Research
March 15, 2016
Medicine, nursing programs top national rankings; dozens more UW programs highly rated
For the 22nd time in the past 23 years, the University of Washington ranked as the No. 1 primary care medical school in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 Best Graduate School rankings released Tuesday. The rural medicine and family medicine programs have also led the nation since those rankings began in 1992. In a…
Smartwatches can now track your finger in mid-air using sonar
A new sonar technology developed by University of Washington computer scientists and electrical engineers allows you to interact with mobile devices and smartwatch screens by writing or gesturing on any nearby surface — a tabletop, a sheet of paper or even in mid-air.
March 14, 2016
Documents that Changed the World: ‘Hanging chads’ and butterfly ballots — Florida, 2000
With the Florida presidential primary a day away, Joe Janes is recalling the time of butterfly ballots and “hanging chads” — the presidential election of 2000 — in the latest installment of his podcast series, Documents that Changed the World. In the podcasts, Janes, a professor in the UW Information School, explores the origin and…
March 9, 2016
Quintard Taylor’s BlackPast.org history site gets redesign, first executive director
BlackPast.org, the online reference guide to African-American history started by University of Washington history professor Quintard Taylor, is getting an executive director — Chieko Phillips — and a website redesign.
Darkening of Greenland ice sheet due mainly to older, melting snow
A study by the UW and others finds that the darkening of the Greenland ice sheet is not due to an increase in wildfires, but is a side effect of a warming climate.
March 8, 2016
Family technology rules: What kids expect of parents
A new UW study is among the first to explore children’s expectations for parents’ technology use — revealing kids’ feelings about fairness and “oversharing,” the most effective types of household technology rules and families’ most common approaches.
March 3, 2016
$750,000 Mellon Foundation grant will fund research, collaboration in arts
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the University of Washington a three-year, $750,000 grant to support guest artists in developing new works, and to better integrate arts disciplines into the broader university curriculum.
The grant will support a Creative Fellowships Initiative, under which guest performing artist fellows will be recruited from around the world for one- to three-year residencies in dance, music and theater.
February 29, 2016
Life or illusion? Avoiding ‘false positives’ in the search for living worlds
New research from the UW-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory will help astronomers better identify — and thus rule out — “false positives” in the search for life beyond Earth.
Doctor, patient expectations differ on fitness and lifestyle tracking
With apps and activity trackers measuring every step people take, morsel they eat, and each symptom or pain, patients commonly arrive at doctor’s offices armed with self-tracked data. Yet health care providers lack the capacity or tools to review five years of Fitbit logs or instantaneously interpret data patients have been collecting about themselves, according to new UW research.
NASA data used to track groundwater in Pakistan
Pakistan’s water managers are using NASA satellites to more effectively monitor groundwater supplies, thanks to a partnership with UW civil and environmental engineers. It’s part of a larger effort to use the vast amount of data and observations collected by Earth-orbiting satellites to better quality of life in developing countries.
Statewide home sales, affordability up in fourth quarter of 2015
Home sale prices were up fractionally in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter but up 9.7 percent compared with the previous year, according to the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.
February 26, 2016
Transgender children supported in their identities show positive mental health
Studies of mental health among transgender people in the United States have been consistently grim, showing higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide. But almost nothing is known about the mental health of a new and growing generation of transgender Americans — prepubescent children who are living openly as transgender with the support of their…
February 25, 2016
Driverless cars could increase reliance on roads
Driverless vehicles could intensify car use — reducing or even eliminating promised energy savings and environmental benefits, a new study co-authored by a University of Washington researcher finds. If people can work, relax and even hold meetings in their fully automated vehicles, they may drive more.
Documents that Changed the World: The Declaration of Independence’s deleted passage on slavery, 1776
The latest installment of Information School professor Joe Janes’ podcast series Documents that Changed the World discusses 168 powerful words condemning slavery that were excised from the Declaration of Independence at the last minute.
Herring fishery’s strength is in the sum of its parts, study finds
Just like a strong financial portfolio contains shares from different companies, the diverse subpopulations of herring from different bays and beaches around Puget Sound collectively keep the total population more stable, a new study finds.
February 24, 2016
University of Washington, Gonzaga University announce UW medical school partnership, launch initiative to advance medical education and research in Spokane region
The University of Washington and Gonzaga University have signed an agreement to continue, enhance and expand medical education and research in Spokane.
Clean, efficient cookstoves from UW-industry partnership to be manufactured in Kenya
A more efficient and clean wood-burning cookstove — developed by Vashon Island’s BURN Design Lab and UW mechanical engineers — will reduce the amount of fuel families need to collect or buy by 55 percent. It will also reduce exposure to the harmful particulate pollution produced by traditional cooking flames.
February 23, 2016
For weather forecasting, precise observations matter more than butterflies
Small disturbances, like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings, don’t really matter for weather forecasts. More important is boosting the accuracy of observations at larger scales.
