Research
June 6, 2016
See, hear and study the deep sea: Ocean Observatories Initiative data now live
Data is now streaming from the deep sea, thanks to an observatory installed in this region by the University of Washington as part of a larger National Science Foundation initiative to usher in a new age of oceanographic research.
June 3, 2016
Q&A: Peter Kahn on nature interaction, wildness in cities
University of Washington professor Peter Kahn recently co-authored an opinion piece in the journal Science about the importance of interacting with nature in urban areas. UW Today asked Kahn a few more questions about the broader implications of his work.
Finding connections to nature in cities is key to healthy urban living
The authors of a Science perspective piece discuss the growing tension between an arguably necessary role urban areas play in society and the numbing, even debilitating, aspects of cities that disconnect humans from the natural world.
May 31, 2016
Tiny probe could produce big improvements in batteries and fuel cells
A team led by University of Washington engineers has developed a new tool that could aid in the quest for better batteries and fuel cells. Although battery technology has come a long way since Alessandro Volta first stacked metal discs in a “voltaic pile” to generate electricity, major improvements are still needed to meet the…
May 30, 2016
Deep, old water explains why Antarctic Ocean hasn’t warmed
The waters surrounding Antarctica may be one of the last places on Earth to experience human-driven climate change, because of its unique ocean currents.
May 27, 2016
UW researchers illuminate ways to heal defects in solar cells
Electrical energy fuels our modern lives, from the computer screen that keeps us up after sunset to the coffee maker that greets us at sunrise. But the electricity underlying our 21st century world, by and large, is generated at a cost — through the unsustainable expenditure of fossil fuels. For decades this demand for cheap,…
May 26, 2016
Documents that Changed the World: Noah Webster’s dictionary, 1828
Joe Janes of the Information School turns the attention of his Documents that Changed the World podcst to Noah Webster and his famous, 70,000-word “American Dictionary of the English language” published in 1828.
Ray Hilborn receives international fisheries science prize
Ray Hilborn, a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, this week will receive the 2016 International Fisheries Science Prize at the World Fisheries Congress in Busan, South Korea.
May 25, 2016
UW, NOAA deploy ocean robot to monitor harmful algal blooms off Washington coast
Oceanographers from the UW and NOAA deployed a new tool that will automatically test for harmful algal blooms and help warn of when they could hit local beaches.
May 24, 2016
UW experts develop first method for including migration uncertainty in population projections
Statisticians at the University of Washington have developed the first model for projecting population that factors in the vagaries of migration, a slippery issue that has bedeviled demographers for decades. Their work, published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also provides population projections for all countries worldwide — and…
Chickens on campus and a mood shift at EPA: Relevant projects are nature of environmental studies capstone
A cohort of UW Environmental Studies majors will present projects and research findings at at symposium from 1:30-5:30 p.m. May 25 at Alder Hall and Wallace Hall.
May 23, 2016
Study shows disparities in treatment for children with traumatic brain injuries
Children who suffer traumatic brain injuries can face a difficult road to recovery, requiring services such as physical therapy and mental health treatment for months or years to get their young lives back on track. When those children come from low-income households with limited English proficiency, there can be significant barriers in getting them the…
May 20, 2016
Lingcod meet rockfish: Catching one improves chances for the other
In a new study, scientists found that selectively fishing for lingcod in protected areas actually avoided hampering the recovery of other fish, including rockfish species listed as overfished.
Bacteria in branches naturally fertilize trees
A University of Washington team has demonstrated that poplar trees growing in rocky, inhospitable terrain harbor bacteria within them that could provide valuable nutrients to help the plant grow.
May 19, 2016
Historical role of translation studied in new book ‘Translation’s Forgotten History’
“Translation’s Forgotten History: Russian Literature, Japanese Mediation, and the Formation of Modern Korean Literature” by Heekyoung Cho, UW assistant professor of Asian languages and literature, explores the role of translation in the making of modern literature, and how its understanding changes when viewed through the lens of translation.
Using static electricity, insect-sized flying robots can land and stick to surfaces
A new study co-authored by a University of Washington mechanical engineer demonstrates how flying insect-sized robots can land and stick to surfaces, which conserves energy and extends flight times.
Will more snow over Antarctica offset rising seas? Don’t count on it
Heavier snowfall over Antarctica was supposed to be one of the few brakes on sea-level rise in a warming world. But that prediction is not reliable, says a new study of Antarctic snowfall over the past 31,000 years.
May 17, 2016
UW team first to measure microscale granular crystal dynamics
UW mechanical engineers have for the first time analyzed interactions between microscale granular crystals — a first step in creating novel materials that could be used for impact mitigation, signal processing, disease diagnosis, or even making more controllable solid rocket propellants.
May 16, 2016
Aliens, architecture, Beatles and beyond: MFA Dance Concert 2016
Six new works of choreography by graduate students in the University of Washington Dance Program will comprise the MFA Dance Concert 2016. Performances will be May 18-22 in the Meany Studio Theatre.
US-India collaboration finds molecular signatures of severe malaria
The malaria parasite can cause unusually severe cases of the eponymous disease in patients, leading to higher mortality and poorer health outcomes among survivors. But scientists have long struggled to understand why some patients develop severe malaria. The University of Washington’s International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research in South Asia — along with partners…
May 13, 2016
Proton-conducting material found in jelly that fills organs of sharks, skates and rays
The jelly found in the electrosensory organs of sharks, skates and rays is a remarkable proton-conducting material, with the highest proton conductivity ever reported for a biological material, UW researchers have found.
