Research
February 21, 2017
Winners, losers among fish when landscape undergoes change
A new study by the University of Washington and Simon Fraser University finds that some fish lose out while others benefit as urban and agricultural development encroaches on streams and rivers across the United States.
Three UW scientists awarded Sloan Fellowships for early-career research
Three faculty members at the University of Washington have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 21, include Ali Farhadi, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; Emily Levesque, assistant professor of astronomy; and John Tuthill, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics.
February 16, 2017
Immune cell serves as an essential communications link for migrating cells
Scientists at the University of Washington have discovered that a common type of cell in the vertebrate immune system plays a unique role in communication between other cells. It turns out that these cells, called macrophages, can transmit messages between non-immune cells.
February 15, 2017
Predicting autism: Researchers find autism biomarkers in infancy
By using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brains of infants who have older siblings with autism, scientists were able to correctly identify 80 percent of the babies who would be subsequently diagnosed with autism at 2 years of age.
‘The blob’ of abnormal conditions boosted Western U.S. ozone levels
Ozone levels in June 2015 were significantly higher than normal over a large swath of the Western U.S. Analysis ties this air quality pattern to the abnormal conditions in the northeast Pacific Ocean, nicknamed “the blob.”
February 13, 2017
New findings reveal health, aging experiences of LGBT older adults across nation
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from the University of Washington’s School of Social Work have released new findings this month on the health and aging of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender older adults in the U.S.
February 10, 2017
Laser-based camera developed at UW improves view of the carotid artery to assess stroke and heart attack risk
A unique application of a medical camera developed by a University of Washington mechanical engineer could one day help physicians know who is at risk for stroke or heart attack by providing a better view of potential problem areas.
Ralina Joseph co-edits special journal issue on race, respectability and the media
Ralina Joseph, University of Washington associate professor of communication, has guest co-edited a special triple issue of the interdisciplinary journal Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society with her former mentor and dissertation adviser, Jane Rhodes of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Joseph’s own article in the issue focuses on the…
February 8, 2017
Hidden lakes drain below West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier
Drainage of four interconnected lakes below Thwaites Glacier in late 2013 caused only a 10 percent increase in the glacier’s speed. The glacier’s recent speedup is therefore not due to changes in meltwater flow along its underside.
February 6, 2017
‘Overwhelming’ response, global press attention for new UW Information School course, ‘Calling BS’
It’s almost unheard-of for a university class to spark global press attention — and offers of book deals — before instruction even begins. But such is the case with the UW Information School’s new course, “Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data.”
February 1, 2017
New route-finding map lets Seattle pedestrians avoid hills, construction, accessibility barriers
AccessMap – a University of Washington project spearheaded by the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology — launched a new online travel planner offering customizable suggestions for people who need accessible or pedestrian-friendly routes when getting from point A to B in Seattle.
January 25, 2017
Monsoons to mosquitoes: UW researchers attend national weather conference in Seattle
Researchers from across the UW are presenting their work at the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting this week in Seattle.
‘Protective’ DNA strands are shorter in adults who had more infections as infants
New research indicates that people who had more infections as babies harbor a key marker of cellular aging as young adults: the protective stretches of DNA which “cap” the ends of their chromosomes are shorter than in adults who were healthier as infants.
January 24, 2017
Prized fossil find — the oldest, most complete iguanian in the Americas — illuminates the lives of lizards in the Age of Dinosaurs
Paleontologists picking through a bounty of fossils from Montana have discovered something unexpected — a new species of lizard from the late dinosaur era, whose closest relatives roamed in faraway Asia.
Predator or not? Invasive snails hide even when they don’t know
The specific cues that trigger an animal’s natural defense vary depending on the species and its history in the ecosystem, a new University of Washington study finds.
January 18, 2017
Listen to the Earth smash another global temperature record
The year 2016 was officially the hottest in recent history, beating previous records in 2014 and 2015. UW scientists let you hear the data speak for itself.
Climate change prompts Alaska fish to change breeding behavior
A new University of Washington study finds that one of Alaska’s most abundant freshwater fish species is altering its breeding patterns in response to climate change, which could impact the ecology of northern lakes that already acutely feel the effects of a changing climate.
Vitamin B-12, and a knockoff version, create complex market for marine vitamins
Vitamin B-12 exists in two different, incompatible forms in the oceans. An organism thought to supply the essential vitamin B-12 in the marine environment is actually churning out a knockoff version.
January 17, 2017
Conditions right for complex life may have come and gone in Earth’s distant past
Conditions suitable to support complex life may have developed in Earth’s oceans — and then faded — more than a billion years before life truly took hold, a new University of Washington-led study has found.
Three unique pieces comprise 2017 Dance Faculty Concert Jan. 20-22
The UW Dance Program will team with the “vertical dance company” BANDALOOP for part of its annual Dance Faculty Concert, to be held Jan. 20 – 22 in Meany Hall.
Diversification key to resilient fishing communities
Fishing communities can survive ― and even thrive ― as fish abundance and market prices shift if they can catch a variety of species and nimbly move from one fishery to the next, a new University of Washington study finds.
