News releases
November 16, 2023
Q&A: How an assistive-feeding robot went from picking up fruit salads to whole meals
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington developed 11 actions a robotic arm can make to pick up nearly any food attainable by fork. This allows the system to learn to pick up new foods during one meal.
November 15, 2023
WhaleVis turns more than a century of whaling data into an interactive map
A team at the University of Washington has created an interactive dashboard called WhaleVis, which lets users map data on global whale catches and whaling routes from 1880 to 1986. Scientists can compare this historical data and its trends with current information to better understand whale populations over time.
November 9, 2023
‘Pull Together’ campaign launches ahead of ‘The Boys in the Boat’ theatrical release
Ahead of the Dec. 25 release of “The Boys in the Boat,” the University of Washington — joined by The Seattle Times, Microsoft and additional community partners — is launching a six-week “Pull Together” campaign to support young people and celebrate the civic spirit of our city and region.
New AI noise-canceling headphone technology lets wearers pick which sounds they hear
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has developed deep-learning algorithms that let users pick which sounds filter through their headphones in real time. Either through voice commands or a smartphone app, headphone wearers can select which sounds they want to include from 20 classes, such as sirens, baby cries, speech, vacuum cleaners and bird chirps.
November 2, 2023
Can AI help boost accessibility? These researchers tested it for themselves
Seven researchers at the University of Washington conducted a three-month autoethnographic study — drawing on their own experiences as people with and without disabilities — to test AI tools’ utility for accessibility. Though researchers found cases in which the tools were helpful, they also found significant problems.
October 31, 2023
University takes action after faculty hiring process inappropriately used race as a factor
Late last academic year, concerns were reported about a faculty hiring process in the University of Washington’s Department of Psychology. A review was requested by Dianne Harris, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, after she learned of these potential issues. The review was completed in September and indicates that race was inappropriately considered and used in a way that is inconsistent with University policy in the hiring process for an assistant professor position in the department.
October 30, 2023
A Google Slides extension can make presentation software more accessible for blind users
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has created A11yBoard for Google Slides, a browser extension and phone or tablet app that allows blind users to navigate through complex slide layouts, objects, images and text.
October 19, 2023
UW’s 2023 historic incoming class: one of the most diverse and at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma, the largest
The University of Washington’s newest freshman class is one of the most diverse in the school’s 162-year history, and UW Bothell and UW Tacoma are welcoming their largest incoming classes.
October 17, 2023
UW announces four non-compliant items in recent USDA inspection of animal facilities in Seattle
The University of Washington’s animal facilities on the Seattle campus underwent a routine, unannounced inspection by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) between Sept. 12 and 14. The inspection identified four non-compliant items, all of which had previously been self-reported by the UW and rectified before the inspection took place.
Q&A: Researchers aim to improve accessibility with augmented reality
This month, University of Washington researchers will introduce multiple projects that deploy augmented reality — through headsets and phone apps — with the aim of making the world more accessible for people with disabilities.
October 10, 2023
Fostering a more diverse faculty: How the new Vice Provost for Academic Personnel aims to build an office of ‘Faculty Success’
In 1996, two Kenyan scholars were awarded Fulbright Scholarships — honors the U.S. Department of State grants to promising young academics worldwide. Fred Muyia Nafukho, who joined the University of Washington earlier this year as the vice provost for academic personnel, vividly remembers the day he was called to the U.S. embassy in Nairobi.
October 9, 2023
Three UW faculty members elected to National Academy of Medicine
Among the most prestigious scientific organizations in the country, the Academy recognizes excellence in the fields of health and medicine, along with a commitment to volunteer service.
October 7, 2023
University of Washington appoints Troy Dannen as Director of Athletics
The University of Washington has appointed Troy Dannen to serve as its 16th Director of Athletics, UW President Ana Mari Cauce announced today. Dannen most recently served as the Director of Athletics at Tulane University, where during his eight-year tenure the Green Wave had 49 All-Americans and 21 conference champions, and made 41 postseason appearances,…
October 3, 2023
Group seeks to understand how a new type of satellite will impact Earth-based astronomy
Astronomers with the International Astronomical Union are trying to understand how the brightness and transmissions of the BlueWalker3 satellite will interfere with Earth-based observations of the universe — and what can be done to minimize these effects as more of these satellites are launched.
