News releases
April 4, 2024
What four decades of canned salmon reveal about marine food webs
University of Washington researchers have shown that levels of anisakid worms — a common marine parasite — rose in two salmon species in the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay over a 42-year period. The team discovered this by studying salmon caught, killed and canned from 1979 to 2021. Since anisakid worms have a complex life cycle involving multiple types of hosts, the researchers interpret their rising numbers as a potential sign of ecosystem recovery, possibly driven by rising numbers of marine mammals thanks to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act.
March 28, 2024
Q&A: How to train AI when you don’t have enough data
As researchers explore potential applications for AI, they have found scenarios where AI could be really useful but there’s not enough data to accurately train the algorithms. Jenq-Neng Hwang, University of Washington professor of electrical and computer and engineering, specializes in these issues.
March 26, 2024
University of Washington appoints Pat Chun as Director of Athletics
The University of Washington has appointed Pat Chun to serve as its 17th Director of Athletics, UW President Ana Mari Cauce announced today. He will begin his duties Wednesday, March 27.
March 22, 2024
Signs of life detectable in single ice grain emitted from extraterrestrial moons
Could life be found in frozen sea spray emitted from moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter? New research finds that life can be detected in a single ice grain containing one bacterial cell or portions of a cell. The results suggest that if life similar to that on Earth exists on these planetary bodies, this life should be detectable by instruments launching in the fall.
Public records, records management and privacy officer join compliance and risk services
President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Tricia Serio announced an organizational restructuring that brings the offices of Public Records and Open Public Meetings, Records Management Services, and the Privacy Officer functions into Compliance and Risk Services to better serve the University community and the public. The changes are an extension of additional restructuring previously announced to form the expanded Office of Finance, Planning and Budgeting.
March 19, 2024
Citizen scientist group finds 15 rare ‘active asteroids’
In 2021, Colin Orion Chandler started Active Asteroids Citizen Science, a partnership between NASA, Zooniverse, astronomers and thousands of citizen scientist volunteers. The initiative is searching for so-called “active asteroids,” which have comet-like tails and could hold clues to the formation of our solar system, among other cosmic mysteries. Chandler, now a University of Washington researcher, and his team recently announced they have discovered 15 active asteroids, and are continuing the search for more of these unusual and rare objects.
March 14, 2024
UW researchers taught kids to code with cultural research and embroidery machines
University of Washington researchers taught a group of high schoolers to code by combining cultural research into various embroidery traditions with “computational embroidery.” The method teaches kids to encode embroidery patterns on a computer through a coding language called Turtlestitch.
March 13, 2024
Q&A: UW expert on the rising rates of immunosuppression among U.S. adults
A new UW study places the prevalence of immunosuppression at around 6.6% of American adults — more than twice as high as previously understood. That rise could have broad implications for how we navigate the late stages of COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics.
March 12, 2024
AI analysis of historical satellite images show USSR collapse in 1990s increased methane emissions, despite lower oil and gas production
An AI-powered analysis of 25 years of satellite images yields the surprising finding that methane emissions in Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic and major oil-producing region, actually increased in the years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
March 11, 2024
Q&A: How Instagram influencers profit from anti-vaccine misinformation
New research from the UW examines how three wellness Instagram influencers profited from anti-vaccine misinformation.
March 8, 2024
Video: Predicting cherry tree bloom timing at the UW
Cherry trees on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus are waking up and getting ready to say hello. For the 29 iconic Yoshino cherry trees in the UW Quad, peak bloom will likely begin after March 20.
March 6, 2024
Scientists CT-scanned thousands of natural history specimens, which you can access for free
Natural history museums have entered a new stage of discovery and accessibility — one where scientists around the globe and curious folks at home can access valuable museum specimens to study, learn or just be amazed. This new era follows the completion of openVertebrate, or oVert, a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. The team behind this endeavor, which includes scientists at the University of Washington and its Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture, published a summary of the project March 6 in the journal BioScience, offering a glimpse of how the data can be used to ask new questions and spur the development of innovative technology.
February 29, 2024
Q&A: How a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease could also work for Type 2 diabetes
Alzheimer’s disease and Type 2 diabetes are part of a family of amyloid diseases that are characterized by having proteins that cluster together. UW researchers have demonstrated more similarities between the two diseases.
