News releases
August 18, 2016
Twins, especially male identical twins, live longer
Analysis of almost 3,000 pairs of Danish twins shows that they live longer than the general population, especially if they are identical.
Paleontologists with the UW’s Burke Museum discover major T. rex fossil
Paleontologists with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and the UW have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones.
August 17, 2016
UW again maintains No. 15 in world university ranking
The University of Washington remained No. 15 on the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities, conducted by researchers at the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Study finds bias, disgust toward mixed-race couples
Interracial marriage has grown in the United States over the past few decades, and polls show that most Americans are accepting of mixed-race relationships. A 2012 study by the Pew Research Center found that interracial marriages in the U.S. had doubled between 1980 and 2010 to about 15 percent, and just 11 percent of respondents…
Interscatter communication enables first-ever implanted devices, smart contact lenses, credit cards that ‘talk’ Wi-Fi
“Interscatter” communication developed by UW engineers allows power-limited devices such as brain implants, contact lenses, credit cards and smaller wearable electronics to talk to everyday devices such as smartphones and watches.
August 16, 2016
Big fish — and their pee — are key parts of coral reef ecosystems
Large, carnivorous fish excrete almost half of the key nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, that are essential for the survival of coral reefs.
August 15, 2016
Luna moth’s long tail could confuse bat sonar through its twist
A detailed look at how sound waves bounce off a flying moth’s body offers new clues for how its long, twisted tail might help it evade predatory bats.
UW research backs up ongoing efforts to protect the enigmatic Nautilus
University of Washington biologist Peter Ward’s body of research has helped policymakers recognize the impact nautiluses have on ocean ecosystems, as well as how they can — and cannot — replenish their numbers in the face of unrestricted, unregulated fishing. At a CITES meeting in September, Ward and his team hope nautiluses will get much-needed protections from trade and harvesting.
Unearthing trackers of the past: UW computer scientists reveal the history of third-party web tracking
At the USENIX Security Conference in Austin, Texas, a team of University of Washington researchers on Aug. 12 presented the first-ever comprehensive analysis of third-party web tracking across three decades and a new tool, TrackingExcavator, which they developed to extract and analyze tracking behaviors on a given web page. They saw a four-fold increase in third-party tracking on top sites from 1996 to 2016, and mapped the growing complexity of trackers stretching back decades.
August 9, 2016
New book ‘Cities that Think Like Planets’ imagines urban regions resilient to change
What does it mean for a city to “think like a planet”? Marina Alberti of the UW College of Built Environments discusses her new book, “Cities that Think Like Planets,” published by UW Press.
August 8, 2016
Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies names new permanent director
Simon Stevenson of the United Kingdom’s University of Reading will be the next director of the University of Washington’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies, in the College of Built Environments.
August 2, 2016
Justin Camputaro named director of the Husky Union Building at UW
Justin Camputaro, with more than 15 years of experience in higher education administration, joined the University of Washington as the new director of the Husky Union Building, effective July 18.
August 1, 2016
Bernard Dean named UW director of state relations
Bernard Dean, who brings two decades of state and local government experience, has been appointed director of state relations at the University of Washington, effective Sept. 1.
July 28, 2016
Runstad Center report: Addressing condo construction defect liability may help promote affordable housing in Seattle
A new study from the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies suggests that Seattle and Washington state could invite development of more affordable housing by easing the legal risk — or the appearance of risk — in condominium development, construction, liability and insurance.
July 27, 2016
Carbon-financed cookstove fails to deliver hoped-for benefits in the field
A study of the the first clean cookstove intervention in India financed through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism found expected benefits from newer, more “efficient” stoves — based on their performance in lab tests — did not materialize in the field.
July 25, 2016
Minimum Wage Study: Effects of Seattle wage hike modest, may be overshadowed by strong economy
The lot of Seattle’s lowest-paid workers improved following the city’s minimum wage increase to $11 in 2015, but that was more due to the robust regional economy than the wage hike itself, according to a research team headed by the UW Evans School.
Marine carbon sinking rates confirm importance of polar oceans
Polar oceans pump organic carbon down to the deep sea about five times as efficiently as subtropical waters, because they can support larger, heavier organisms. The finding helps explain how the oceans may function under climate change.
July 21, 2016
University of Washington sets new record with $542.4 million in private support and contributions in FY 2016
The University of Washington received a record $542.4 million in the 2016 fiscal year, ending June 30, breaking the previous record of $482.5 million set in 2013-14. The funds came in the form of private gifts and grants earmarked by individuals, corporations and foundations for specific areas of research, labs, faculty, and student scholarships and programs.
An engineered protein can disrupt tumor-promoting ‘messages’ in human cells
A team of researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Trento in Italy unveiled an engineered protein that they designed to repress a specific cancer-promoting message within cells.
Imaging software predicts how you look with different hair styles, colors, appearances
A personalized image search engine developed by a University of Washington researcher lets a person imagine how they would look a with different a hairstyle, if they lived in a different time period or any other appearance change that can be synthesized with internet photos.
July 19, 2016
UW professor is digitizing every fish species in the world
UW professor Adam Summers is scanning and digitizing all 25,000 species of fish that live on Earth. Each species soon will have a high-resolution, 3-D visual replica online, available to all and downloadable for free.
