Research
May 21, 2014
Marine apprenticeships give UW undergrads role in animal-ancestor breakthrough
Comb jellies – and not sponges – may lay claim as the earliest ancestors of animals, according to new research in Nature.
May 20, 2014
Health Sciences Digest: Alcoholism in homeless, medical phone apps, aging with chronic disability
Designing medical apps for your phone, treating alcohol-dependent homeless individuals, and enhancing wellness in older disabled adults are some of the developments at the UW Health Sciences and UW Medicine
Shrub growth decreases as winter temps warm up
Many have assumed that warmer winters as a result of climate change would increase the growth of trees and shrubs because the growing season would be longer. But shrubs achieve less yearly growth when cold winter temperatures are interrupted by temperatures warm enough to trigger growth.
May 19, 2014
Favoritism, not hostility, causes most discrimination, says UW psychology professor
Most discrimination in the U.S. is not caused by intention to harm people different from us, but by ordinary favoritism directed at helping people similar to us, according to a theoretical review published online in American Psychologist.
May 14, 2014
$31M gift will fund early stage UW research by high-tech entrepreneurs
The University of Washington is receiving a $31.2 million gift from Washington Research Foundation to boost entrepreneurship and support research that tackles some of society’s most crucial challenges. The award will fund four interdisciplinary initiatives that seek to advance global innovation in clean energy, protein design, big data science and neuroengineering.
May 13, 2014
Health Digest: Cutbacks jeopardize newborns, safe water, MERS facts
The costly effects of cutbacks on maternal/child services, assuring a pure water supply, and what you need to know about Middle East respiratory syndrome.
Focus on research: Undergraduates bring findings alive Friday
Join your colleagues at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium Friday, May 16.
Video stories, other bonding exercises could help foster families connect
Researchers affiliated with the UW’s School of Social Work tailored a parenting program known to improve communication in non-foster families for use in foster families, who often say they don’t feel connected and have trouble communicating, but few resources exist that nurture their bonding.
May 12, 2014
Improve grades, reduce failure – undergrads should tell profs ‘Don’t lecture me’
A significantly greater number of students fail science, engineering and math courses that are taught lecture-style than fail with active learning according to the largest analysis ever of studies comparing lecturing to active learning in undergraduate education
West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse is under way
The collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun, according to computer models using detailed topographic maps. The fast-moving Thwaites Glacier will likely disappear in a matter of centuries, researchers say, raising sea level by nearly 2 feet.
Washington housing market weaker in first quarter of 2014
Washington state’s housing market finished weaker in the first quarter of 2014 when compared to the end of 2013, according to the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.
May 8, 2014
Documents that Changed the World: Airline ‘black box’ flight data recorder, 1958
Recent headlines sadly explain why Joe Janes chose the latest installment in his Documents that Changed the World podcast series — he’s writing about airline flight data recorders, or “black boxes.”
Army drug users twice as likely to use synthetic marijuana as regular marijuana
Social work researchers from the University of Washington have found that among a group of active-duty Army personnel who use illicit drugs, the most abused substance is synthetic marijuana, nicknamed “Spice,” which is harder to detect than other drugs through standard drug tests.
May 7, 2014
UW building teleoperated robots for disaster response in national challenge
University of Washington electrical engineers have developed telerobotics technology that could make disaster response faster and more efficient. They are working with a large team as part of the SmartAmerica Challenge, an initiative that encourages new technologies that help society in our increasingly connected world.
Greenland melting due equally to global warming, natural variations
Up to half of the recent warming in Greenland and surrounding areas may be due to climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the planet. Still, at least half the warming remains attributable to global warming caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions.
UW student briefs lawmakers on global land use, touts undergrad research
At an event in Washington, D.C. a UW biology student presented her research into the global connections between consumers and goods that come from agriculture and forest production.
May 6, 2014
UW scientist a lead author on third National Climate Assessment
University of Washington climate scientist Amy Snover is one of two lead authors for the Northwest chapter of the newly published National Climate Assessment.
Social workers can help patients recover from mild traumatic brain injuries
More than a million people are treated for mild traumatic brain injuries in U.S. hospitals and emergency rooms each year. A University of Washington researcher has found that a 20-minute conversation with a social worker has the potential to significantly reduce the functional decline of those diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury.
May 1, 2014
Amphibians in a vise: Climate change robs frogs, salamanders of refuge
Amphibians in the West’s high-mountain areas find themselves caught between climate-induced habitat loss and predation from introduced fish. A novel combination of tools could help weigh where amphibians are in the most need of help.
April 30, 2014
Stem cell therapy regenerates heart muscle in primates
Regenerative medicine researchers successfully attempted stem cell therapy to repair damaged heart muscle in non-human primates.