UW engineers achieve Wi-Fi at 10,000 times lower power
With “Passive Wi-Fi,” UW computer scientists and electrical engineers have generated Wi-Fi transmissions using 10,000 times less power than conventional methods. The system can transmit Wi-Fi signals at rates up to 11 megabits per second — lower than maximum Wi-Fi speeds but 11 times faster than Bluetooth — that can be decoded on any of the billions of devices with Wi-Fi connectivity.
Four UW scientists awarded Sloan Fellowships for early-career research
Four 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. 23, include Bingni Brunton, assistant professor of biology; Christopher Laumann, assistant professor of physics; Matthew McQuinn, assistant professor of astronomy; and Emina Torlak, assistant professor of computer science and engineering….
February 22, 2016
University of Washington named a ‘top producer’ of Fulbright students
The University of Washington is one of the top producers of Fulbright students for 2015-16, according to lists released Monday in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
February 19, 2016
UW part of team that drilled first deep ice core at the South Pole
UW glaciologists helped drill the first deep ice core at the South Pole, which will provide new clues to Antarctica’s climate history.
Dangerous fishing may be endangered, new study finds
A new study of fishing practices found that the “risky” behavior that makes fishing one of the most dangerous lines of work dropped sharply following the adoption of catch shares management in the West Coast fixed gear sablefish fishery.
February 18, 2016
Three UW professors win Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
Three members of the UW faculty have received the 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the U.S. government to early-career scientists and engineers.
February 12, 2016
Caught in the act: UW astronomers find a rare supernova ‘impostor’ in a nearby galaxy
UW astronomers Breanna Binder and Ben Williams have identified a rare type of ‘supernova impostor’ in a nearby galaxy, with implications for how scientists look at the short, complex lives of massive stars.
Rare beluga data show whales dive to maximize meals
As the Arctic continues to change due to rising temperatures, melting sea ice and human interest in developing oil and shipping routes, it’s important to understand belugas’ baseline behavior, argue the authors of a new paper.
UW scientists create ultrathin semiconductor heterostructures for new technological applications
University of Washington scientists have successfully combined two different ultrathin semiconductors — each just one layer of atoms thick and roughly 100,000 times thinner than a human hair — to make a new two-dimensional heterostructure with potential uses in clean energy and optically-active electronics.
February 11, 2016
Male biology students consistently underestimate female peers, study finds
Female college students are more likely to abandon studies in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines than their male classmates, and new research from the University of Washington suggests that those male peers may play a key role in undermining their confidence. Published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, the study found that…
Bellingham Bay buoy an opportunity to observe marine waters for Northwest Indian College, world
The Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction, through its education partner the University of Washington, is deploying an oceanographic observing buoy in Bellingham Bay this week that will allow Northwest Indian College students both hands-on experience with the technology as well as the ability to study the data from their computers, through the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems, NANOOS.
Gravitational waves detected 100 years after Einstein’s prediction
For the first time, scientists have observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves, arriving at the Earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe. This confirms a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and opens an unprecedented new window onto the cosmos.
February 8, 2016
UW biology professor is a finalist for top conservation prize
P. Dee Boersma, a University of Washington professor of biology and Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science, is one of six finalists for the prestigious Indianapolis Prize for conservation. Boersma is the first UW faculty member nominated for this prize — the highest honor for animal conservationists — which has been awarded every other year since 2006.
UW’s Tom Anderson elected to National Academy of Engineering
Tom Anderson, a University of Washington professor of computer science and engineering and alumnus, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Also elected are UW civil engineering alumnus Jon Magnusson and computer science alumnus Albert Greenberg.
February 4, 2016
‘Pushback’ against constant connectivity also reflected in images, study follow-up finds
People expressing the wish to resist constant online connectivity — dubbed “pushback” by University of Washington Information School researchers — is manifested as powerfully in images as in text, further study has found.
February 2, 2016
UW awarded private, public grants to develop earthquake early warning tool
The UW is among West Coast universities awarded new funding to further develop ShakeAlert, an earthquake early warning system for the region.
Reflections on the habitability of — Planet Earth
We know the Earth is habitable because — well, here we are. But would it look like a good candidate for life from hundreds of light-years away?
Risk of lead poisoning from urban gardening is low, new study finds
A University of Washington study looked at potential risks associated with growing vegetables in urban gardens and determined that the benefits of locally produced vegetables in cities outweigh any risks from gardening in contaminated soils.
February 1, 2016
UW seismologist speaking at White House earthquake preparedness summit
UW seismologist John Vidale will participate in a White House summit focusing on national earthquake preparedness.
January 29, 2016
Moon’s tidal forces affect amount of rainfall on Earth
Satellite data show that the moon’s gravity puts a slight damper on rainfall on Earth.
January 28, 2016
Study shows U.S. has greater link between low birth weight and inequality
Health disparities are common in developed countries, including the U.S., but at what age those inequities take root and how they vary between countries is less clear. New research from the University of Washington compares the link between income, education and low birth weight in the United States with those in three comparable countries: the…
January 26, 2016
Mathematical model explains huge recurring rainstorms in the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans
A new model explains the fundamental features of the Madden-Julian Oscillation, which some scientists predict will be the “next El Nino.”
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