UW oceanographers grow, sequence genome of ocean microbe important to climate change
A University of Washington team has shed new light on a common but poorly understood bacteria known to live in low-oxygen areas in the ocean. By culturing and sequencing the microbe’s entire genome, the oceanographers found that it significantly contributes to the removal of life-supporting nitrogen from the water in new and surprising ways.
July 18, 2016
University of Washington named ‘Great College to Work For’ third year in a row
The University of Washington has been recognized as a “Great College to Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education for the third consecutive year.
July 14, 2016
Study: Perceived threats from police officers, black men predict support for policing reforms
At a time of intense national attention on law enforcement and race, a new University of Washington study suggests that racially based fear plays a role in public support for policing reforms. The research, conducted by UW postdoctoral researcher Allison Skinner and published online July 12 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Psychology, used a…
Cougars could save lives by lowering vehicle collisions with deer
A research team including University of Washington’s Laura Prugh has found that within 30 years of cougars recolonizing the Eastern U.S., large cats could thin deer populations and reduce vehicle collisions by 22 percent — each year preventing five human fatalities, 680 injuries and avoiding costs of $50 million.
July 13, 2016
New UW program aims to foster better education for Native learners
At meetings with Native American community leaders, educators in the University of Washington’s College of Education repeatedly heard the same question — what can be done to improve educational outcomes among Native learners? Those discussions led to the creation of the UW’s new two-year Native Education Certificate program, which launches in August. The 10-unit curriculum…
Opinion: Closing parts of the ocean to fishing not enough to protect marine ecosystems
In a three-page commentary in the journal Nature, fisheries professor Ray Hilborn argues that establishing marine protected areas is not as effective at protecting marine biodiversity as properly managing recreational and commercial fisheries.
July 11, 2016
UW researchers improve microscopy method to ‘swell’ cellular structures, bringing fine details into view
Scientists from the University of Washington recently reported a relatively simple method swell the tiny, complex structures within cells, bringing them within range of a common microscope’s resolving range.
July 8, 2016
‘Excitations’: Summer Institute in the Arts to explore energy
“Excitation” is not just a scientific term or perfect Beach Boys lyric, it’s also the topic of this year’s cross-disciplinary Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities, an intensive summer research program for undergraduate students.
June 29, 2016
UW project highlights liability of internet ‘intermediaries’ in developing countries
How much liability do website owners and other online service providers have for content posted by other people? If someone posts content on your website that is defamatory, constitutes hate speech, disseminates child pornography or invades someone’s privacy, are you liable? The answers to such questions can be murky in developing countries. And as internet…
June 28, 2016
Statements from UW and KUOW leadership on the sale of KPLU to Friends of 88.5
UW President Ana Mari Cauce: “Congratulations to the Friends of 88.5 on their agreement with Pacific Lutheran University to purchase KPLU, and on the unprecedented fundraising effort that made it possible. We are delighted they were able to make it happen.” KUOW General Manager Caryn Mathes: “The generosity of KPLU’s listeners is a testament both…
June 23, 2016
How well do facial recognition algorithms cope with a million strangers?
University of Washington computer scientists have launched the “MegaFace Challenge,” the world’s first competition aimed at evaluating and improving the performance of face recognition algorithms at the million person scale.
June 22, 2016
Ocean forecast offers seasonal outlook for Pacific Northwest waters
A new study evaluates the performance of a seasonal forecast, developed by researchers at the UW and NOAA, that predicts conditions over the coming months in the Pacific Northwest marine environment.
Harry Bridges Labor Center report explores effects of job outsourcing at Portland International Airport
The outsourcing of workers at Portland International Airport has increased in recent years while those workers serve ever-more passengers and their wages remain low, according to a recent report from the UW’s Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies.
June 21, 2016
UW-led team awarded $1M bioelectronics innovation prize
An international team led by researchers at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE) based at the University of Washington is one of three finalists in a race to produce an implantable wireless device that can assess, stimulate and block the activity of nerves that control organs.
June 16, 2016
UW’s large research vessel, R/V Thomas G. Thompson, gets a midlife overhaul
The R/V Thomas G. Thompson, the 274-foot-long research vessel operated by the University of Washington, has spent 25 years carrying researchers, students and teachers out to sea. The ship has collected material from the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches and braved storms near Antarctica. This week, the ship will begin a yearlong stay in…
June 15, 2016
Evans School’s Justin Marlowe addresses public-private partnerships in third financial guide
Public-private partnerships can be important financing tools, but public officials overseeing them must understand the risks well, says the Evans School’s Justin Marlowe, author of a multivolume Guide to Financial Literacy.
Falling fish catches could mean malnutrition in the developing world
The world won’t be able to fish its way to feeding 10 billion people by midcentury, but a shift in management practices could save hundreds of millions of fish-dependent poor from malnutrition, according to a new analysis by researchers at Harvard, the University of Washington and other universities.
‘Bright spots’ shine light on the future of coral reefs
Researchers have discovered a handful of “bright spots” among the world’s embattled coral reefs, offering the promise of a radical new approach to conservation.
June 13, 2016
Arc volcano releases mix of material from Earth’s mantle and crust
Rock from a common type of volcano shows surprising evidence of the descending tectonic plate. Analyses show that magnesium atoms are somehow drawn out of the crust, deep below the surface.
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