UW researchers unleash graphene ‘tiger’ for more efficient optoelectronics
In traditional light-harvesting methods, energy from one photon only excites one electron or none depending on the absorber’s energy gap, transferring just a small portion of light energy into electricity. The remaining energy is lost as heat. But in a paper released May 13 in Science Advances, Wu, UW associate professor Xiaodong Xu and colleagues at four other institutions describe one promising approach to coax photons into stimulating multiple electrons. Their method exploits some surprising quantum-level interactions to give one photon multiple potential electron partners.
May 12, 2016
Washington home prices up 8.1 percent over last year in first quarter of 2016
Washington state’s housing market showed the continuing effects of low supply in the first quarter of 2016, with sales limited and most markets less affordable, according to the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.
UW study: state-licensed marijuana canopy enough to satisfy recreational and medical markets
The amount of marijuana allowed to be grown by state-licensed producers in Washington is enough to satisfy both the medical and recreational marijuana markets, a University of Washington study released today finds. The state Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) tasked the UW-based Cannabis Law and Policy Project (CLPP) with calculating the “grow canopy,” or square…
May 11, 2016
Skull specializations allow bats to feast on their fellow vertebrates
Over their 52-million-year history, a few bats have evolved a taste for their fellow vertebrates. Now biologists at the University of Washington and the Burke Museum of History and Culture are shedding light on how these so-called “carnivorous bats” adapted to the daunting task of chowing down their backboned prey.
UW researchers secure prestigious MURI grants for self-cooling lasers and fluid mechanics
University of Washington professors Peter Pauzauskie and Alberto Aliseda are part of two U.S. Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grants to develop innovative approaches to cutting-edge fields of engineering.
Paper gets ‘smart’ with drawn-on, stenciled sensor tags
Researchers from the University of Washington, Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University have created ways to give a piece of paper sensing capabilities that allows it to respond to gesture commands and connect to the digital world.
May 10, 2016
UW part of NOAA-led cruise to study West Coast ocean acidification
University of Washington students, faculty and staff are part of the fifth West Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise that will investigate changes to ocean chemistry from Baja to British Columbia. The ship left Thursday from San Diego to begin sampling on Mexico’s northern coast. It will stop May 21 at San Francisco’s Exploratorium Pier, then travel…
Brain pattern predicts how fast an adult learns a new language
Some adults learn a second language better than others, and their secret may involve the rhythms of activity in their brains. New findings by scientists at the University of Washington demonstrate that a five-minute measurement of resting-state brain activity predicted how quickly adults learned a second language. The study, published in the June-July issue of…
May 9, 2016
Vicente Rafael explores link between translation, historical imagination in book ‘Motherless Tongues’
UW history professor Vicente Rafael says his new book, “Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation,” asks longstanding questions about the relationship between history and language.
This five-fingered robot hand learns to get a grip on its own
A University of Washington team of computer science and engineering researchers has built a robot hand that can not only perform dexterous manipulation – one of the most difficult problems in robotics – but also learn from its own experience.
Early Earth’s air weighed less than half of today’s atmosphere
The idea that the young Earth had a thicker atmosphere turns out to be wrong. New research from the University of Washington uses bubbles trapped in 2.7 billion-year-old rocks to show that air at that time exerted at most half the pressure of today’s atmosphere. The results, published online May 9 in Nature Geoscience, reverse…
May 6, 2016
Academics, artists collaborate on UW book arts exhibit ‘Just One Look’
Thirty-two colorful and creative artist books on display as part of the exhibit “Just One Look,” in University of Washington Libraries’ Special Collections department, in Allen Library. The exhibit co-curated by UW alumna Lauren Dudley with Sandra Kroupa, UW book arts and rare book curator.
May 5, 2016
Two-minute warnings make kids’ ‘screen time’ tantrums worse
Giving young children a two-minute warning that “screen time” is about to end makes transitions away from tablets, phones, televisions and other technological devices more painful, a new University of Washington study has found.
May 4, 2016
Urban planning symposium May 5 addresses ‘The Future City’
What possible future scenarios lie ahead for urban design, and how will big data and new technologies affect science and decision-making? The UW Graduate School’s Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Urban Design and Planning will tackle such questions in a daylong symposium May 5.
May 2, 2016
New health sensing tool measures lung function over a phone call, from anywhere in the world
University of Washington researchers have developed SpiroCall, a new health sensing tool that can accurately measure lung function from anywhere in the world over a simple phone call.
April 28, 2016
Wolf hunting near Denali, Yellowstone cuts wolf sightings in half
Visitors to national parks are half as likely to see wolves in their natural habitat when wolf hunting is permitted just outside park boundaries, according to a new study.
April 27, 2016
‘Walk-DMC’ aims to improve surgery outcomes for children with cerebral palsy
A UW mechanical engineer has developed a new assessment of motor control in children with cerebral palsy called Walk-DMC, which could help predict which patients are — or are not — likely to benefit from invasive surgical interventions.
April 25, 2016
Music improves baby brain responses to music and speech
Rock your baby in sync with music and you may wonder how the experience affects her and her developing brain. A new study by scientists at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) shows that a series of play sessions with music improved 9-month-old babies’ brain processing of both music and…
April 21, 2016
UW’s Jerry Franklin honored for lifetime of forest research, policy
Jerry Franklin, a professor of environmental and forest sciences, was honored by the Pinchot Institute for Conservation for his lifelong work in forest ecology, conservation and policy.
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