February 28, 2024
UW graduate receives prestigious Gates Cambridge scholarship
Sonia Fereidooni, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Washington, was selected for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Fereidooni, 22, will receive a full-cost scholarship to pursue doctoral work in Digital Humanities at the University of Cambridge, England. The highly competitive scholarship brings recognition of accomplishments and future promise. This year, 26 students…
80 mph speed record for glacier fracture helps reveal the physics of ice sheet collapse
New research documents the fastest-known large-scale breakage along an Antarctic ice shelf. In 2012, a 6.5-mile crack formed in about 5 and a half minutes, showing that ice shelves can effectively shatter, though the speed of breakage is reduced by seawater rushing in. These results can help improve ice-sheet models and projections for future sea level rise.
Vision Zero road safety projects in Seattle are unlikely to have negative impacts on local business sales, UW study finds
An analysis of seven safety projects across Seattle found they had no negative impact on the annual revenues of nearby businesses for three years after construction began.
February 22, 2024
Admitted students to the UW now have until June 1 to commit, a result of FAFSA delays
The University of Washington is extending the confirmation date for newly admitted freshman undergraduate students from May 1 to June 1 for the 2024-25 academic year. June 1 is now the date when admitted students must confirm their acceptance and place a deposit to hold their spot in the fall 2024 entering class.
February 20, 2024
UW computer scientists and chemist named Sloan Fellows
Three University of Washington faculty members have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 20, are Simon S. Du and Adriana Schulz, both assistant professors in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, and Alexandra Velian, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences.
February 15, 2024
First-ever atomic freeze-frame of liquid water
In an experiment akin to stop-motion photography, an international team co-led by University of Washington scientists has isolated the energetic movement of an electron in a sample of liquid water — while “freezing” the motion of the much larger atom it orbits.
UW’s Tateuchi East Asian Library celebrates recent renovations, reopening
While visiting Seattle five years ago for a wedding, Chad Westra toured the University of Washington. He made his way to the third floor of Gowen Hall and discovered the Tateuchi East Asian Library with its sculpted, curved ceiling and bright, big windows. The library was “enchanting.”
Q&A: What is the best route to fairer AI systems?
Mike Teodorescu, a University of Washington assistant professor in the Information School, proposes that private enterprise standards for fairer machine learning systems would inform governmental regulation.
February 8, 2024
Foul fumes pose pollinator problems
Scientists at the University of Washington have discovered that nighttime air pollution — coming primarily from car exhaust and power plant emissions — is responsible for a major drop in nighttime pollinator activity. Nitrate radicals (NO3) in the air degrade the scent chemicals released by a common wildflower, drastically reducing the scent-based cues that its chief pollinators rely on to locate the flower. The findings, published Feb. 9 in Science, are the first to show how nighttime pollution creates a chain of chemical reactions that degrades scent cues, leaving flowers undetectable by smell. The researchers also determined that pollution likely has worldwide impacts on pollination.
February 7, 2024
Q&A: Helping robots identify objects in cluttered spaces
Robots in warehouses and even around our houses struggle to identify and pick up objects if they are too close together, or if a space is cluttered. This is because robots lack what psychologists call “object unity,” or our ability to identify things even when we can’t see all of them. Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a way to teach robots this skill.
UW-developed smart earrings can monitor a person’s temperature
University of Washington researchers introduced the Thermal Earring, a wireless wearable that continuously monitors a user’s earlobe temperature. Potential applications include tracking signs of ovulation, stress, eating and exercise. The smart earring prototype is about the size and weight of a small paperclip and has a 28-day battery life.
January 30, 2024
Using computers to design proteins allows researchers to make tunable hydrogels that can form both inside and outside of cells
New research led by the UW demonstrates a new class of hydrogels that can form not just outside cells, but also inside of them. These hydrogels exhibited similar mechanical properties both inside and outside of cells, providing researchers with a new tool to group proteins together inside of cells.
January 28, 2024
UW community mourns passing of civic leader Nancy Evans
The University of Washington community is mourning the passing of Nancy Bell Evans – a supporter of education, health care, and arts and culture, and someone who brought energy, grace, and passion to public and nonprofit service.
