Science
July 18, 2023
Q&A: UW pharmacy professor Donald Downing on the over-the-counter birth control pill
On July 13, the Food and Drug Administration approved for the first time an over-the-counter birth control pill, expected to hit shelves in early 2024. The approval of the oral contraceptive Opill could drastically expand access to birth control, which for decades has been available only through a prescription. It’s a rare victory for reproductive…
Eight UW professors elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences
The Academy said members are elected “in recognition of their outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.”
July 10, 2023
New biodegradable plastics are compostable in your backyard
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has developed new bioplastics that degrade on the same timescale as a banana peel in a backyard compost bin.
UW-developed dental lozenge could provide permanent treatment for tooth sensitivity
The solution builds new mineral microlayers that penetrate deep into the tooth to create effective, long-lasting natural protection. It could provide easily accessible relief for the millions of adults worldwide who suffer from tooth sensitivity.
July 6, 2023
Marine heat waves caused mass seabird die-offs, beach surveys show
New research led by the University of Washington uses data collected by coastal residents along beaches from central California to Alaska to understand how seabirds have fared in recent decades. The paper, published July 6 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, shows that persistent marine heat waves lead to massive seabird die-offs months later.
July 5, 2023
Research led by UW undergrad shows ultrafine air pollution reflects Seattle’s redlining history
The most comprehensive study yet of long-term ultrafine particle exposure found that concentrations of this tiny pollutant reflect the city’s decades-old racial and economic divides.
June 27, 2023
Researchers make a quantum computing leap with a magnetic twist
A team led by scientists and engineers at the University of Washington has announced a significant advancement in developing fault-tolerant qubits for quantum computing. In a pair of papers published June 14 in Nature and June 22 in Science, they report that, in experiments with flakes of semiconductor materials — each only a single layer of atoms thick — they detected signatures of “fractional quantum anomalous Hall” (FQAH) states. The team’s discoveries mark a first and promising step in constructing a type of fault-tolerant qubit because FQAH states can host anyons — strange “quasiparticles” that have only a fraction of an electron’s charge. Some types of anyons can be used to make what are called “topologically protected” qubits, which are stable against any small, local disturbances.
June 26, 2023
New report, tool suggest how Washington can better protect against extreme heat
Two years after the Pacific Northwest heat dome — the deadliest weather-related disaster in state history — a collaborative effort has drawn up recommendations for how people and groups across the state could prevent future heat-related illness and save lives. The effort involves a report led by the UW Climate Impacts Group and an interactive risk-mapping tool led by the UW Center for Health and the Global Environment,
June 14, 2023
Phosphate, a key building block of life, found on Saturn’s moon Enceladus
An international team including a UW scientist found that the water on one of Saturn’s moons harbors phosphates, a key building block of life. The team used data from NASA’s Cassini space mission to detect evidence of phosphates in particles ejected from the ice-covered global ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
May 26, 2023
What’s in a name? Sometimes, the climate
By analyzing records from the U.S. Social Security Administration, two scientists at the University of Washington and Ohio University have discovered that the popularity of certain month and season names for girls varies by geographic region in the continental United States. The name April dominates monthly names in southern states where spring arrives early in the year. June is more popular in northern states where spring blooms later. Autumn is also more prevalent in the northern U.S., a region known for its brilliant fall foliage.
May 18, 2023
Out of the frying pan: Coyotes, bobcats move into human-inhabited areas to avoid apex predators — only to be killed by people
New research shows that in Washington state, the presence of two apex predators — wolves and cougars — does indeed help keep populations of two smaller predators in check. But by and large the apex predators were not killing and eating the smaller predators, known as mesopredators. Instead, they drove the two mesopredator species — bobcats and coyotes — into areas with higher levels of human activity. And people were finishing the job.
May 16, 2023
School of Dentistry researchers to expand upon study into how and why our gums swell
Gingivitis research could also deepen our understanding of inflammation in the rest of the body, which can be difficult to study in real time.
May 5, 2023
UW immunologist, mathematician among newly elected National Academy of Sciences members
Two University of Washington faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2023: Philip Greenberg, professor of medicine and of immunology at the UW, as well as the Rona Jaffe Foundation Endowed Chair at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and head of the Program in Immunology in its Clinical Research Division; and Gunther Uhlmann, the Robert R. and Elaine F. Phelps Endowed Professor in Mathematics at the UW.
April 19, 2023
Q&A: Two ways UW researchers are studying marine microplastics
Two University of Washington researchers are using very different methods to investigate the issue of marine microplastics. For Earth Day, UW News asked them to discuss their research.
April 18, 2023
Q&A: County-scale climate mapping tool helps Washington agencies prepare for the future
The UW Climate Impacts Group created an interactive tool that lets state agencies and local governments see what climate scientists project for their county and what they might want to consider when developing their districts’ comprehensive plans through 2100.
