Research
February 26, 2015
Embrace unknowns, opt for flexibility in environmental policies
Two University of Washington professors argue in a Science perspectives article that ecosystem managers must learn to make decisions based on an uncertain future.
February 20, 2015
Winter air campaign tracking how pollution handles the cold
A UW atmospheric scientist is leading a six-week survey of eastern U.S. skies to see how winter conditions affect air quality.
February 18, 2015
Fearless birds and shrinking salmon: Is urbanization pushing Earth’s evolution to a tipping point?
We’ve long known that humans and our cities affect the ecosystem and even drive some evolutionary change. What’s new is that these evolutionary changes are happening more quickly than previously thought, and have potential impacts not in the distant future — but now.
February 17, 2015
Study: Manufacturing growth can benefit Bangladeshi women workers
The life of a Bangladeshi garment factory worker is not an easy one. But new research from the University of Washington indicates that access to such factory jobs can improve the lives of young Bangladeshi women — motivating them to stay in school and lowering their likelihood of early marriage and childbirth.
February 16, 2015
Ancient rocks show life could have flourished on Earth 3.2 billion years ago
Some of the oldest rocks on the planet push back scientific estimates of when life could have covered the Earth by 1 billion years.
February 13, 2015
AAAS symposium looks at how to bring big-data skills to academia
A session Feb. 15 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting will explore how big data scientists can find careers at universities and within academic settings.
University of Washington named one of 12 ‘top producers’ of both Fulbright scholars and students
The University of Washington is one of 12 institutions to make the “top producers” list of both Fulbright scholars and students for 2014-15, according to lists released Thursday in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The Fulbright Program, operated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship…
AAAS talk: Some bilinguals use emoticons more when chatting in non-native language
A research team has found that one group of bilingual speakers used emoticons more often when typing in their second language in casual, online communication than they did when typing in their native tongue.
February 11, 2015
Statewide home prices leveling off, but affordability woes linger
Home sale prices were down in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the third quarter but up compared with the previous year, and the rate of home sales also dropped, according to the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.
How to interest girls in computer science and engineering? Shift the stereotypes
Women have long been underrepresented among undergraduates in computer science and engineering for a complex variety of reasons. A new study by University of Washington researchers identifies a main culprit for that disparity: inaccurate stereotypes depicting computer scientists and engineers as geeky, brilliant and socially awkward males. And they say broadening those stereotypes is key to…
Earthquake early warning begins testing in Pacific Northwest
The first early earthquake warning system for the region has begun testing with a small group of users at businesses and public agencies in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
February 9, 2015
3-D printing with custom molecules creates low-cost mechanical sensor
A UW chemistry lab teamed up with UW engineers studying 3-D printing to create 3-D printed objects with new capabilities.
February 5, 2015
New tool monitors effects of tidal, wave energy on marine habitat
A robot developed at the University of Washington will deploy instruments to gather information in unprecedented detail about how marine life interacts with underwater equipment used to harvest wave and tidal energy.
February 2, 2015
Documents that Changed the World: ‘Rosie the Riveter’ poster, 1943
The famous World War II-era poster of Rosie the Riveter is less a document that changed the world than the other way around — an image the world adopted and filled with meaning. But such turnabout is fair play in the ongoing Documents that Changed the World podcast series by UW Information School Professor Joe Janes.
January 28, 2015
Child maltreatment not a clear path to adult crime
Research has found a significant link between childhood abuse and neglect and crime in adulthood. But a recent University of Washington study finds that link all but disappears when accounting for other life factors. “We find that children who were involved in child welfare services are at high risk of adult crimes, but once we…
Some potentially habitable planets began as gaseous, Neptune-like worlds
Two phenomena known to inhibit the potential habitability of planets — tidal forces and vigorous stellar activity — might instead help chances for life on certain planets orbiting low-mass stars, University of Washington astronomers have found.
January 27, 2015
UW researchers helping region get ready for the next Big One
On the anniversary of a massive earthquake off our region’s coast, UW researchers are working on everything from tsunami evacuation structures to updated seismic hazard maps.
January 23, 2015
$3.9 million project will identify, treat Washington state toddlers at risk for autism
Early detection can make a world of difference for toddlers with autism, but many children do not get diagnosed until they’re at least 4 years old. As a result, they often don’t get specialized services during the critical period up to age 3 that can greatly improve their skills and behavior. A new project at…
January 20, 2015
Scientists drilling first deep ice core at the South Pole
A UW researcher is chief scientist this month on a project to drill the first deep ice core at the South Pole, to understand the climate history in that section of Antarctica.
January 19, 2015
Boeing, UW open research lab on Seattle campus
The Boeing Advanced Research Center, located in the Department of Mechanical Engineering on the UW campus, will let students and faculty members work collaboratively with Boeing engineers on aircraft and spacecraft assembly and manufacturing. Four initial projects are underway at the UW, led by Boeing-employed affiliate instructors and UW engineering professors.