September 27, 2023
MilliMobile is a tiny, self-driving robot powered only by light and radio waves
The robot, equipped with a solar panel–like energy harvester and four wheels, is about the size of a penny, weighs as much as a raisin and can move about the length of a bus in an hour on a cloudy day.
September 24, 2023
‘From this day forward, you are a Husky’: Incoming class welcomed at New Student Convocation
The University of Washington welcomed its incoming class and families on Sunday at the University’s 40th annual New Student Convocation.
September 22, 2023
Q&A: How new software is changing our understanding of human brain development
A team including researchers at the University of Washington recently used new software to compare MRIs from 300 babies and discovered that myelin, a part of the brain’s so-called white matter, develops much slower after birth.
September 21, 2023
NSF funds internet-connected ocean observatory through 2028
The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Washington $52.4 million over five years to continue operating the Regional Cabled Array, a cabled deep-ocean observatory about 300 miles offshore from Newport, Oregon. The grant is part of a $220 million total investment that will fund the internet-connected ocean observatory, known as the Ocean Observatories Initiative, through 2028.
UW team’s shape-changing smart speaker lets users mute different areas of a room
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has developed system of robotic self-deploying microphones, which lets users control sound in a room, muting certain areas and creating “active zones” in others.
September 13, 2023
Battery-free robots use origami to change shape in mid-air
UW researchers developed small robotic devices that can change how they move through the air by “snapping” into a folded position during their descent.
September 12, 2023
Fall snow levels can predict a season’s total snowpack in some western states
Research led by the UW found that, in some western states, the amount of snow already on the ground by the end of December is a good predictor of how much total snow that area will get.
September 7, 2023
UW assessment finds fentanyl and methamphetamine smoke linger on public transit vehicles
Two years ago, as life regained its rhythm and public transit once again filled with people, train and bus operators spotted a troubling trend. Some operators reported instances of people smoking drugs on their vehicles, and worried that the haze it created could linger, potentially affecting workers’ physical and mental health. Spurred by operators’ concerns,…
September 5, 2023
UW, Stanford launch resource to help health care professionals respond to climate concerns
The case studies in Medicine for a Changing Planet, collated from clinical encounters around the world, support health professionals in recognizing and treating a variety of health-related conditions that can be traced to environmental stressors.
August 31, 2023
Study connects greenhouse gas emissions to polar bear population declines, enabling greater protections under Endangered Species Act
A new paper from the UW and Polar Bears International quantifies the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and the survival of polar bear populations. The paper combines past research and new analysis to provide a quantitative link between greenhouse gas emissions and polar bear survival rates.
August 29, 2023
The University of Washington’s Presidential Scholars — investing in tomorrow’s leaders
Each year, the University of Washington reviews thousands of applications from students who want to pursue their undergraduate studies at the state’s flagship university.
August 21, 2023
REBURN: A new tool to model wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and beyond
Researchers with the University of Washington and the U.S. Forest Service have developed a new tool, REBURN, that can simulate large forest landscapes and wildfire dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies. The model can simulate the consequences of extinguishing all wildfires regardless of size, which was done for much of the 20th century and has contributed to a rise in large and severe wildfires, or of allowing certain fires to return to uninhabited areas to help create a more “patchwork” forest structure that can help lessen fire severity. REBURN can also simulate conditions where more benign forest landscape dynamics have fully recovered in an area.
August 14, 2023
UW bioengineering researchers help create a roadmap to diversify faculty hiring
A team of biomedical researchers has developed a new method for hiring engineering professors. The primary goal is to actively recruit a more diverse group of applicants and improve the rate that doctoral students from historically excluded groups go on to become faculty members.
August 10, 2023
Muon g-2 doubles down with latest measurement, explores uncharted territory in search of new physics
A particle physics experiment decades in the making — the Muon g-2 experiment — looks increasingly like it might set up a showdown over whether there are fundamental particles or forces in the universe that are unaccounted for in the current Standard Model. On Aug. 10, the international team of scientists behind Muon g-2 — pronounced “g minus 2” — released the world’s most precise measurement yet of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Calculating the muon’s magnetic moment at a high precision will indicate whether it is interacting solely with the particles and forces known today, or if unknown particles or forces are out there.
