 30, 2018
Depression, anxiety affect more than one-fourth of state’s college students
Nearly one-third of Washington college students have experienced depression in the last year, and more than 10 percent have had thoughts of suicide, according to a new survey of young adults attending schools around the state. The survey of more than 10,000 students at 13 of Washington’s two- and four-year institutions shows the need…
January 25, 2018
Dan Berger discusses excesses of incarceration in new book ‘Rethinking the American Prison Movement’
Dan Berger, associate professor in the UW Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, discusses his new book, “Rethinking the American Prison Movement.”
If you swat mosquitoes, they may learn to avoid your scent
In a published Jan. 25 in Current Biology, University of Washington researchers report that mosquitoes can learn to associate a particular odor with an unpleasant mechanical shock akin to being swatted. As a result, they’ll avoid that scent the next time.
January 24, 2018
A new ‘atmospheric disequilibrium’ could help detect life on other planets
A University of Washington study has found a simple approach to look for life that might be more promising than just looking for oxygen.
#MemoriesInDNA Project wants to store your photos in DNA for the benefit of science – and future generations
Researchers from the Molecular Information Systems Lab at the University of Washington and Microsoft are looking to collect 10,000 original images from around the world to preserve them indefinitely in synthetic DNA manufactured by Twist Bioscience. DNA holds promise as a revolutionary storage medium that lasts much longer and is many orders of magnitude denser than current technologies.
January 22, 2018
Lab-made hormone may reveal secret lives of plants
By developing a synthetic version of the plant hormone auxin and an engineered receptor to recognize it, University of Washington biology professor Keiko Torii and her colleagues are poised to uncover plants’ inner workings, raising the possibility of a new way to ripen fruits such as strawberries and tomatoes.
Small hydroelectric dams increase globally with little research, regulations
University of Washington researchers have published the first major assessment of small hydropower dams around the world — including their potential for growth — and highlight the incredibly variability in how dams of varying sizes are categorized, regulated and studied.
January 19, 2018
UW, TheDream.US announce new scholarship partnership to benefit undocumented students
The University of Washington and TheDream.US announced a new partnership this week that will provide scholarships to qualified undocumented students who graduate from two-year colleges and transfer to the UW.
January 18, 2018
Temporary ‘bathtub drains’ in the ocean concentrate flotsam
An experiment using hundreds of plastic drifters in the Gulf of Mexico shows that rather than simply spread out, as current calculations would predict, many of them clumped together in a tight cluster.
How the Elwha dam removals changed the river’s mouth
A new study in the Journal PLOS ONE details what removing the two dams on the Elwha River meant for the nearshore marine ecosystem.
January 17, 2018
Scale-eating fish adopt clever parasitic methods to survive
A small group of fishes — possibly the world’s cleverest carnivorous grazers — feeds on the scales of other fish in the tropics. A team led by biologists at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories is trying to understand these scale-feeding fish and how this odd diet influences their body evolution and behavior.
January 16, 2018
Task interrupted: A plan for returning helps you move on
Get interrupted at work much? Making a quick plan for returning to and completing the task you’re leaving will help you focus better on the interrupting work, according to new research from the University of Washington.
Researchers program biomaterials with ‘logic gates’ that release therapeutics in response to environmental triggers
Drug treatments can save lives, but sometimes they also carry unintended costs. After all, the same therapeutics that target pathogens and tumors can also harm healthy cells. To reduce this collateral damage, scientists have long sought specificity in drug delivery systems: A package that can encase a therapeutic and will not disgorge its toxic cargo…
A ‘touching sight’: How babies’ brains process touch builds foundations for learning
Touch is the first of the five senses to develop, yet scientists know far less about the baby’s brain response to touch than to, say, the sight of mom’s face, or the sound of her voice. Now, through the use of safe, new brain imaging techniques, University of Washington researchers provide one of the…
January 11, 2018
Can the president really do that? Two UW law professors give answers in new book
Can the president single-handedly toss out environmental rules designed to combat global warming? Force states like Washington to help enforce federal immigration laws? Fire Robert Mueller? No, no, and not directly, say Lisa Manheim and Kathryn Watts, professors of law at the University of Washington, in a new book. The answers, of course, are more complicated…
January 9, 2018
Mark Richards, former dean at UC Berkeley, named provost at the UW
University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce today named Mark Richards provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. The appointment is effective July 1, 2018. Richards, a geophysicist, is a professor of Earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he previously served as dean of mathematical and physical sciences from…
January 8, 2018
UW Reality Lab launches with $6M from tech companies to advance augmented and virtual reality research
The UW Reality Lab is launching with $6 million from Facebook, Google, and Huawei to accelerate innovation in augmented and virtual reality and educate the next generation of researchers and practitioners.
January 4, 2018
New book ‘City Unsilenced’ explores protest and public space
Jeff Hou, UW professor of landscape architecture, discusses the new book he co-edited with Sabine Knierbein, “City Unsilenced: Urban Resistance and Public Space in the Age of Shrinking Democracy.”
January 3, 2018
Space dust, not aliens: Two UW astronomers assist in new research on ‘mysterious’ star
UW astronomers Brett Morris and James Davenport assisted in new research on “Tabby’s Star,” named for Louisiana State University astronomer Tabetha Boyajian.
December 21, 2017
Promoting self-esteem among African-American girls through racial, cultural connections
For African-American students, data, alongside societal attitudes and stereotypes, often present a negative picture: a wide academic achievement gap separating them from their white peers. Higher rates of discipline and absenteeism. Discrimination by other students, teachers and the larger community. And just last summer, a study indicated that black girls, from an early…
December 18, 2017
Fish to benefit if large dams adopt new operating approach
Recognizing that many large dams are here to stay, a University of Washington team is investigating an emerging solution to help achieve freshwater conservation goals by re-envisioning the ways in which water is released by dams.
December 13, 2017
University of Washington celebrates fundraising and construction milestones for second computer science building
The University of Washington celebrated two major fundraising and construction milestones on Wednesday for the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering, which will allow the UW to double its annual computer science and engineering degree production.
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