January 15, 2015
Tiny plant fossils a window into Earth’s landscape millions of years ago
An international team led by the University of Washington has discovered a way to determine the tree cover and density of trees, shrubs and bushes in locations over time based on clues in the cells of plant fossils preserved in rocks and soil.
January 8, 2015
Epic survey finds regional patterns of soot and dirt on North American snow
University of Washington scientists published the first large-scale survey of impurities in North American snow. An almost 10,000-mile road trip showed that disturbed soil often mattered as much as air pollution for the whiteness of the snow.
January 7, 2015
How the ‘Beast Quake’ is helping scientists track real earthquakes
Scientists with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network will install instruments this Thursday to provide real-time monitoring of the stadium’s movement during the 2015 NFL playoffs. It’s a valuable test of their newest seismic technology.
December 19, 2014
UW architecture students to design, build public pavilion on Seattle’s waterfront
UW architecture students will design and build a new temporary event pavilion and Internet hub for the Seattle waterfront.
December 18, 2014
Survey shows hope, optimism among homeless Alaska Native elders
Mention homeless people and words like optimistic, hopeful and happy are typically not what spring to mind. More likely, said Jordan Lewis, an assistant professor in the University of Washington’s School of Social Work, the stereotypes are negative — “that they’re chronic alcoholics, depressed, they steal, they’re thieves. They don’t have hope. They’ve just given up.”…
December 17, 2014
Improving forecasts for rain-on-snow flooding
Many of the worst West Coast winter floods involve heavy rains and melting snow, and UW hydrology experts are using the physics of these events to better predict the risks.
December 9, 2014
Warmer Pacific Ocean could release millions of tons of seafloor methane
Water off Washington’s coast is warming a third of a mile down, where seafloor methane shifts from a frozen solid to a gas. Calculations suggest ocean warming is already releasing significant methane offshore of Alaska to California.
November 25, 2014
‘Subirdia’ author urges appreciation of birds that co-exist where we work, live, play
Surprisingly, the diversity of birds in suburban areas can be greater than in forested areas, according to John Marzluff’s new book “Welcome to Subirdia.”
November 24, 2014
Black prison activism, organizing explored in new book ‘Captive Nation’
Dan Berger, assistant professor in the UW Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, discusses his new book, “Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era.”
Study: US attracting fewer educated, highly skilled migrants
The U.S. economy has long been powered in part by the nation’s ability to attract the world’s most educated and skilled people to its shores. But a new study of the worldwide migration of professionals to the U.S. shows a sharp drop-off in its proportional share of those workers – raising the question of whether…
November 21, 2014
UW-made tool displays West Coast ocean acidification data
A new tool developed at the UW displays real-time ocean acidification data for the open ocean and protected bays, helping shellfish growers and scientists see changes in water chemistry.
November 20, 2014
Cost of meeting basic needs rising faster than wages in Washington state
A Washington family of four must spend 46 percent more on average to make ends meet today than 13 years ago, according to a new report from the University of Washington. The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State 2014, released Thursday (Nov. 20), provides a sobering look at how much it costs individuals and families statewide…
UW undergrad’s early life challenges become a hectic schedule of opportunity
From starting his own company – and recruiting 11 friends to join him – and running a successful nonprofit to doing research in the lab and taking a full course load, engineering undergraduate student David Coven is an expert schedule juggler.
November 17, 2014
Major brain pathway rediscovered after century-old confusion, controversy
A scientist looking at MRI scans of human brains noticed a large fiber pathway that seemed to be part of the network that processes visual information. He just couldn’t couldn’t find it in any of the modern textbooks.
‘Probiotics’ for plants boost detox abilities; untreated plants overdose and die
Scientists using a microbe that occurs naturally in eastern cottonwood trees have boosted the ability of willow and lawn grass to withstand the withering effects of the nasty industrial pollutant phenanthrene.
November 14, 2014
Portable planetarium takes astronomy to school
The UW Astronomy Department’s Mobile Planetarium visits Sammamish High School in Bellevue, where students give their own planetarium presentations.
Home prices up, sales down in third quarter of 2014
In the third quarter of 2014, home sale prices increased, but sales themselves were fewer in Washington state. The statewide median sales price for a single family home stood at $277,100 according to the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies in the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. This is an increase of 2.3 percent from…
November 12, 2014
Moving cameras talk to each other to identify, track pedestrians
University of Washington electrical engineers have developed a way to automatically track people across moving and still cameras by using an algorithm that trains the networked cameras to learn one another’s differences.
November 10, 2014
Global warming not just a blanket – in the long run, it’s more like tanning oil
Instead of carbon dioxide, or CO2, creating a blanket that slowly warms the planet, long-term warming happens because a darker surface and more moist air can absorb more of the incoming rays.
November 7, 2014
Undergrads use sonar to uncover Lake Union shipwrecks
Undergraduates this week were among the first people to try the latest in seafloor mapping technology — and use it to image a shipwreck on Seattle’s urban lake.
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