When it comes to mating, fruit flies can make rational choices
In a paper published Jan. 17 in the journal Nature Communications, researchers report that fruit flies — perhaps the most widely studied insect in history — show signs of rational decision-making when choosing a mate.
January 12, 2017
Ocean acidification to hit West Coast Dungeness crab fishery, new assessment shows
The acidification of the ocean expected as seawater absorbs increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will reverberate through the West Coast’s marine food web, but not necessarily in the ways you might expect, new research shows.
LATTICE connects women engineers in early academic careers with peers, support
A new national program at the UW — LATTICE — aims to diversify the national engineering faculty population by building supportive communities during the critical transition from graduate studies to permanent tenure-track positions.
January 11, 2017
UW oceanographer dropping robotic floats on voyage to Antarctica
Autonomous floating sensors built at the UW are being deployed to track conditions in the waters surrounding Antarctica.
January 10, 2017
Rapid Arctic warming has in the past shifted Southern Ocean winds
Ice core records from the two poles show that during the last ice age, sharp spikes in Arctic temperatures triggered shifts in the winds around Antarctica.
January 5, 2017
Arctic sea ice loss impacts beluga whale migration
A new study led by the University of Washington finds the annual migration of some beluga whales in Alaska is altered by sea ice changes in the Arctic, while other belugas do not appear to be affected.
January 4, 2017
Eelgrass in Puget Sound is stable overall, but some local beaches suffering
Eelgrass, a marine plant crucial to the success of migrating juvenile salmon and spawning Pacific herring, is stable and flourishing in Puget Sound, despite a doubling of the region’s human population and significant shoreline development over the past several decades.
January 3, 2017
Songbirds divorce, flee, fail to reproduce due to suburban sprawl
New research finds that for some songbirds, urban sprawl is kicking them out of their territory, forcing divorce and stunting their ability to find new mates and reproduce successfully, even after relocating.
University of Washington-led study shows new global evidence of the role of humans, urbanization in rapid evolution
A new multi-institution study led by the UW shows more clearly than ever that urbanization is affecting the genetic makeup of species that are crucial to ecosystem health and success.
December 21, 2016
Documents that Changed the World: Sir Ronald Fisher defines ‘statistical significance,’ 1925
Joe Janes’ latest Documents that Changed the World podcast is about Sir Ronald Fisher, the man who set the mark of “statistical significance” for ages afterward at 5 percent, no more no less.
Study: Children can ‘catch’ social bias through nonverbal signals expressed by adults
Most conscientious adults tend to avoid making biased or discriminatory comments in the presence of children. But new research from the University of Washington suggests that preschool-aged children can learn bias even through nonverbal signals displayed by adults, such as a condescending tone of voice or a disapproving look. Published Dec. 21 in the journal…
December 20, 2016
Researchers model how ‘publication bias’ does — and doesn’t — affect the ‘canonization’ of facts in science
In an article published Dec. 20 in the journal eLife, researchers present a mathematical model that explores whether “publication bias” — the tendency of journals to publish mostly positive experimental results — influences how scientists canonize facts. Their results offer a warning that sharing positive results comes with the risk that a false claim could be canonized as fact. But their findings also offer hope by suggesting that simple changes to publication practices can minimize the risk of false canonization.
December 19, 2016
UW researcher pursues synthetic ‘scaffolds’ for muscle regeneration
Miqin Zhang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Washington, is looking for ways to help the body heal itself when injury, disease or surgery cause large-scale damage to one type of tissue in particular: skeletal muscle. Her goal is to create a synthetic, porous, biologically compatible “scaffold” that mimics the normal extracellular environment of skeletal muscle — onto which human cells could migrate and grow new replacement fibers.
Investing in fisheries management improves fish populations
Research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that successful fisheries management can be best achieved by implementing and enforcing science-based catch or effort limits.
December 16, 2016
What makes influential science? Telling a good story
Researchers from the University of Washington have found that scientific papers written in a more narrative style were more influential among peer-reviewed studies in the climate change literature. Their results were published Dec. 15 in the journal PLOS ONE.
December 15, 2016
Underwater volcano’s eruption captured in exquisite detail by seafloor observatory
The cracking, bulging and shaking from the eruption of a mile-high volcano where two tectonic plates separate has been captured in more detail than ever before. A University of Washington study published this week shows how the volcano behaved during its spring 2015 eruption, revealing new clues about the behavior of volcanoes where two ocean…
December 14, 2016
In Stockholm ceremony, UW professor emeritus David Thouless receives Nobel Physics Prize
On Dec. 10 in Stockholm, David James Thouless, University of Washington professor emeritus of physics, received the Nobel Prize in Physics from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Businesses shape international law through ‘astroturf activism,’ paper finds
The furor over the 2010 Citizens United decision drew intense scrutiny to the role of corporate money in U.S. politics and raised questions about the influence of businesses in American lawmaking. But corporate interests also play a powerful role in international legal processes, sometimes by covertly creating or co-opting non-governmental organizations to lobby lawmakers on…
December 13, 2016
Studies of vulnerable populations get a ‘bootstrapped’ boost from statisticians
In a paper published online Dec. 7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Washington researchers report on a statistical approach called “tree bootstrapping” can help social scientists study hard-to-reach populations like drug users.
Previous page Next page