April 13, 2023
Africa’s grassy habitats emerged 10+ million years earlier than previously thought
A pair of studies published April 14 in the journal Science paint a new picture about apes, ancient Africa and the origins of humans. Many scientists had once hypothesized that the first apes to evolve in Africa more than 20 million years ago ate primarily fruit and lived within the thick, closed canopy of a nearly continent-wide forest ecosystem. Instead, the new research indicates that early apes ate a leafy diet in a more arid ecosystem of varyingly open woodlands with abundant grasses.
April 10, 2023
Warm liquid spewing from Oregon seafloor comes from Cascadia fault, could offer clues to earthquake hazards
UW oceanographers discovered warm, chemically distinct liquid shooting up from the seafloor about 50 miles off Newport. They named the unique underwater spring “Pythia’s Oasis.” Observations suggest the spring is sourced from water 2.5 miles beneath the seafloor at the plate boundary, regulating stress on the offshore subduction zone fault.
April 5, 2023
UW’s Phil Levin to direct first-ever US National Nature Assessment
Phil Levin, professor of practice in environmental and forest sciences at the University of Washington and lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy in Washington, has been appointed to direct the first-ever U.S. National Nature Assessment. The 3-year assessment will take an interdisciplinary approach to better understand the role of nature in the lives of people across the country, and how those benefits might be altered under climate change.
March 24, 2023
Team detects first neutrinos made by particle collider
An international team of scientists has for the first time detected neutrinos created by a particle collider. The discovery — announced March 19 by the Forward Search Experiment, or FASER collaboration — promises to deepen scientists’ understanding of the nature of neutrinos, which are the most abundant particle in the cosmos. FASER’s detector picked up neutrinos generated by the Large Hadron Collider, which is based at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.
March 10, 2023
Northern and southern resident orcas hunt differently, which may help explain the decline of southern orcas
In the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, southern resident orcas have experienced no net population growth since the 1970s, with just 73 left at the most recent count. But northern resident orcas, which have a similar diet, territory and social structure, have grown steadily, now numbering more than 300. A new study led by scientists at the University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries may help explain why: The two populations differ in how they hunt for salmon, their primary and preferred food source, a key difference that conservationists will have to take into account when designing interventions to help southern residents.
February 27, 2023
Human-wildlife conflicts rising worldwide with climate change
Research led by scientists at the University of Washington’s Center for Ecosystem Sentinels reveals that a warming world is increasing human-wildlife conflicts globally. They show that climate shifts can drive conflicts by altering animal habitats, the timing of events, wildlife behaviors and resource availability. It also showed that people are changing their behaviors and locations in response to climate change in ways that increase conflicts.
February 21, 2023
Newly discovered form of salty ice could exist on surface of extraterrestrial moons
Scientists suspect that the red streaks crossing the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa is a frozen mixture of water and salts, but its chemical signature matches no known substance on Earth. Now researchers have discovered a new type of solid crystal that forms when water and table salt combine in cold, pressurized conditions. Researchers believe the new substance created in a lab on Earth could form at the surface and bottom of these worlds’ deep oceans.
February 17, 2023
Video: Lummi Nation School students visit UW to talk to International Space Station astronaut
Students from the Lummi Nation School visited the University of Washington in earlh February for a real-time Q&A with astronaut Josh Cassada aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Cassada helped do space research on a plant science experiment the students sent to the ISS.
February 8, 2023
Q&A: UW researcher discusses future of quantum research
Scientists at the University of Washington are pursuing multiple quantum research projects spanning from creating materials with never-before-seen physical properties to studying the “quantum bits” — or qubits (pronounced “kyu-bits”) — that make quantum computing possible. UW News sat down with Professor Kai-Mei Fu, one of the leaders in quantum research on campus, to talk about the potential of quantum R&D, and why it’s so important.
February 3, 2023
Ice cores show even dormant volcanoes leak abundant sulfur into the atmosphere
Non-erupting volcanoes leak a surprisingly high amount of sulfur-containing gases. A Greenland ice core shows that volcanoes quietly release at least three times as much sulfur into the Arctic atmosphere than estimated by current climate models. Aerosols are the most uncertain aspect of current climate models, so better estimates could improve the accuracy of long-term projections.
January 18, 2023
The importance of the atmosphere and ocean in determining the fate of Antarctica
New research finds that ice-sheet-wide collapse in West Antarctica isn’t necessarily inevitable. The pace of ice loss varies according to regional differences in atmosphere and ocean circulation.
January 12, 2023
How did the Butterfly Nebula get its wings? It’s complicated
Something is amiss in the Butterfly Nebula. When a team led by astronomers at the University of Washington compared two exposures of this planetary nebula that had been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009 and 2020, they saw dramatic changes in the material within its “wings.” As the team will report on Jan. 12 at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, powerful winds are apparently driving complex alterations of material within the Butterfly Nebula, behavior not seen in planetary nebulae to date. The researchers want to understand how such activity is possible from what should be a “sputtering, largely moribund star with no remaining fuel.”
