Research
September 6, 2017
Earth as hybrid planet: New classification scheme places Anthropocene era in astrobiological context
A team of researchers including the UW’s Marina Alberti has devised a new classification scheme for the evolutionary stages of worlds based on “non-equilibrium thermodynamics” — a planet’s energy flow being out of synch, as the presence of life could cause.
September 5, 2017
How governments can maintain strong public-private partnerships: Guide from Evans School’s Justin Marlowe
The biggest risk to public-private partnerships in governing is not financial or technical, but political, says UW Evans School professor Justin Marlowe in his fourth guide to financial literacy, published by Governing magazine.
August 31, 2017
Q&A: How Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Yellowstone National Park are confronting climate change
A new book focuses on climate change risks in the Northern Rocky Mountains, and how managers of public lands can prepare.
Record-low 2016 Antarctic sea ice due to ‘perfect storm’ of tropical, polar conditions
This exceptional, sudden nosedive in Antarctic sea ice last year was due to a unique one-two punch from atmospheric conditions both in the tropical Pacific Ocean and around the South Pole.
August 28, 2017
Home prices up, supply down in second quarter of 2017
Washington state’s housing market showed the continuing effects of high demand in the second quarter of 2017, according to the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington The statewide median sales price rose to $337,700 in the second quarter, 6.6 percent higher than the same time period last year. This represents…
New app could use smartphone selfies to screen for pancreatic cancer
A new app could lead to earlier detection of pancreatic cancer simply by snapping a smartphone selfie. The disease kills 90 percent of patients within five years, in part because there are no telltale symptoms or non-invasive screening tools to catch a tumor before it spreads.
August 25, 2017
As Tolstoy noted (sort of), all unhappy microbiomes are unhappy in their own way
The bacterial communities that live inside each of our guts are relatively similar when times are good, but when stress enters the equation, those communities can react very differently from person to person.
August 24, 2017
Scientists to create digital encyclopedia of 3-D vertebrate specimens
A $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant will daylight thousands of specimens from their museum shelves by CT scanning 20,000 vertebrates and making these data-rich, 3-D images available online to researchers, educators, students and the public. The University of Washington is a partner institution contributing most of the fish and bat scans.
Lesbian, gay and bisexual older adults suffer more chronic health conditions than heterosexuals, study finds
Lesbian and bisexual older women are more likely than heterosexual older women to suffer chronic health conditions, experience sleep problems and drink excessively, a new University of Washington study finds. In general, lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) older adults were found to be in poorer health than heterosexuals, specifically in terms of higher rates…
August 23, 2017
Greetings from Earth: Documents that Changed the World podcast revisits Voyager’s ‘Golden Record,’ 1977
Forty years ago this month, Planet Earth said hello to the cosmos with the launch of the two Voyager probes that used gravity to swing from world to world on a grand tour of the solar system. Each bore a two-sided, 12-inch, gold-plated copper “Golden Record” of sights and sounds from Earth and its…
August 16, 2017
Modern genetic sequencing tools give clearer picture of how corals are related
As corals face threats from warming oceans, a new study uses modern genetic-sequencing tools to help reveal the relationships between three similar-looking corals.
Computer scientists use music to covertly track body movements, activity
Researchers at the University of Washington have demonstrated how it is possible to transform a smart device into a surveillance tool that can collect information about the body position and movements of the user, as well as other people in the device’s immediate vicinity. Their approach involves remotely hijacking smart devices to play music embedded with repeating pulses that track a person’s position, body movements, and activities both in the vicinity of the device as well as through walls.
UW professor Franziska Roesner named one of world’s top innovators under 35
MIT Technology Review has named Franziska Roesner, University of Washington professor of computer science and engineering, one of 35 “Innovators Under 35” for 2017.
August 15, 2017
Evans School’s Scott Allard notes poverty’s changing landscape in ‘Places in Need’
The number of poor people living in America’s suburbs has more than doubled over the last 25 years, with little attention from academics or policymakers, says Scott W. Allard, a professor in the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, in his new 2017 book “Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty,”
August 14, 2017
Probiotics help poplar trees clean up Superfund sites
Researchers from the University of Washington and several small companies have conducted the first large-scale experiment on a Superfund site using poplar trees fortified with a probiotic — or natural microbe — to clean up groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene, or TCE.
Tidally locked exoplanets may be more common than previously thought
Many exoplanets to be found by coming high-powered telescopes will probably be tidally locked — with one side permanently facing their host star — according to new research by UW astronomer Rory Barnes.
August 10, 2017
Public has rare opportunity to view work on T. rex skull
Starting Aug. 12, the public can watch fossil preparation of the University of Washington Burke Museum’s Tyrannosaurus rex skull “live.”
Researchers, students on annual expedition to maintain internet-connected deep-sea observatory
The annual maintenance cruise for the Pacific Northwest’s deep-sea observatory continues through Aug. 29. Two dozen students will participate, and more than 120 ocean instruments will get their yearly checkup.
DNA sequencing tools lack robust protections against cybersecurity risks
A new UW study finds DNA sequencing tools lack robust cybersecurity protections. In a scientific first, the team also infected a computer with synthesized DNA molecules.
August 7, 2017
UW to host Interior Department’s Northwest Climate Science Center
The University of Washington is the new host for the federally funded Northwest Climate Science Center, a consortium that supports climate-adaptation research in the Northwest.