April 25, 2014
Online ‘Legislative Explorer’ uses big data to track decades of lawmaking
University of Washington political scientist John Wilkerson has matched data visualization with the study of lawmaking to create a new online tool for researchers and students called the Legislative Explorer. Think of it as big data meeting up with How a Bill Becomes a Law. “The goal was to get beyond the ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ narrative…
April 24, 2014
Roger Roffman chronicles society’s long struggle with pot in ‘Marijuana Nation’
Roger Roffman, UW professor emeritus of social work who has studied marijuana dependence interventions for 30 years, talks about his new book, “Marijuana Nation: One Man’s Chronicle of America Getting High: From Vietnam to Legalization.”
April 23, 2014
Fisheries act, up for reauthorization, subject of UW symposium
The Magnuson-Stevens Act is the subject of this year’s Bevan Series on Sustainable Fisheries.
Thousands on campus for Engineering Discovery Days, April 25-26
Engineers and scientists at the University of Washington will display their most engaging research and projects Friday and Saturday, April 25-26, during the annual Engineering Discovery Days, which is free and open to the public.
April 22, 2014
Doug Underwood scouts border between fiction, journalism in new book
Doug Underwood, UW professor of communication, discusses his latest book, “The Undeclared War between Fiction and Journalism: Journalists as Genre Benders in Literary History.”
April 21, 2014
‘Upside-down planet’ reveals new method for studying binary star systems
What looked at first like a sort of upside-down planet has instead revealed a new method for studying binary star systems, discovered by a UW student astronomer.
April 15, 2014
Astronomers: ‘Tilt-a-worlds’ could harbor life
A fluctuating tilt in a planet’s orbit does not preclude the possibility of life, according to new research by astronomers at the University of Washington, Utah’s Weber State University and NASA. In fact, sometimes it helps.
UW graduate’s lens turns any smartphone into a portable microscope
The Micro Phone Lens, developed by UW mechanical engineering alumnus Thomas Larson (’13), can turn any smartphone or tablet computer into a handheld microscope.
April 14, 2014
Babies prefer fairness – but only if it benefits them – in choosing a playmate
Babies as young as 15 months preferred people with the same ethnicity as themselves — a phenomenon known as in-group bias, or favoring people who have the same characteristics as oneself.
Puget Sound’s rich waters supplied by deep, turbulent canyon
UW oceanographers found fast-flowing water and intense mixing in a submarine canyon just off the Washington coast.
April 11, 2014
Greenland ice cores show industrial record of acid rain, success of U.S. Clean Air Act
Detailed ice core measurements show smog-related ratios leveling off in 1970, and suggests these deposits are sensitive to the same chemicals that cause acid rain.
April 10, 2014
Fruit flies, fighter jets use similar nimble tactics when under attack
Get on your 3-D glasses for one of the animations of tiny fruit flies employing banked turns to evade attacks just like fighter jets.
April 9, 2014
Automated age-progression software lets you see how a child will age
University of Washington engineers have developed software that automatically generates images of a young child’s face as it ages through a lifetime. The technique is the first fully automated approach for aging babies to adults that works with variable lighting, expressions and poses.
April 7, 2014
UW startup creates underwater robotics with a human touch
A team of University of Washington scientists and engineers working at the Applied Physics Laboratory is creating a control system for underwater remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs. Researchers will demonstrate the technology at the SmartAmerica Challenge in Washington, D.C. in June.
April 4, 2014
UW researchers, radar company conduct aerial surveys of Oso site
UW researchers made some of the first aerial surveys over the Oso mudslide, using radar technology to map the condition immediately after the slide.
April 2, 2014
Science-themed music videos boost scientific literacy, study shows
As the United States puts ever-greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education to keep competitive in the global economy, schools are trying to figure out how to improve student learning in science. University of Washington researchers think music may be the answer for some students.
New book explores ‘frontier’ metaphor in science
Leah Ceccarelli, professor of communication, discusses her well-reviewed new book “On the Frontier of Science: An American Rhetoric of Exploration and Exploitation.”
March 28, 2014
“Simming” a mile in others’ shoes
A waiter in a logging camp, Mexican migrant trying to cross into the U.S, and observer during an attack on an Iraqi village are examples of roles played by Scott Magelssen, a UW associate professor of drama, and described in his new book about simulated experiences.
Documents that Changed the World: Mental disorder diagnostic manual, 1952
Three little words fittingly kick off the latest installment of Joe Janes’ Documents that Changed the World podcast series: “Are you crazy?”
March 26, 2014
Decline of natural history troubling for science, society
Seventeen North American scientists outline the importance of natural science and call for a revitalization of the practice.
Previous page Next page
