Science
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 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.
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
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.
January 28, 2015
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 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 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 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.
December 2, 2014
‘Mirage Earth’ exoplanets may have burned away chances for life
Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars are prime targets in the search for life. But new research led by an astronomy graduate student at the UW indicates some such planets may have long since lost their chance at hosting life because of intense heat during their formative years.
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 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 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.
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.
November 6, 2014
Zebrafish stripped of stripes
Within weeks of publishing surprising new insights about how zebrafish get their stripes, University of Washington researchers now explain how to “erase” them.
November 5, 2014
Incorporate more voices to loosen conservation gridlock, scientists urge
More diverse voices could help break a deadlock gripping the conservation community, say 238 co-signatories – including a dozen from the University of Washington.
UW study shows direct brain interface between humans
University of Washington researchers have successfully replicated a direct brain-to-brain connection between pairs of people as part of a scientific study following the team’s initial demonstration a year ago.
November 4, 2014
‘Future proofing’: Present protections against challenges to come
You can’t predict the future, but you can prepare for it — that’s the thinking behind architect (and architecture graduate student and UW staff member) Brian Rich and his principles of “future proofing” existing and historical buildings.
October 30, 2014
Trout trick-or-treat: fish gobble furry animals with four feet
Freshwater fish with bellies full of shrews – one trout a few years back was found to have eaten 19 – aren’t as random as scientists have thought.
October 29, 2014
New study shows three abrupt pulses of CO2 during last deglaciation
Increases of atmospheric carbon dioxide that helped end the last ice age more than 10,000 years ago happened in three abrupt pulses, not gradually.
Fires and floods: North Cascades federal lands prepare for climate change
UW scientists worked with managers of federal parks and forests to come up with a strategy to address warmer temperatures, increased wildfires and more flooding in the North Cascades region.
October 24, 2014
Large X-ray scanner to produce 3-D images for labs across campus
A state-of-the-art imaging machine is coming to the University of Washington for use by researchers in a variety of disciplines.
U.S. Navy awards $8 million to develop wave, tidal energy technology
The UW has an $8 million, four-year contract to develop technologies that can harness waves, tides and currents to power naval facilities worldwide.
October 15, 2014
Science communication should consider cultural perspectives
New research suggests that considering differences among a variety of cultures can have an impact on how well science and scientific concepts are communicated to the public.
October 14, 2014
Orphanage care linked to thinner brain tissue in regions related to ADHD
Psychological studies of children who began life in Romanian orphanages shows that institutionalization is linked to physical changes in brain structure. The thinning of the cortex leaves a lasting legacy that can explain impulsivity and inattention years later.
October 10, 2014
Engineering lecture series focuses on technologies for the heart
The University of Washington’s College of Engineering 2014 fall lecture series will feature faculty researchers in engineering and medicine who are improving cardiac medical care with new technologies.
Citizen science key to keeping pace with environmental change
Better integration of citizen science into professional science is a growing consideration at the UW and elsewhere.
October 9, 2014
Migrating animals’ pee affects ocean chemistry
Tiny animals migrating from the ocean’s surface to the sunless depths helps shape our oceans. During the daylight hours below the surface the animals release ammonia, the equivalent of our urine, that plays a significant role in marine chemistry, particularly in low-oxygen zones.
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