August 3, 2017
Evans School researchers analyze Seattle’s competing arena proposals
Researchers at the UW’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance have released a public finance analysis of two competing proposals to develop an NBA/NHL arena in Seattle.
August 1, 2017
English professor William Streitberger honored for book on Queen Elizabeth I’s Revels Office
William Streitberger, UW professor of English, has been honored for his book “The Masters of Revels and Elizabeth I’s Court Theatre.” Decades in the making, the book was published in 2016 by Oxford University Press.
July 31, 2017
University of Washington’s Livable City Year program completes inaugural partnership with Auburn
University of Washington students have been working with city of Auburn staff and community members throughout the past year on a wide range of projects tackling challenges around livability and sustainability in the city. Livable City Year is continuing in the 2017-2018 year in partnership with the city of Tacoma. These projects were part of the UW…
Earth likely to warm more than 2 degrees this century
A new UW statistical study shows only 5 percent chance that Earth will warm less than 2 degrees, what many see as a “tipping point” for climate, by the end of this century.
July 27, 2017
UW building underwater robots to study oceans around Antarctica
Oceanographers are building swimming robots to carry out an ambitious mission gathering climate data from one of Earth’s most challenging locations: the icy water that surrounds Antarctica.
Run-up to revolution: Early American history seen through the stage in Odai Johnson’s book ‘London in a Box’
The true cultural tipping point in the run-up to the American Revolution might have been the First Continental Congress’s decision in late October of 1774 to close the theaters in British America, says University of Washington drama professor Odai Johnson in his new book, “London in a Box: Englishness and Theatre in Revolutionary America.”
July 25, 2017
Could spraying particles into marine clouds help cool the planet?
A first test of humans’ ability to modify clouds would help explain the behavior of clouds and aerosols, while also testing a possible future climate emergency measure.
July 24, 2017
11 UW students receive Fulbright scholarships in 2017-18
Eleven UW students and alumni were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships for the 2017-18 academic year, and four have been named as alternates, joining about 1,900 students and recent graduates from around the country to study and teach abroad this coming year.
Dark matter is likely ‘cold,’ not ‘fuzzy,’ scientists report after new simulations
Scientists have used data from the intergalactic medium — the vast, largely empty space between galaxies — to narrow down what dark matter could be.
July 20, 2017
Birds versus buildings: Rural structures pose greater relative threat than urban ones
Large buildings in rural areas pose a greater threat to birds than if those same-sized buildings were located in an urban area, according to new research to which three University of Washington researchers contributed.
July 19, 2017
Artifacts suggest humans arrived in Australia earlier than thought
When and how the first humans made their way to Australia has been an evolving story. While it is accepted that humans appeared in Africa some 200,000 years ago, scientists in recent years have placed the approximate date of human settlement in Australia further and further back in time, as part of ongoing questions…
July 17, 2017
Bottom-trawling techniques leave different traces on the seabed
Bottom trawling techniques are not all created equal. The most common, otter trawling, removes about 6 percent of the animal and plant life from the seabed, while other methods remove closer to one third.
Material from shellfish delivers a boost to bioassays and medical tests
Scientists at the University of Washington have discovered a simple way to raise the accuracy of diagnostic tests for medicine and common assays for laboratory research. By adding polydopamine — a material that was first isolated from shellfish — to these tests at a key step, the team could increase the sensitivity of these common bioassays by as many as 100 to 1,000 times.
UW team develops fast, cheap method to make supercapacitor electrodes for electric cars, high-powered lasers
University of Washington researchers have developed a fast, inexpensive method to make electrodes for supercapacitors, with applications in electric cars, wireless telecommunications and high-powered lasers.
July 11, 2017
Lip-syncing Obama: New tools turn audio clips into realistic video
A new machine learning tool developed by UW computer vision researchers can create realistic videos from audio files alone – including speeches by President Barack Obama.
July 6, 2017
Policy and progress in the Arctic: Essays by students in the Jackson School’s International Policy Institute
Graduate student fellows with the International Policy Institute in the UW Jackson School of International Studies have begun publishing a 13-part series of blogs exploring aspects of the intergovernmental Arctic Council as a 21st-century institution.
July 5, 2017
First battery-free cellphone makes calls by harvesting ambient power
UW engineers have designed the first battery-free cellphone that can send and receive calls using only a few microwatts of power, which it harvests from ambient radio signals or light. It’s a major step forward in moving beyond chargers, cords and dying phones.
July 3, 2017
Q & A: Janelle Taylor on ‘exemplary friends’ of people with dementia
Dementia affects millions of people around the world; the World Health Organization estimates 9.9 million new cases each year, and the total number of people with dementia is expected to nearly triple by 2050. And for every person with dementia, there are family members and friends who also experience their loved one’s decline. University of…
June 29, 2017
UW oceanography senior finds plastic microfibers are common on Puget Sound beaches
A UW undergraduate in oceanography sampled tiny pieces of plastic on 12 Puget Sound beaches. She found that plastic fragments are widespread, and include some surprising sources.
Study shows high pregnancy failure in southern resident killer whales; links to nutritional stress and low salmon abundance
A multi-year survey of the nutritional, physiological and reproductive health of endangered southern resident killer whales suggests that up to two-thirds of pregnancies failed in this population from 2007 to 2014. The study links this orca population’s low reproductive success to stress brought on by low or variable abundance of their most nutrient-rich prey, Chinook salmon.
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