January 11, 2023
Old and new stars paint very different pictures of the Triangulum galaxy
On Jan. 11 at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, a team led by scientists at the University of Washington and the Center for Computational Astrophysics reported something unexpected about the distinct populations of stars that make up the Triangulum galaxy: In this satellite galaxy, a close companion of the much larger Andromeda galaxy, old and new stars occur in separate parts of the galaxy’s structure, something not seen in galaxies like our own and so far not reporter for other satellite galaxies.
January 10, 2023
The seven-year photobomb: Distant star’s dimming was likely a ‘dusty’ companion getting in the way, astronomers say
University of Washington astronomers were on the lookout for “stars behaving strangely” when an automated alert from pointed them to Gaia17bpp, a star that had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. But follow-up analyses indicated that Gaia17bpp wasn’t changing. Instead, the star is likely part of a rare type of binary system. Its apparent brightening was the end of a years-long eclipse by an unusual, “dusty” stellar companion.
Plastic pollution in the oceans is an equity issue, says UW-led report
A recent report and upcoming virtual event looks at the unequal effect of marine plastics on different communities. The international report led by UW’s Yoshitaka Ota covers topics ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on plastic pollution to a critique of Coca-Cola’s waste initiative.
January 9, 2023
Climate ‘presses’ and ‘pulses’ impact Magellanic penguins — a marine predator — with guidance for conservationists
Climate change will reshape ecosystems through two types of events: short-term, extreme events — or “pulses” — and long-term changes, or “presses.” Understanding the effects of presses and pulses is essential as conservationists and policymakers try to preserve ecosystems and safeguard biodiversity. Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered how different presses and pulses impacted Magellanic penguins — a migratory marine predator — over nearly four decades and found that, though individual presses and pulses impacted penguins in a variety of ways, both were equally important for the future survival of the penguin population. They also found that these types of climate changes, taken together, are leading to an overall population decline at their historically largest breeding site.
Warming oceans have decimated marine parasites — but that’s not a good thing
Save the … parasites? Analyzing 140 years of parasite abundance in fish shows dramatic declines, especially in parasites that rely on three or more host species. The decline is linked to warming ocean temperatures. Parasitic species might be in real danger, researchers warn — and that means not just fewer worms, but losses for the entire ecosystem.
December 12, 2022
Signals from the ionosphere could improve tsunami forecasts
An underwater volcanic eruption in January 2022 created ripple effects throughout the world’s atmosphere and oceans. University of Washington scientists analyzed that event to show how GPS signals could help monitor future volcanoes and tsunamis.
Trouble falling asleep at night? Chase that daytime light, study shows
A study measuring the sleep patterns of students at the University of Washington found that students fell asleep later in the evening and woke up later in the morning during winter, when daylight hours on the UW’s Seattle campus are limited and the skies are notoriously overcast. Researchers believe the students’ natural circadian clocks were being “pushed back” or delayed in winter because they were not getting enough exposure during the day to natural light, and that getting more daytime light exposure can help reverse this.
December 8, 2022
UW brings field geology to students with ‘Virtual Field Geology’
UW’s Virtual Field Geology project has many goals: to make geology field experiences accessible to more people; to document geological field sites that may be at risk from erosion or development; to offer virtual “dry run” experiences; and to allow scientific collaborators to do virtual visits to a field site together. While the pandemic brought new urgency to the project, its developers believe it’s part of a “new normal” for geology research and education.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows how several stars ‘stirred up’ the Southern Ring Nebula
In a study published Dec. 8 in Nature Astronomy, an international research team, led by Orsola De Marco of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, analyzed 10 highly detailed exposures taken by the JWST of the Southern Ring Nebula. Their calculations show the central star that ejected the expanding nebula gas was originally three times the mass of the sun, and that unseen companions shaped the nebula’s intricate features.
December 5, 2022
New blood test can detect ‘toxic’ protein years before Alzheimer’s symptoms emerge, study shows
Researchers at the University of Washington have detected “toxic” small aggregates of a particular protein in the blood of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as in individuals who showed no signs of cognitive impairment at the time the blood sample was taken, but who developed it at a later date. This blood test picks up oligomers — or small, misfolded aggregates — of the amyloid beta protein, which scientists believe triggers the development of Alzheimer’s.
November 29, 2022
Strongest Arctic cyclone on record led to surprising loss of sea ice
The strongest Arctic cyclone ever observed struck in January 2022. A new analysis led by the University of Washington shows that while forecasts accurately predicted the massive storm, models seriously underestimated its impact on sea ice. Results suggest how forecast models for a changing Arctic Ocean could improve.
November 4, 2022
Two College of the Environment faculty recognized by American Geophysical Union
Two UW College of the Environment professors, Ginger Armbrust and Dennis Hartmann, will be honored at the 2022 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December.
November 2, 2022
Study reveals how ancient fish colonized the deep sea
A new University of Washington-led study reports that throughout Earth’s ancient history, there were several periods of time when many fish actually favored the cold, dark, barren waters of the deep sea instead of shallow ocean waters that are warm and full of resources.
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