Research
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.
As metro areas grow, whites move farther from the city center
In the middle of the 20th century, cities began to change. The popularity of the automobile and the construction of interstate highways fueled the growth of suburbs, while discriminatory housing policies segregated neighborhoods and helped create the phenomenon of “white flight” away from downtowns. Decades later, the average white person still lives farther…
June 27, 2017
Brain signals deliver first targeted treatment for world’s most common movement disorder
For the first time, University of Washington researchers have delivered targeted treatment for essential tremor – the world’s most common neurological movement disorder – by decoding brain signals to sense when patients’ limbs are shaking.
Distant earthquakes can cause underwater landslides
New University of Washington research finds large earthquakes can trigger underwater landslides thousands of miles away, weeks or months after the quake occurs.
June 26, 2017
The New York Times recognizes UW student policy recommendations
Seeking to protect coastal communities from these devastating impacts, an interdisciplinary team of UW students authored a policy case for lawmakers. Their case won the inaugural APRU-New York Times Asia-Pacific Case Competition, besting submissions from 31 universities across the Americas, Asia and Australasia
Microscope can scan tumors during surgery and examine cancer biopsies in 3-D
A new UW microscope could provide real-time results during cancer-removal surgeries, potentially eliminating the 20 to 40 percent of women who have to undergo multiple lumpectomy surgeries because cancerous breast tissue is missed the first time around.
June 20, 2017
UW-led scientists ‘closing the gap’ on malaria in India
The National Institutes of Health has renewed a major grant that funds a University of Washington-led research center to understand malaria in India.
June 19, 2017
To connect biology with electronics, be rigid, yet flexible
Researchers uncover design principles to make polymers that can transport both ions and electrons, which will help create new devices like biosensors and flexible bioelectronic implants
June 8, 2017
Wide-Open accelerates release of scientific data by automatically identifying overdue datasets
WideOpen is a new open-source tool developed at the UW to help advance open science by automatically detecting datasets that are overdue for publication. Already, more than 400 datasets have been made public as a result.
June 7, 2017
Scientists discover a 2-D magnet
A team led by the University of Washington and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has for the first time discovered magnetism in the 2-D world of monolayers, or materials that are formed by a single atomic layer. The findings, published June 8 in the journal Nature, demonstrate that magnetic properties can exist even in the 2-D realm — opening a world of potential applications.
June 6, 2017
Hiding in plain sight: new species of flying squirrel discovered
A new study published May 30 in the Journal of Mammalogy describes a newly discovered third species of flying squirrel in North America — now known as Humboldt’s flying squirrel, or Glaucomys oregonensis. It inhabits the Pacific Coast region of North America, from southern British Columbia to the mountains of southern California.
June 5, 2017
‘Documents that Changed the Way We Live’: Podcast by UW’s Joe Janes now a book
A popular podcast by Joe Janes of the UW Information School is now a book. “Documents that Changed the Way We Live” is being published this month by Rowman & Littlefield.
June 2, 2017
UW, UW Bothell scientists explain new discovery in gravitational wave astronomy
The announcement that a third collision of black holes has been detected three billion light years away validates the work of hundreds of scientists, including teams at the University of Washington and UW Bothell.
Catching the IMSI-catchers: SeaGlass brings transparency to cell phone surveillance
University of Washington security researchers have developed a new system called SeaGlass to detect anomalies in the cellular landscape that can indicate where and when cell phone surveillance devices are being used.
June 1, 2017
Video shows invasive lionfish feasting on new Caribbean fish species
Researchers from the University of Washington and Smithsonian Institution have reported the first observed case of lionfish preying upon a fish species that had not yet been named. Their results, published May 25 in PLOS ONE, may indicate an uncertain future for other fish found in the largely unexplored deep-ocean coral reefs.
May 31, 2017
Support for tidal energy is high among Washington residents
A new University of Washington study finds that people who believe climate change is a problem and see economic, environmental and/or social benefits to using tidal energy are more likely to support such projects. Also, connecting pilot projects to the electricity grid is an important factor in garnering public support.
May 30, 2017
Drone vs. truck deliveries: Which create less carbon pollution?
A new study finds that drone deliveries emit less climate-warming carbon dioxide pollution than truck deliveries in some — but not all — scenarios.
May 25, 2017
UW engineers borrow from electronics to build largest circuits to date in living eukaryotic cells
UW synthetic biology researchers have demonstrated a new method for digital information processing in living cells, analogous to the logic gates used in electric circuits. The team built the largest circuits published to date in eukaryotic cells, using DNA instead of silicon and solder.
UW anthropologist: Why researchers should share computer code
For years, scientists have discussed whether and how to share data from painstaking research and costly experiments. Some are further along in their efforts toward “open science” than others: Fields such as astronomy and oceanography, for example, involve such expensive and large-scale equipment and logistical challenges to data collection that collaboration among institutions has become…
May 23, 2017
Wolves need space to roam to control expanding coyote populations
Wolves and other top predators need large ranges to be able to control smaller predators whose populations have expanded to the detriment of a balanced ecosystem, a new study in Nature Communications finds.
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