August 4, 2023
University of Washington will join the Big Ten Conference in 2024
The University of Washington will join the Big Ten Conference, leaving the Pac-12 Conference, effective in August 2024, UW President Ana Mari Cauce announced Friday.
July 31, 2023
New algorithm ensnares its first ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid
An asteroid discovery algorithm — designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky — has identified its first “potentially hazardous” asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth’s vicinity that scientists like to keep an eye on. The roughly 600-foot-long asteroid, designated 2022 SF289, was discovered during a test drive of the algorithm with the ATLAS survey in Hawaii. Finding 2022 SF289, which poses no risk to Earth for the foreseeable future, confirms that the next-generation algorithm, known as HelioLinc3D, can identify near-Earth asteroids with fewer and more dispersed observations than required by today’s methods. That is important because, though scientists know of more than 2,000 near-Earth asteroids, they estimate that another 3,000 await discovery!
July 24, 2023
With a new app, smart devices can have GPS underwater
A team at the University of Washington has developed the first underwater 3D-positioning app for smart devices. When at least three divers are within about 98 feet of each other, the app tracks each user’s location relative to the leader.
July 19, 2023
Researchers put a new twist on graphite
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington reports that it is possible to imbue graphite — the bulk, 3D material found in No. 2 pencils – with physical properties similar to graphite’s 2D counterpart, graphene. Not only was this breakthrough unexpected, the team also believes its approach could be used to test whether similar types of bulk materials can also take on 2D-like properties. If so, 2D sheets won’t be the only source for scientists to fuel technological revolutions. Bulk, 3D materials could be just as useful.
July 18, 2023
Learning from superheroes and AI: UW researchers study how a chatbot can teach kids supportive self-talk
Researchers at the University of Washington created a new audio chatbot, Self-Talk with Superhero Zip, aimed to help children speak positively to themselves. This chatbot is “a ‘Sesame Street’ experience for a smart speaker.”
July 10, 2023
New biodegradable plastics are compostable in your backyard
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has developed new bioplastics that degrade on the same timescale as a banana peel in a backyard compost bin.
UW-developed dental lozenge could provide permanent treatment for tooth sensitivity
The solution builds new mineral microlayers that penetrate deep into the tooth to create effective, long-lasting natural protection. It could provide easily accessible relief for the millions of adults worldwide who suffer from tooth sensitivity.
July 6, 2023
Marine heat waves caused mass seabird die-offs, beach surveys show
New research led by the University of Washington uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how seabirds have fared in recent decades. The paper, published July 6 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, shows that persistent marine heat waves lead to massive seabird die-offs months later.
July 5, 2023
Research led by UW undergrad shows ultrafine air pollution reflects Seattle’s redlining history
The most comprehensive study yet of long-term ultrafine particle exposure found that concentrations of this tiny pollutant reflect the city’s decades-old racial and economic divides.
June 27, 2023
Researchers make a quantum computing leap with a magnetic twist
A team led by scientists and engineers at the University of Washington has announced a significant advancement in developing fault-tolerant qubits for quantum computing. In a pair of papers published June 14 in Nature and June 22 in Science, they report that, in experiments with flakes of semiconductor materials — each only a single layer of atoms thick — they detected signatures of “fractional quantum anomalous Hall” (FQAH) states. The team’s discoveries mark a first and promising step in constructing a type of fault-tolerant qubit because FQAH states can host anyons — strange “quasiparticles” that have only a fraction of an electron’s charge. Some types of anyons can be used to make what are called “topologically protected” qubits, which are stable against any small, local disturbances.
June 21, 2023
An app can transform smartphones into thermometers that accurately detect fevers
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has created an app called FeverPhone, which transforms smartphones into thermometers without adding new hardware.
June 14, 2023
Phosphate, a key building block of life, found on Saturn’s moon Enceladus
An international team including a UW scientist found that the water on one of Saturn’s moons harbors phosphates, a key building block of life. The team used data from NASA’s Cassini space mission to detect evidence of phosphates in particles ejected from the ice-covered global ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
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