January 22, 2024
Shallow soda lakes show promise as cradles of life on Earth
Field observations from an unusual lake show that in environments known as “soda lakes” phosphate can concentrate at the very high levels needed for the basic molecules of life to emerge. A shallow, salty lake in western Canada gives new support to Charles Darwin’s idea that life could have emerged in a “warm little pond.”
January 18, 2024
Preliminary permit process starting for UW housing redevelopment plan
University of Washington development partner Greystar submitted permit numbers paperwork this week for a multiphase plan to invest in some of the University’s existing housing in the neighborhoods east of the main Seattle campus to increase housing options, affordability for its students, faculty, and families, and improve student housing quality.
January 12, 2024
UW finance, planning and budgeting merge to better serve faculty, staff and students
President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Tricia Serio announced an organizational and leadership restructuring in the areas of finance, planning and budgeting aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of these areas’ service to the University community. The changes, which take effect Tuesday, Jan. 16, come after an external review determined a unified organization will better serve faculty and academic personnel, as well as staff and students.
December 28, 2023
Faculty Senate Chair Cynthia Dougherty brings awareness to faculty well-being
When Cynthia “Cindy” Dougherty has a difficult or frustrating day, she jogs around the University of Washington.
December 19, 2023
Scientists reveal superconductor with on/off switches
Researchers led by Jiun-Haw Chu, a University of Washington associate professor of physics, and Philip Ryan, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, have found a superconducting material that is uniquely sensitive to outside stimuli, enabling the superconducting properties to be enhanced or suppressed at will. This discovery could enable new opportunities for switchable, energy-efficient superconducting circuits.
December 14, 2023
Seattle metro residents near Amazon delivery stations face more pollution but order fewer packages
UW researchers found that people who live within 2 miles of an Amazon last-mile delivery station are exposed to more delivery-related air pollution despite ordering fewer packages.
December 11, 2023
Beluga whales’ calls may get drowned out by shipping noise in Alaska’s Cook Inlet
Around Anchorage, communications among the critically endangered population of Cook Inlet beluga whales may be masked by ship noise in their core critical habitat, accordingly to the first repertoire of their calls.
December 7, 2023
Appellate court rules in favor of the UW on all counts in developer’s lawsuit over west campus project
The University of Washington has again prevailed on all claims brought by Alexandria Real Estate (ARE) following the UW’s selection of another developer for a new building that will house important clean-energy and medical innovation research, along with other tenants. This time, the clear and concise ruling came from the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II, confirming Thurston County Superior Judge Carol Murphy’s dismissal of ARE’s three claims — bringing apparent closure to ARE’s nearly three-year effort to delay progress on the project.
December 5, 2023
Sleep experts, physicians address effects of increased travel on student-athletes, offer recommendations
With several university athletic programs around the country — including the University of Washington — announcing moves to new conferences that will likely increase travel for student-athletes, a group of sleep and circadian scientists and physicians have published a white paper describing the significance of repeated, chronic jet lag on student-athlete health and performance — both in academics and in sports, and suggesting strategies to reduce the consequences of travel across time zones.
November 29, 2023
AI image generator Stable Diffusion perpetuates racial and gendered stereotypes, study finds
University of Washington researchers found that when prompted to make pictures of “a person,” the AI image generator over-represented light-skinned men, failed to equitably represent Indigenous peoples and sexualized images of certain women of color.
November 28, 2023
Dr. Tim Dellit named CEO of UW Medicine, dean of the University of Washington School of Medicine
Following a national search, Dr. Timothy H. Dellit has been appointed to lead UW Medicine and the University of Washington School of Medicine, UW President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Tricia Serio announced today.
UW research finds that mailing HPV test kits directly to patients increases cervical cancer screening rates
Currently, more than half of all cervical cancers diagnosed in the United States are in people who are overdue for screening or have never been screened. In a new study, researchers report that mailing HPV test kits significantly increased cervical cancer screening rates.
November 27, 2023
Breathing highway air increases blood pressure, UW research finds
A new study from the UW found that unfiltered air from rush-hour traffic significantly increased passengers’ blood pressure, both while in the car and up to 24 hours later.
November 20, 2023
New research aims to reduce fatal bird collisions on campus
A project in the UW College of Built Environments, led by researcher Judy Bowes, is examining how building architecture contributes to bird collisions, and the ways bird-safe glass and other designs can help address the problem.
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